Ask Tug: Undershirts for Hyperhidrosis

Although we’ve touched on this topic recently, I wanted to share this email exchange I had with a reader not too long ago regarding undershirts and excessive sweating.

It’s kind of hard to explain, but when I first read this reader’s email, it connected with me. While I don’t personally suffer from hyperhidrosis, I could truly feel for and relate to the insecurities this reader experiences and expresses to some extent. Most of us have some insecurities – I know I do. Although for the majority of us, they are either emotional ones that can’t be seen or visible insecurities about our personal appearance that can be easily masked with clothing. When I was 25-30lbs heavier, I wore bigger clothes in hopes that it would make me feel better by hiding my moobs [man boobs] and masking my protruding belly. I always hated getting my picture taken because I always saw how overweight I was in the photos. Even though I’ve lost all that weight, some remnants of those physical insecurities still remain in the back of my psyche.

For people who suffer from hyperhidrosis/excessive sweating, they rarely, if ever, have the luxury of being able to hide or mask their condition from the outside world, making it more difficult to hide the insecurity. Protection from clothing like undershirts and underarm sweat guards have limitations (soak/sweat-through). Medical procedures are expensive and have their own physical side effects.

At the moment, there really isn’t any single remedy that fully masks the effects of or cures excessive sweating. For some, this condition can be, as this reader says, truly debilitating. Hopefully the information contained here on the site will help those who suffer and give them the support they need until science can provide them with a permanent cure. Here’s his email:

TUG,

I stumbled across your site and have read your articles about Silverback Apparel and their 2 styles of undershirt for fighting pitting-out by those suffering from hyperhydrosis. Your articles are dated back to spring of this year [2009] and at the time had limited feedback from product testers. I was wondering if any more feedback or data was available to help me make my decisions. There was also a post from a representative of a company looking for product testers of their own new line of shirts, did you ever hear back on their products?

I suffer from excessive sweating in the armpits, and moderately in the hands/feet. It truly has been a debilitating condition for me as it has taken over my life and makes me second guess everything I do. I have tried (without success) multiple types of performance undershirts be it microfiber, polyester, or varieties of dry-fit type clothing. Your articles opened my eyes to the fact the “wicking” technologies are just transporting the moisture to my outer layer and compounding my problem, and pretty much everything I have worn next to plain old Jockey cotton makes me feel more wet throughout the day.

This failed mission in undergarments has led me to attack the problem from the outside. I have found some performance golf polo shirts made of Polyester that do a great (although not perfect) job of preventing marks appearing around my pits. On an average day I can go without marks, but on a heavier day light marks do manage to break through. This limits my life however, as they do not make Oxford style work shirts in this same material and so after 2 years I have developed a reputation at work for wearing the same thing over and over. Not to mention, I end up wearing these same shirts socially as well as around to office to hide my ever-present wetness.

I would love some solid comfortable and effective options for under layers that would allow me to branch out my outer-wear again and help eliminate social anxiety/embarrassment over sweat marks.

Before I spend $30.00+ per undershirt (knowing I would need to order a dozen or so to rotate through the wash) I need to know I have found a solid product that delivers on its design and holds up under repeated washes. And does anyone make them in black T’s as well? (I think Kleinert might actually)

I appreciate the work you have done on your site and hope to make it easier for sufferers like me to come across information on how to improve the quality of our lives.

M

[My Response]

hey m,

thanks so much for taking the time to write in. i can’t even begin to imagine how debilitating it must be to suffer from any form of hyperhydrosis. to some extent, i can relate to what you are experiencing on a small scale, since i am self-conscious about certain parts of my physical appearance as well. but, i have no doubt that my minor insecurities pale in comparison to what you are personally going through.

i don’t have any other recent updates outside of the following articles on my site:
http://www.undershirtguy.com/2009/05/28/ask-tug-what-do-you-think-about-layering-undershirts-to-keep-your-outer-shirt-dry/
http://www.undershirtguy.com/2009/05/04/undershirt-review-second-silverback-apparel-tester-who-suffers-from-excessive-sweating-sees-promise-in-bamboo-fabric/

however, i did hear that (the silverback tester) did write back to them a couple more times with some additional feedback. i’ll see if i can track down those updates for you. one other reader (also affected by excessive sweating) shared his ideas on what would be the ideal undershirt to combat hyperhydrosis with the founder of silverback, but he hasn’t heard back in few months. maybe I can track down what suggestions he made.

based on all the information I have at the moment , the two undershirts that seem to perform the best under heavy sweating conditions are the silverback apparel bamboo undershirt and kleinerts. i’m fairly certain kleinerts come in black as well.

i’ll try to get the updates above and get back to you, but in the mean time, could you share specifics on the performance polo you found. I suspect my readers would appreciate having that info.thanks again for writing in. will be back to you shortly!

best,
tug

– Second Email to “M” after I found some additional information –

hey m,

I checked my email and did find an update from june (below), but I’ll still see if I can find more current information.

best tug

- june update from tester of silverback -

For the most part I would say my comments for the two shirts, based on wearing them periodically now for the past few weeks, are consistent with what I provided in my last evaluation. I continue to like the Bamboo shirt, and am very much looking forward to “pressure testing” if summer ever arrives in Chicago. We’ve had a record-setting unseasonably cold Spring here. For example today, June 13th, the high was only 62 degrees. And it’s been this way for the past month… cold and rainy! While I tend to like cooler weather, it hasn’t provided the best proving ground for my sweating condition. That said, I travel a fair amount and when I’ve been in warmer climates like Dallas, Atlanta and Southern California, the shirt has performed well.

