Polyester clothes turn out to be more likely to smell bad than cotton clothes – GIGAZINE

After analysing various fibres, they found that clothes made from polyester and nylon were more likely to stink than those made from plant-based fibres such as cotton and viscose. “If you’re concerned about your clothes smelling bad, avoid polyester,” the researchers said.

Textile scientists offer fresh insights on why some clothes get smellier
https://phys.org/news/2024-07-textile-scientists-fresh-insights-smellier.html

Rachel McQueen and her colleagues at the University of Alberta soaked various fabrics in a liquid that mimicked sweat and used an analyzer that can detect odorous substances in the air in real time, just like the human nose, to investigate whether the fabrics contained odor-causing compounds.

They found that fibers based on cellulose, a plant-based material, absorbed less of the compounds from sweat than products made from wool, nylon, or polyester fibers.

Sweat is mostly water, but it also contains oily compounds that harbor odor-causing bacteria, says McQueen. When these compounds and odorants get trapped in fabrics, they start to smell.

“Water-loving cellulosic fibres like cotton and viscose are very keen to absorb moisture from sweat, whereas polyester is reluctant to absorb water,” McQueen explained. “Polyester is more oil-loving and will absorb more of the odorous substances that don’t dissolve in water, as well as oily compounds that can break down and become smelly later.”

Nylon and wool, for example, initially absorbed more odorants, but released them faster than polyester. After 24 hours, wool and nylon had much lower levels of odorants, closer to cellulosic fibers, McQueen said. “While polyester clothes will need to be washed, nylon and wool may be able to be refreshed by simply hanging them out to dry rather than washing them every time.”

“Learning more about why sweat makes fabrics smelly can help you make better clothing purchases,” McQueen said. “Generally, if you’re worried about your clothes smelling bad, avoid polyester. There’s a mechanism at work: the chemical properties of the fabric interact with odor-causing substances, so even if a garment says it’s odor-resistant, you might want to be cautious.”