WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: Do Some Fabrics Make Body Odor Worse?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Lauren vogel Bomb here with another classic episode

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<v Speaker 1>from our archives. Lots of athletic wear and outdoors gear

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<v Speaker 1>is labeled with claims that it will help wig away

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<v Speaker 1>sweat and keep you smelling as fresh as if you

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<v Speaker 1>just stepped out of the shower. In this episode, we

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<v Speaker 1>look at how those claims can possibly be true and

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<v Speaker 1>how they can sometimes fall through. Hey there, brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren vogel bomb here. If you're preparing for a hike,

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<v Speaker 1>especially one that involves sleeping under the stars, every last

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<v Speaker 1>thing you pack should be questioned, will you need rain gear?

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<v Speaker 1>One walking sticker to which freeze dried snacks are actually

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<v Speaker 1>tasty enough to eat. One essential rule from experienced hikers

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<v Speaker 1>is no cotton clothing. Clothes made of cotton can act

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<v Speaker 1>as a sponge. The material soaks up sweat and holds

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<v Speaker 1>moisture next to the skin, which eliminates the insulating effect

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<v Speaker 1>of the cotton, causes skin ear tation and eventually leads

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<v Speaker 1>to copious amounts of body odor. A body odor isn't

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<v Speaker 1>a personal affront. Every adult whose body temperature becomes high

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<v Speaker 1>enough to cause certain glands to secrete fluid onto the

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<v Speaker 1>surface of the skin is at risk for emanating at

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<v Speaker 1>least a little bit, and it isn't without purpose. Sweat

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<v Speaker 1>produced by the acrine glands that cover most of the

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<v Speaker 1>body helps regulate body temperature, while the milki or fluid

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<v Speaker 1>released by the apocrine glands in the armpits and growing

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<v Speaker 1>area is a signal that the body is under stress.

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<v Speaker 1>Apocrene glands are primarily responsible for body odor, and although

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<v Speaker 1>acrine glands secrete primarily odorless sweat, the smell produced by

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<v Speaker 1>this sweat changes over time. Perspiration acts as a magnet

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<v Speaker 1>to bacteria on the skin, and these bacteria use it

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<v Speaker 1>as a fuel to multiply. When the growing numbers of

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<v Speaker 1>bacteria metabolize the sweat, they produce a smelly byproduct commonly

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<v Speaker 1>called body odor. Clearly, cotton isn't the right choice for

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<v Speaker 1>working up a sweat, since it can actually make body

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<v Speaker 1>odor worse. But what about other types of fabrics? Do

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<v Speaker 1>all fabrics increase a person's propensity to develop body odor.

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<v Speaker 1>The key to using clothing to prevent or lessen body

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<v Speaker 1>odor lies in the fabric's ability to release sweat quickly

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<v Speaker 1>before bacteria can begin to feast on it. There are

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<v Speaker 1>natural and manmade fabrics that expertly wick moisture away from

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<v Speaker 1>the skin and to the edge of the material, where

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<v Speaker 1>it can evaporate. Other fabrics, however, will trap moisture in

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<v Speaker 1>the fabric and on the skin and make body odor worse.

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<v Speaker 1>Fabric's ability to transmit and release moisture is known as breathability,

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<v Speaker 1>which is the common term for the moisture vapor transmission rate,

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<v Speaker 1>or m v TR. The m v TR is measured

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<v Speaker 1>by calculating how many grams of moisture move through a

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<v Speaker 1>square meter of fabric in twenty four hours. Generally, the

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<v Speaker 1>greater the m v t R, the less likely the

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<v Speaker 1>fabric is to absorb and retain odor causing moisture. You

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<v Speaker 1>may be thinking, great, now, all I have to do

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<v Speaker 1>is find clothing labeled breathable, and bo will be a

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<v Speaker 1>problem of the past. Not so fast. There's not an

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<v Speaker 1>industry standard regarding breathability. Nearly any label can carry the term,

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<v Speaker 1>usually preceded by words like ultra or extremely. This means

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<v Speaker 1>you'll need to arm yourself with information about specific fabrics,