Recall from my last evaluation that for me, performance is all about not letting sweat penetrate through to my outer shirt. Since my heaviest sweating areas are my back and underarms, the double layers on the Bamboo shirt serve me well. It takes a fair amount of sweat in order for me to soak completely through the Bamboo to my outer shirt. In fact, the only time soak-through has occurred is when I’ve sweat heavily on my back, and then had to sit down, bringing my body in direct contact with the back of a chair or car seat. In these instances, the undershirt is obviously tightly “sandwiched” between my body and the outer shirt, and I assume this “compression” is enough to allow the perspiration to penetrate through the Bamboo onto my outer shirt. However in situations where I’m able to avoid direct contact between my body and the back a chair or seat, the Bamboo shirt rarely lets perspiration soak through to my outer shirt — or at least not in the area of the double layers. Additionally, I find the Bamboo shirt fits my very well, and is a very thin and comfortable fabric that doesn’t make me hot (like other synthetic materials do).

In terms of suggestions for improvement, I would prefer a little more “coverage area” for the double layers of the shirt, at least on the back. I know you indicated in an earlier email that you’ve resisted expanding this coverage area for fear of making the wearer too hot. However, my preference would still be to expand the double layer area in the back. For me, even if doing this would make me a little bit warmer, it would be an acceptable trade-off for the superior protection. Incidentally, the underarm coverage area has proven sufficient.

I don’t have much more to say in terms of the X-static. Once again, I have no issue with your version of this undershirt as I’m sure it’s every bit as good (or maybe even better) than others in its class. However my issue is with the inherent functionality of these types of shirts in general. For someone like me who is seeking to prevent soak-through, an undershirt that wicks perspiration away from the skin and transports it to the outer part of the shirt, is a recipe for disaster. Unless I’m missing something (and please tell me if I am), wicking T-shirts by their very definition are going to exacerbate the problem of soak-through I’m trying to solve. I would really appreciate it if you could tell me what the experiences of other wearers of this shirt (who share my heavy sweating problem) have been. Are you aware of hyperhidrosis sufferers who prefer the X-static over the Bamboo?

[M's Response]

Great feedback, I did not notice that one when reading through the blogs. Keep it coming on anything additional you find!

I will get the labels off of my polos tonight and respond. The shirts are nothing too special. I bought them through my company online store which had various suppliers shirts that you could slap the company logo on. I think Ashford and Callaway are the 2 manufacturers I chose. I know they are both 100% polyester and the product descriptions indicated they dealt with moisture management which caught my eye.

They have worked out very well. My 100% cotton Jockey T’s soak-up the majority of the moisture and the resistance of the polyester keep most of it from leaking through. The downside is my cotton undershirt feels like im wearing a sponge under my arms all day and it becomes very uncomfortable, not to mention with the heavy antiperspirants I use to try to fight the sweating after a few months the underarms begin to get stiff and yellow (I’m assuming it’s a buildup from the chemicals or aluminum in the antiperspirants.)

As your initial Silverback tester notated though, my priorities are function > comfort > style/appearance. I need an undershirt that allows me to wear outer-wear that’s not made of polyester. I have been given a couple silk dress shirts as gifts and other fine material clothing that I can never even consider wearing because of the instant pitting that occurs. I would love to be able to throw on whatever I wanted to wear and not have to think about that.

Thanks for your support!

[My email to another reader who suffers from hyperhidrosis and his response]

hey MA..

… had you tried silverback? if so, what did you think and have you found any other undershirt that is as effective in preventing sweat-through?

best,
tug

[MA's response]

Hi Tug,

Thank you for your response.

I did buy some Silverback, but unfortunately, my sweat made it through. I do like the double-layered back, but the entire shirt needs to be double-layered with a plastic waterproof material in between the layers. This is what I explained to Jonathan. They key is to stop the sweat from showing on the outside as this is where the embarrassment is for us hyperhidrosis sufferers!

So far, the Kleinert’s shirts have been the most effective for me. I do sweat through, but usually it takes quite a soaking before sweat comes through.

Please do remind Jonathan and hopefully one day, a new undershirt will come out and I assure you I will buy 10 the first day, and let all my buddies with this dreadful condition know about it right away.

Thank you and best regards,
MA