Wool isn’t just for the winter months. It can keep you cool in the summer.

Wearing wool in the summer may seem like an absurd idea to you. After all, the most common response is that wool is for winter when there is a wind chill factor of 20 below and snow up to your knees.

However, wool is not only warm in the winter. It is also cool in the summer. This is due to wool’s hydrophilic ability to remove excess moisture. In the summer, the coil-like shape of wool removes excess moisture and heat from your skin. This enables you to stay cool even when it is hotter than blazes outside if you are wearing wool-blend summer activewear.

Wool has built-in climate control that allows your skin to breathe in the summer, which keeps you cool and it all the more reason to wear summer wool during hot weather. On the other hand, wool is a natural insulator in the winter and helps keep you warm. Wool allows your body to stay at its optimal temperature. Unlike synthetic fibers that do not breathe as well as wool, wool serves as a bulwark against extreme heat and extreme cold.

Wool has been used for clothing for more than 10,000 years and to this day remains a significant cornerstone for clothing, carpeting and household furnishings.

One of the reasons wool has remained so popular as a material for clothing is because it is made up of the same proteins that are in the outer protective layer of your skin. Consequently, wool works harmoniously with your natural protective mechanisms.

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Wool also has more inherent UV protection than do other fabrics. Wool protects your skin from the harmful rays of the sun, which is certainly an added perk during the hot summer months. Wool is an excellent fabric choice for all seasons, for all articles of wool clothing, from socks to shirts. Men have traditionally changed to “summer wool” suits when winter ends. For others, though, like outdoor enthusiasts – joggers and walkers for example – summer wool is an excellent option after the heavy winter wool and weather-resistant artificial fabrics have been stored.

Wool fabric is springy and resilience and has natural recovery abilities due to its intricate internal structure. This results in crease resistance as well as clothing that drapes beautifully.

Summer wool is often a blend of ultra light Merino wool, which is soft and smooth and is intended for summer as well as providing moderate warmth when it gets cool. The Merino is a breed of sheep that some believe has the softest and finest wool of any sheep. The Poll Merino sheep was developed in Australia and is a sub-type of the basic Australian Merino, which is a domestic sheep. It does not have horns. The horned Merino rams have spiral horns that are long and grow close to their head.

References:

Organic Clothing Blog

Nikon Sport Optics