Get Ready for Summer with Moisture Wicking

Why Moisture Wicking Workwear is the Best Choice for Hot Days

Once you’ve felt how much more comfortable a moisture-wicking shirt can be during a hot day at work, there’s no going back to basic cotton workwear. But how is it that workwear can keep you so dry and cool, even when you're sweating profusely? The secret lies in a fabric that's moisture-wicking. Once you uncover the science behind your moisture-wicking shirt, you'll understand which fabrics are best for keeping sweat under control. Here's how to pick a wicking fabric.

How Does Moisture Wicking Work?

When you start to perspire, the sweat gets drawn away from your skin and onto the fibres of your clothes. If your workwear is made from a natural fabric like cotton, the moisture gets absorbed into the fibres. This makes the garments feel wet and heavy.

Moisture-wicking fabrics such as polyester take advantage of a process known as "capillary action." The fibres keep the sweat on the surface, acting like channels to transport the sweat to the outer layer of your shirt. Once there, the sweat evaporates in the air. This leaves you with a sweat-free and perfectly dry finish.

Over the years, clothing companies have made moisture-wicking garments even more effective by slimming the fibres, for both men and women. The finer the diameter, the more individual fibres you can get in one yarn, which means more tiny channels that sweat can run along. The result: the fibres wick wetness away and you get a drier, cooler you.

What Type of Garments Should Be Moisture Wicking?

As this fabric is made to remove sweat from the body it’s best to wear a garment with this feature closest to the skin. This could be an underlayer or a polo shirt. Also, if the role you’re in and the tasks you do cause you to sweat heavily then it would be best if you had further layers that are also moisture-wicking to completely remove the sweat from the body and garments being worn.

What Fabrics Are Moisture Wicking?

Fabrics that remove moisture away from the body are mostly synthetics. Synthetics are hydrophobic, meaning that they do not like moisture and therefore do not absorb it. It then sits on the surface and quickly evaporates. Fabrics such as Polyester and Nylon tend to have these properties. Cotton, on the other hand, is anti-wicking. Cotton will soak up moisture and cause the wearer to feel uncomfortable.

S U M M A R Y

With summer fast approaching, working outdoors will soon become more of a struggle in the heat. Moisture-wicking workwear is just one way of making working in the heat slightly more bearable as you won't be stuck in sweaty, wet clothes. Although there isn't a dedicated category for moisture-wicking workwear, all moisture-wicking products at Total Workwear do say in the product detail that they are moisture-wicking. If you are wanting to find some moisture-wicking clothing for this summer, searching "wicking" at the top of our website will display over 250 of our products that will meet your description. Alternatively, if you'd like see other types of workwear for hot days, try our cooling workwear,

To view our range of cooling workwear