About a decade in the past, I began noticing that sure garments made my pores and skin itch. Like, loads. Then my toddler son was identified with eczema, painful rashes that coated his legs and arms. I began shopping for the gentlest detergents I might discover and checking material content material labels on all our garments. When I began paying slightly extra for denims, the gnarly itching stopped.
Was it psychosomatic? Do I cease itching solely when swaddled within the best of jeans and cotton flannel tank tops? According to style and sustainability journalist Alden Wicker, who runs the web site Ecocult and just lately printed the guide To Dye For, your garments actually may very well be making you sick. Quite a lot of quick style is made out of polyester, which requires particular dyes. Manufacturers then add wrinkle- or stain-resistant brokers, or spray material for soft-touch finishes. Finally, entire shipments get dusted with fungicides or pesticides to make all of it the way in which all over the world with out getting eaten by moths.
Over the years, I managed to search out garments that didn’t make us itch. But underwear was a giant drawback. Breathable cotton underwear is healthier on your well being down there and I simply don’t just like the slick, slimy really feel of principally nylon or polyester gadgets. But I additionally like working, tenting, mountain climbing, skateboarding, and biking. Cotton doesn’t dry quick sufficient when it’s simply sitting on a rock within the solar. This is the place Branwyn’s merino wool set is available in.
Run-derwear
Branwyn makes what they name merino wool efficiency units. I’m a fan of merino wool for a lot of causes. It’s a naturally renewable fiber that doesn’t leach microplastics into our water, earth, and air. It’s additionally moisture-wicking, naturally odor-repellent, and shockingly good at regulating your physique temperature, whether or not you’re actually scorching or actually chilly. Merino sheep can not change their garments when it will get too scorching or too chilly, so their wool does plenty of the work for them.
Branwyn’s garments are Oeko-Tex 100 licensed, which implies each element of the clothes has been independently examined in opposition to a listing of as much as 350 poisonous chemical substances. This is likely one of the most widely-known and revered labels for client security; the corporate additionally meets just a few different well-known impartial sustainability and ethics requirements, like Reach compliance and ZQ merino certification.
Branwyn despatched me the Essential Bralette ($48) and Essential Bikini ($36). I consulted the dimensions chart and each match true to measurement. (I suppose it’s necessary to notice right here that I’m a small-busted girl and that Branwyn makes a Busty Bra ($58) for those who want extra assist.)
I do know the phrase “wool underwear” conjures a psychological picture of some lumberjack from the 1800s with hair rising by way of the weaves of his itchy, scorching lengthy johns. (I additionally stay in Portland, Oregon, so I might stroll by a person like this immediately.) However, Branwyn’s material is 80 p.c merino, with 20 p.c nylon thrown in there for a little bit of consolation and stretch. Thankfully, the nylon hasn’t but made me itch.