Thermals - old idea, new meaning

By Kasia Pilch


Thermal underwear is a basic layer of clothing worn against the skin. It is made of specialist fabrics that have very good moisture control, breath-ability and thermal parameters. Thermals can be worn at night during camping. They are also excellent during challenging trekking, mountain climbing, jogging, cycling and even diving. Thermals are one of the most important parts of sports wear. They decide of your comfort during physical activity.

The best and probably the most famous fabric recently is merino wool. Polypropylene and poly-amide are also widely used in thermals production, but they don't have such excellent thermal properties as merino wool. Wool is much softer this days. It is not causing skin irritation any more. The best merino products will have some polypropylene fibers incorporated in it to increase breath-ability. It is not uncommon to find about 2% of elastic in merino thermals.

Why do you choose thermal underwear? The answer is simple. You want your clothes to feel like a second skin during the most challenging exercise. Clothes are supposed to increase your performance by keeping the body optimum temperature and keeping the sweat away from the skin. The innovative construction of thermals consists of two layers of sophisticated knitwear. The layer next to the skin will transfer the moisture away, while the second layer keeps the optimum temperature during physical exercise.

You will face quite a tough choice when it comes to buying thermal underwear. Choose carefully as you will need this garment to work for you really hard. Think what you need these clothing for. Thermals are great to sleep in and you don't want any unwanted seam or information tag to irritate your skin. And here comes the newest technology in clothing production. There are seamless thermals available on the market. They are much more comfortable than your standard thermals.

Before I wrote this article I checked majority of brands available in Australia. I was really surprised how big differences there were in quality and price. Not always the most recognizable brands and the most expensive items were the best. quite opposite actually. I came across brands that were made in Europe and they exceeded the quality of those that are produced in Asian countries. Go for the quality when you buy thermals. You will really experience the difference.




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