Cotton in summer — why the natural fibre beats synthetics

Performance shirts advertise moisture wicking, and for sport that's true. For a hot day in the city something else applies — what matters there isn't how fast a fabric dries, but how it feels when you're barely moving.

The difference in practice

• Smell. Cotton absorbs moisture and releases it slowly. Polyester moves it on, but gives bacteria a surface to cling to. That's why synthetics smell after a day and cotton doesn't.
• Feel on the skin. A firm cotton fabric stands slightly away from the body and lets air in between. Thin synthetics cling as soon as they get damp.
• Durability. Cotton gets softer with washing. Polyester stays as it is until it pills.

What garment dyed means

With most shirts, the yarn is dyed and then sewn. The garment-dyed process works the other way round: first it's sewn, then the whole garment is dyed.

That has two consequences. First, the shirt shrinks once during the process — what happens after purchase is minimal. Second, each piece takes the colour slightly differently. Two shirts of the same colour are never exactly identical, and that's intended.

The weight

Standard T-shirts are around 150 grams per square metre. Anything from about 200 grams falls noticeably differently: the fabric hangs straight down, the edges don't roll, and the shirt keeps its shape after washing.

The downside, to be honest, is also clear — a denser shirt takes longer to dry and is warmer than a thin one at over thirty degrees in full sun. If you work in the heat all day, you're better served by lighter fabric. For everything else, the feel wins.

Care in one sentence

Inside out, thirty degrees, no tumble dryer. The full version is in our post on caring for our shirts.

Our shirts are made of 100 percent combed cotton at 220 grams per square metre. They are not garment dyed. Overview under All T-shirts.