Cotton Kills. Or does it?

[Desk Jockey]

Weight, even when dry. The whole fast drying thing. Synthetics do have their advantages.

Like you, I spent an awful lot of time in BDUs in a variety of weather from +100 to well below freezing. It works. Synthetics arguably work better for some temps and weather conditions but hunt what you got.

I have said before and maintain that there are far more tons of wild game meat getting put into freezers by bubbas in carhart work jackets every year than all the other “high speed” gear brands combined.

 

[twall13]

I have a few thoughts on this that haven't been mentioned. My son did a science experiment in 4th grade comparing different fabrics and how quickly they dried. It's not a perfect test by any means but we took 4 of my shirts made from different fabrics (cotton, nylon, polyester, and wool) and poured 1 cup of water on each, letting it completely soak in. We weighed each shirt before, and then again once wet. We continued to weigh the shirts until they returned to the original dry weight. Some observations: Nylon and Polyester took longer to absorb the water initially, while the cotton soaked it up and the merino was somewhere in between. Polyester dried the fastest, followed shortly after by nylon and merino. Cotton took literally over twice as long to dry out.

A couple of notes on this. 1 cup of water seemed like it had the polyester and nylon shirts close to saturation point and they immediately began dripping water in the drying process (wicking materials). The cotton probably could have held 3 or 4 cups (just speculating) but it's absorption rate meant nothing was dripping from that shirt. My take away is that cotton will absorb a lot more moisture and hold on to it a lot longer than the other fabrics. The synthetics hold the least and dry the quickest but also stink quickly. For my purposes I use merino wool next to skin (keeps the stink at bay) or better yet a merino blend and typically synthetics after that.

For most guys, cotton won't kill you because you are close enough to where you can get out of it and get into something dry long before it becomes a problem. You aren't in a true survival situation. Go on a 2 week drop camp in Alaska and that might be a different story. Regardless of whether it's a survival situation, you'll be more comfortable in synthetics or merino.

One big exception to this is if the temperatures will never get above, say 20 degrees Fahrenheit. In that case, cotton can actually be a great layer as it breathes really well and lets the water vapors from your body pass to the outside of your layers. A lot of the guys who do extreme winter camping use cotton. I don't personally do enough of that where I'd ever consider dedicated cold weather cotton clothes.

 

[RCB]

Regardless of thermal properties when wet, I wear wool because it dries out much faster (and they stink a whole lot less). Dry wool is much better than wet cotton!

I found that the difference wasn't so much about the drying rate but the total water absorption. Wool absorbs less water to begin with so it also happens to dry out earlier. But, at least from my little amateur experiment, it wasn't a huge difference. It's not like wool dries out in minutes and cotton dries out in hours. Maybe in the real world it is different.

 

[RCB]

I have a few thoughts on this that haven't been mentioned. My son did a science experiment in 4th grade comparing different fabrics and how quickly they dried. It's not a perfect test by any means but we took 4 of my shirts made from different fabrics (cotton, nylon, polyester, and wool) and poured 1 cup of water on each, letting it completely soak in. We weighed each shirt before, and then again once wet. We continued to weigh the shirts until they returned to the original dry weight. Some observations: Nylon and Polyester took longer to absorb the water initially, while the cotton soaked it up and the merino was somewhere in between. Polyester dried the fastest, followed shortly after by nylon and merino. Cotton took literally over twice as long to dry out.

A couple of notes on this. 1 cup of water seemed like it had the polyester and nylon shirts close to saturation point and they immediately began dripping water in the drying process (wicking materials). The cotton probably could have held 3 or 4 cups (just speculating) but it's absorption rate meant nothing was dripping from that shirt. My take away is that cotton will absorb a lot more moisture and hold on to it a lot longer than the other fabrics. The synthetics hold the least and dry the quickest but also stink quickly. For my purposes I use merino wool next to skin (keeps the stink at bay) or better yet a merino blend and typically synthetics after that.

Interesting. Thanks for sharing.

Here was how my experiment worked. I put cotton, wool, and synthetic shirts of approximately the same thickness into a washing machine and put it on a short soak and spin cycle. I weighed them before. The idea of putting them into the same cycle was to give them approximately the same soaking conditions, because I found that doing it by hand was too unreliable. Then, at the end of the soaking cycle, I weighed them. Then weighed them at something like 15 minute intervals until they were dry. I repeated this a few times. So, pretty similar to what you did. I found that drying *rate* was nearly identical for all fabrics, in terms of grams of water evaporated per minute. But since the cotton soaked up a bit more water per weight, it did take longer to get dry. Not a huge difference, though. And remember that it's per weight: a thick, heavy merino layer will absorb more water and stay wet longer than a thin cotton layer. But, pound for pound, cotton is at a disadvantage.

One weakness of my experiment was that didn't account for how readily the fabrics soaked up the water from a dry state. My washing machine method assured that all were saturated by the time they got out, but prevented me from seeing how quickly they saturated.

