Enjoy your summer runs – in wool!
Wait, wool clothes in the summer? No way. Wool makes you warm, that’s why you wear it in winter when it’s cold outside.
This is a pretty common reaction we get when we talk to people and suggest they try working out in wool clothes during the summer. Running, cycling, or engaging in other high-intensity activities in wool clothes is something many people are skeptical about. Are you perhaps one of those who are skeptical? Then maybe you don’t know yet that wool is without a doubt one of nature’s most functional materials.
Wool – nature’s own performance material
The crimp of wool makes it perfect for insulating and trapping air. This means that garments feel warm and comfortable in winter, but it also means they insulate against heat in summer, keeping you pleasantly cool. Wool is therefore temperature regulating and works exceptionally well year-round.
Another major advantage of using wool when it’s hot and you sweat a lot is that wool absorbs moisture. The volume of wool fibers can increase by up to 30% by trapping moisture, keeping you feeling dry. In addition to this, wool is effective at wicking moisture away from the body. When there’s more moisture inside the garment than outside, wool fibers transport moisture to the outside of the garment to achieve balance.
Yet another reason to wear wool clothing when exercising in hot weather is that it doesn’t retain sweat odors. Wool naturally contains keratin, which breaks down odor-causing bacteria. Additionally, wool contains lanolin, which is moisture and dirt repellent. This makes it difficult for bacteria to thrive, allowing you to wear the garments longer before needing to wash them. Often, simply airing out the clothes between uses is sufficient.
Clothes don’t heat
But if wool has all these fantastic properties, what is it really that makes us talk about different insulation scales and that different garments make you feel warmer or cooler?
Clothes themselves actually don’t generate heat. Textiles conduct heat away from the body while air encapsulates your body heat. That’s why you feel warmer in clothes and materials that trap air. Our Ullfrotté Original, for example, is a terry-knitted fabric that creates few contact points against the skin, thus increasing its ability to retain much of the body’s own heat. But we have also developed a product line that we call LITE, and we often refer to LITE as our slightly cooler material.
The LITE material is rib-knitted and fits closer to the body compared to Ullfrotté Original. This means it has more contact points against the body, which dissipates heat so you feel comfortably warm. So despite LITE material containing more wool than Ullfrotté Original, it’s actually cooler to wear. The rib-knitting also provides a very flexible and smooth material, which is comfortable when you’re out running, for example.
Swedish-made quality
Another good reason to choose a LITE set from Woolpower next time you buy workout clothes is that it’s entirely knitted and sewn in Sweden. Our factory is Sweden’s largest textile factory, and it’s always the same seamstress who sews the entire garment, from first to last stitch. Once the seamstress finishes sewing the garment, they check to ensure it meets the right quality standards. The name tag you can find in all our garments is therefore both a quality seal and an indication to our customers that there’s a person behind each garment.