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<v Speaker 1>rather than relying on label hype as a guide. Natural

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<v Speaker 1>fabrics created from the fibers of animals, bugs, or plants

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<v Speaker 1>are a good place to start. You'll want to steer

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<v Speaker 1>clear of one percent cotton fabrics because they take a

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<v Speaker 1>long time to dry and will allow body odor to

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<v Speaker 1>bloom in the meantime. This is largely because one cotton

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<v Speaker 1>fabrics are composed of fibers that swell with moisture and

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<v Speaker 1>thereby reduce the pores of the fabric. However, other natural

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<v Speaker 1>fabrics absorb and release sweat quickly, including hemp, a fabric

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<v Speaker 1>woven from these stem fibers of the Cannabis sativa plant,

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<v Speaker 1>and linen woven from flax stems. While it sounds counterintuitive

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<v Speaker 1>to wear wool to prevent body odor, this natural fiber

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<v Speaker 1>is an excellent choice. Wool can absorb up to thirty

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<v Speaker 1>six percent of its weight and moisture without feeling wet,

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<v Speaker 1>and will dry quickly. Will also pass minute amounts of

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<v Speaker 1>body heat as it absorbs moisture, so it will help

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<v Speaker 1>keep you cool. Plus, will is naturally antibacterial, which means

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<v Speaker 1>you can wear it, sweat in it, and keep wearing

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<v Speaker 1>it sometimes for consecutive days without reeking. When it comes

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<v Speaker 1>to making body odor worse, synthetic fabrics tend to trap

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<v Speaker 1>odors at a greater rate than natural fabrics. Although many

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<v Speaker 1>of these man made fabrics, like polyester, are quick to

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<v Speaker 1>wick moisture away from the skin and equally quick to dry,

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<v Speaker 1>their construction can up the stink quotient within the weave

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<v Speaker 1>of synthetic moisture. Waking fabrics are notches designed to pool

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<v Speaker 1>minute amounts of sweat as it transfers from the inner

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<v Speaker 1>layer to the outer layer of the fabric. The concept

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<v Speaker 1>is a good one, as the moisture will generally evaporate

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<v Speaker 1>once it reaches the fabrics outer layer. The problem is

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<v Speaker 1>that as sweat collects in the NOx and crannies of

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<v Speaker 1>the fabric on its way to freedom, it is devoured

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<v Speaker 1>by bacteria that have themselves made a home in those

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<v Speaker 1>same recesses. This traps body odor within the fabric. To

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<v Speaker 1>reduce rowdy odors, look for synthetic fabrics that have an

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<v Speaker 1>added a a microbial ingredient. For example, the addition of

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<v Speaker 1>silver to polyester or spandex fibers can help prevent body

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<v Speaker 1>odor from accumulating silver nano particles. That's particles so small

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<v Speaker 1>that eighty thousand of them could fit within the diameter

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<v Speaker 1>of a human hair can be integrated into synthetic fabric.

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<v Speaker 1>When they get wet, the silver nano particles release silver

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<v Speaker 1>ions that initially slow the growth of odor causing bacteria

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<v Speaker 1>and eventually kill them off altogether. Some fabrics are infused

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<v Speaker 1>with a different type of odor inhibiting agent, molecules of

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<v Speaker 1>volcanic ash. The ash molecules have a poor size that's

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<v Speaker 1>similar to that of an odor molecule. When the two meat,

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<v Speaker 1>the odor molecule is adsorbed and trapped within the ash molecule.

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<v Speaker 1>This prevents the odor molecule from releasing its characteristic smell

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<v Speaker 1>until the fabric is washed in warm water. To prevent

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<v Speaker 1>body odor, look for clothing made from fabrics that will

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<v Speaker 1>help keep you dry and have the added mite of

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<v Speaker 1>antimicrobial helpers, and don't forget the antiperspirant or deodorant. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>episode was written by Laurie L. Dove and produced by

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<v Speaker 1>Tristan McNeil and Tyler Clang. For more on this and

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<v Speaker 1>lots of other fresh topics, visit how stuff works dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>Brain Stuff is production of I Heart Radio. Or more

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