 

[RCB]

I looked at my old numbers. The cotton shirt absorbed about 40% more water per weight than the wool. I guess I didn't write it down for the synthetic, but I think it was only slightly better than the wool. 40% isn't huge but I suppose it's not tiny either - might be significant enough to make a difference. In any case, why not choose the best if you can afford it?

 

[twall13]

Interesting. Thanks for sharing.

Here was how my experiment worked. I put cotton, wool, and synthetic shirts of approximately the same thickness into a washing machine and put it on a short soak and spin cycle. I weighed them before. The idea of putting them into the same cycle was to give them approximately the same soaking conditions, because I found that doing it by hand was too unreliable. Then, at the end of the soaking cycle, I weighed them. Then weighed them at something like 15 minute intervals until they were dry. I repeated this a few times. So, pretty similar to what you did. I found that drying *rate* was nearly identical for all fabrics, in terms of grams of water evaporated per minute. But since the cotton soaked up a bit more water per weight, it did take longer to get dry. Not a huge difference, though. And remember that it's per weight: a thick, heavy merino layer will absorb more water and stay wet longer than a thin cotton layer. But, pound for pound, cotton is at a disadvantage.

One weakness of my experiment was that didn't account for how readily the fabrics soaked up the water from a dry state. My washing machine method assured that all were saturated by the time they got out, but prevented me from seeing how quickly they saturated.

My son's experiment wasn't without issues, remember it's at a 4th grade level, but it was still enlightening. We used the 1 cup of water so it was easily measurable and repeatable so we were getting the same amount of water in each fabric to see how long that fabric held on to the water. That said, one of the shirts was a long sleeve which means it had more surface area to dry from (we used what I had on hand). They were, however, all pretty thin materials though there was some difference in thickness.

I also wonder how drying times might differ if body heat was added to the equation.

Like I said, it wasn't a perfect experiment but was still insightful. Cotton towels for absorption, synthetics for athletic gear and swimming suits, etc. to dry out quickly and so on were his takeaways on fabric applications.

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[264win]

A good way for many people to experience the difference for them selves is with socks.

On a very active day wear cotton one day and merino ( of similar thickness ) the next. If possible do this wearing your hunting boots.

No comparison for me. Wool all the way

 

[am10nxw]

Regarding wool: People talk about this “wool keeps you warm when wet” thing all the time, but I’ve yet to find a scientific paper that shows the actual difference. If anyone has a link that actually measures conductivity differences (actually *shows* the difference, doesn’t just say it), then please share.

I found an amateur blog post that attempted to do just this. http://woodtrekker.blogspot.com/2012/11/cotton-vs-wool-insulation.html?m=1
The results looks about the same, whether it’s wool, fleece, or cotton: wet clothes don’t insulate well. But of course this is not a conclusive test.

I did my own experiment with cotton, wool, and synthetics with regard to water absorption and rate of drying. Basically what I found was that, per weight, a synthetic shirt (polyester) absorbed the least water per weight, with merino wool a close second. Cotton absorbed the most. The differences weren’t huge, and different weaves and thicknesses could change that result I think. Thickness matters a lot: a thick wool layer is going to absorb more moisture than a thin cotton layer. Rates of drying did not appear to be different. My tentative conclusions were (1) garment thickness is probably the most important consideration - a thick layer will be warmer but also be heavier and absorb more moisture. (2) synthetics and wool are slightly preferable to cotton but it’s not a huge difference.

By the way, I did the same experiment with a fleece jacket. It held substantially less water per weight than other fabrics. Probably not surprising to most people here.

I backpacked almost exclusively in cotton when I was a kid, although that was always in summer and I never had any close calls with weather.

This test just shows that fleece, cotton, and wool all perform very poorly at insulating when completely water logged. He started with each material soaked and then continued to soak them every five minutes. If you are looking for stuff that keeps you warm when completely soaked you would need to look at neoprene or other materials used for making dry suits or wet suits.

The test should really be on what performs the best while damp. If you get soaked and have to quickly ring out your clothes and put them back on what will be the best. Also if you end up excessively sweating and you don't have other clothes to change into as the temperature drops. This is really where wool or polyester type fleece works out much better then cotton.

Here's a couple of good sources that explain why wool is good. http://amhealthmaster.http.internap...r/DOCUMENT/SheepUSA/CharacteristicsOfWool.pdf
https://www.geoffanderson.com/materials-in-geoff-anderson-products/

The most important thing is to stay dry. None of the insulation layers will help you if you remain soaking wet. Take rain gear, don't fall into body's of water, and keep your insulation dry.

 

[RCB]

Here's a couple of good sources that explain why wool is good. http://amhealthmaster.http.internap...r/DOCUMENT/SheepUSA/CharacteristicsOfWool.pdf
https://www.geoffanderson.com/materials-in-geoff-anderson-products/

I've read links like these about how "the structure of wool" makes it behave differently when wet, etc. The problem is that they are almost never accompanied by any experimental proof. Both of these cases are from people who seem to have an interest in you buying wool (first link is from an American Wool group, second is from a clothing seller). To the second link's credit, some sources are cited, but I can't find some of the papers. I'm not saying anyone's lying, but I'd like to see the data myself.

