The hype is real on merino wool.
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After years of resisting, I finally picked up some of the most recommended merino items I could find last summer. Honestly, they’ve completely changed the way I pack for travel. Let me explain…
There are two big downsides when you pack for a carry-on only trip; you can’t take much along, and the items you do take with you have to make it through multiple wears. If you’re going somewhere with perfect weather where you’re mostly indoors, this isn’t a big deal. However, our family tends to go on some bigger adventures where we’re exploring trails and theme parks where our clothes run into different temperatures and a lot of smells.
The typical cotton shirts and hoodies are comfortable, but they go downhill fast if you’ve spend any time outside, especially with the sun beating down on you. You may not notice until the end of the day, but the second you hit a restaurant or get back to the hotel room, it’s pretty obvious that the “outside” smell is radiating off your clothes. There’s nothing worse than waking up the next morning to throw some clothes back on that are already well on their way to funkytown.
This is where the merino wool kicks in. When I made the switch to some items from Unbound Merino last summer, I was shocked by how much the outdoor funk just didn’t exist any more. In fact, my merino tees and hoodie just don’t smell like anything at all. I can typically just toss them on a hotel chair overnight, and just throw them on and head out when I wake up the next morning like they came fresh out of my bag. It’s kind of crazy.
I haven’t dug deep into the science, but they dry a lot faster too. Whether its back sweat from hiking a trail, or throwing them in the sink with some other clothes on a longer trip (even though they probably don’t even need it), my merino wool shirts are the first thing to dry when I throw them on the hotel shower clothesline.
As for the downsides, yeah, they’re a little pricey (especially if you just wear cheap shirts from Target or something), and the merino fabric has a very slight sheen to it just because that’s how wool looks (I don’t think it’s really noticeable). However, they’re not at all itchy like I expected, they don’t wrinkle easy, and well-made merino clothes do just fine when you machine wash them (I’m as surprised as you are).
Long story short, if you’re on the fence about merino wool (and you travel often and like to pack light), I’m confident enough to say that it’s well worth the splurge. Pick up a few options that you can mix and match throughout your travels, and I think you’ll be shocked at the difference it can make on your next trip.
