The Undershirt Sweat Challenge: Execwear Nylon-Lycra Moisture Wicking Undershirt
Well, I know it’s been a couple of weeks, but I’m happy to announce that the moisture wicking vs. cotton undershirt sweat challenge is alive and well!
The goal of this challenge, if you recall, is to find out if sweat will reach an outer layer of clothing faster if you’re wearing a moisture wicking undershirt or non moisture wicking undershirt.
The test subject: Last night I took the opportunity to test out the Black Crewneck Undershirt (84% Meryl/Nylon, 16% Lycra) from Execwear.
The test: Same 10K cardiovascular work out on the elliptical while wearing two layers of shirts. First layer is the Execwear moisture wicking high crew neck undershirt, size large. The fit is much closer than the former three undershirts that have gone through the sweat challenge (Duluth V-Neck Undershirt, Alfani Cotton V-Neck, and the Coolmax V-Neck). To provide a quick comparison of how the different undershirts fit, laying flat, the Execwear undershirt measures 19.5″ from underarm to underarm, the Duluth undershirt measures 21.5″, the Coolmax undershirt is 22.5″, and the Alfani measures 22″ from underarm to underarm laying flat. While it may not be obvious, at 19.5″ wide laying flat, the Execwear undershirt is the narrowest undershirt of the group and will ride the closest to my body.
The one other difference was that the Execwear undershirt was a high crew neck, where the other undershirts were all v-necks.
My second layer was a typical oversized cotton t-shirt (a Breakwater t-shirt from Target to be exact).
Initial Results: I took a close look at my light-colored outer t-shirt to see where there were noticeable sweat marks. There was about a 4″ round sweat circle on the center front of the shirt, directly under the collar. Comparatively, the crew neck collared Execwear undershirt let less sweat through than the other v-necks, but that should be expected since the crew neck undershirt provided a layer of protection in the upper chest area that did not exist in the v-necks. The other areas that had noticeable sweat stains included the back of the collar and in the shoulders.
I will say that it did seem that there was less sweat that had reached the outer t-shirt than when I performed the same sweat challenge test with the other undershirts.
The other thing I noticed was that I felt pretty comfortable and cool for the entire workout. While the undershirt did have a reasonable amount of wetness on it after the workout, I never felt too wet or weighed down while wearing it.
Now, there is a possibility that since this shirt fit closer than the others, there was more room (and air) between the undershirt and my outer t-shirt. More room = Less contact. More air = ability for moisture to evaporate more effectively.
It’s hard to tell exactly why this undershirt seemed to perform a little better than other the other undershirts. Was it the closer fit, the fabric blend, or a combination of them both? I couldn’t honestly tell you, but as I test more undershirts, hopefully we’ll find a pattern.
Thanks for reading!
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