None of this is to suggest that wool isn't superior to cotton, and so on. I think it is. But I'm still searching for really good and transparent papers that demonstrate this experimentally.

The test should really be on what performs the best while damp. If you get soaked and have to quickly ring out your clothes and put them back on what will be the best. Also if you end up excessively sweating and you don't have other clothes to change into as the temperature drops. This is really where wool or polyester type fleece works out much better then cotton.

Perhaps you are right. I'd like to see some data on it.

 

[100percent]

Regarding wool: People talk about this “wool keeps you warm when wet” thing all the time, but I’ve yet to find a scientific paper that shows the actual difference. If anyone has a link that actually measures conductivity differences (actually *shows* the difference, doesn’t just say it), then please share.

I found an amateur blog post that attempted to do just this. http://woodtrekker.blogspot.com/2012/11/cotton-vs-wool-insulation.html?m=1
The results looks about the same, whether it’s wool, fleece, or cotton: wet clothes don’t insulate well. But of course this is not a conclusive test.

I did my own experiment with cotton, wool, and synthetics with regard to water absorption and rate of drying. Basically what I found was that, per weight, a synthetic shirt (polyester) absorbed the least water per weight, with merino wool a close second. Cotton absorbed the most. The differences weren’t huge, and different weaves and thicknesses could change that result I think. Thickness matters a lot: a thick wool layer is going to absorb more moisture than a thin cotton layer. Rates of drying did not appear to be different. My tentative conclusions were (1) garment thickness is probably the most important consideration - a thick layer will be warmer but also be heavier and absorb more moisture. (2) synthetics and wool are slightly preferable to cotton but it’s not a huge difference.

By the way, I did the same experiment with a fleece jacket. It held substantially less water per weight than other fabrics. Probably not surprising to most people here.

I backpacked almost exclusively in cotton when I was a kid, although that was always in summer and I never had any close calls with weather.

I've read links like these about how "the structure of wool" makes it behave differently when wet, etc. The problem is that they are almost never accompanied by any experimental proof. Both of these cases are from people who seem to have an interest in you buying wool (first link is from an American Wool group, second is from a clothing seller). To the second link's credit, some sources are cited, but I can't find some of the papers. I'm not saying anyone's lying, but I'd like to see the data myself.

None of this is to suggest that wool isn't superior to cotton, and so on. I think it is. But I'm still searching for really good and transparent papers that demonstrate this experimentally.


Perhaps you are right. I'd like to see some data on it.

OMG!!! The cynical mind never ceases to amaze!!! You don’t need data! Experience is too easy to comprehend in this case. Pick a 30 degree day this winter—-soak both a cotton and wool shirt—-wring them out—- wear each one for 30 minutes outside and make your own determination! I guarantee you will develop VERY conclusive data of your own!

 

[hikenhunt]

Twall13, I'd be interested in how much the wool and cotton shirts weighed dry that you used in your experiments. Were they they same shape/size?

 

[excaliber]

Yup cotton Kills. 90% of everything I've killed over the years has been when I was wearing Cotton Predator camo.

 

[twall13]

Twall13, I'd be interested in how much the wool and cotton shirts weighed dry that you used in your experiments. Were they they same shape/size?

I just saw this. It was a couple of years ago and I don't think I saved the data but the cotton, polyester and merino wool were all similar weight t-shirts within an ounce or two, same size, and similar shapes. The nylon shirt was a long sleeved fishing shirt of thin material which likely skewed the results to some degree as the longer sleeves meant more surface area to dry and the thinner material probably didn't absorb the water as well. Like I said, it wasn't a perfect experiment (4th grade science) but it was still enlightening.

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[Boarmaster]

Living in hot muggy Southwest Florida I will tell you that cotton is comfortable and great right up until it gets wet. Then its heavy and miserable. For fishing down here most have switched to a synthetic
Material. Kayak fishing your pretty much wet all day and modern wicking material the way to go. Much different than the old hot nylon synthetic crap of 10 -20 years ago.

 

[MillCreekMike]

At 56 I grew up hunting in cotton, yeah I killed animals but I was rarely comfortable. I remember sweating my ass off when active & freezing while glassing in cold clammy wet cotton. Makes me shiver just thinking about it. I know synthetics & wool/wool blends are far superior than cotton. Carharts are great for chores & cutting fire wood but I still wear a bblended base layer. Decades of experience was my experiment.

 

[sam hill]

After spending all my cash on a high end pack, boots and glass, I wore el cheapo synthetic clothing
on our 12 day sheep hunt this August. Got caught in a few showers enroute to spike camp , to lazy to put on rain gear. The synthetics dried quickly where as cotton would have stayed wet for a long time.
After a few days couldn't stand the smell of myself, luckily there were great places for a stream bath.
Going to invest in Merino base layers on my next mountain adventure.