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Comment by jweir | Hacker News Reader

Yes but it is becoming increasingly difficult to do so. Clothing that was 100% cotton in the past now has a bit of spandex or other synthetic to give it a stretch.

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Especially if you are looking for functional clothing. I am not fond of the idea of going back to run or bike in cotton, especially considering commutes and bad weather.

Are there alternatives to synthetic clothing?

I don't know if there are any 100% options, but wool seems to be a possibility. It's usually blended with tencel, nylon, and/or lycra.

Tencel is actually not that synthetic (made from cellulose).

Personally I cannot stand most wool directly on my skin, exceptions being merino and cashmere, and no wool on wet (sweating) skin, but tencel is amazing.

Merino wool?

Is definitely the best option for technical clothes for cold weather. Try and avoid the blends and look for as close to 100% as possible.

I'd say that if you want your merino wool to last, it's imperative to look for blends. Pure merino wool is extremely fragile. Whether that's bad for the environment or not, I don't know.

Blends need to be washed way more often. If you don't overwash your pure wool it will last well.

Source my clothes.

Except that this particular discussion is about using wool in performance athletic gear.

I know I use wool for cross country skiing and cycling in cooler months. These clothes last several uses. When I try the same with plastic blends they need washing after one use.

EDIT. Several uses closely spaced and the items are aired out between use. If you sweat all over some wool then leave it in ball for a week it will probably rot.

I don't find this to the the case at all. Most of my base layers are blended merino and they need to be washed just as rarely as pure merino. Perhaps not all blends are created equal.

Interesting what percentages are we talking? Something like 30% is enough to ruin the garment for me. Maybe I am just very smelly!

So I looked at my clothing, and most of it seems to be 87% merino wool, which is less plastic than I expected, however in my experience that 13% makes a huge difference in terms of durability.

For running, I've gone exclusively to the "SmartWool" type shirts. To me they're just as cool when it's warm as the give-away nylon shirts you get at races, and I can get the stench out that simply refuses to leave synthetic shirts. Works well in the wet, and when I was bike commuting through Seattle winters I'd probably be wool all the way to the outer layer. Back in the day, wool cycle shorts were common, but I've not looked for them recently and just stuck to the usual spandexey shorts.

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