Is wool really an option in this hot weather?
Before I get to the viability of wearing wool in hot weather, let me give you a bit of background for this quest.
A few weeks ago, my husband joined our brother-in-law’s team at our local cinema for a sci-fi film quiz and being the movie fans they are, they won! Their prize was a voucher for a free cinema ticket each with today being the expiry date for it to be used.
So yesterday, we decided to go to the cinema to see the latest Thor film but in order to get there we had to leave our home (which I’m not so keen on in this warm weather) and drive into town, park and then walk to the cinema. In normal circumstances, this is not an issue but with the current weather situation in the UK making everything feel like the devil’s armpit, this wasn’t such an inviting prospect. When are they going to make teleportation a thing btw?
Now, if you do a simple Google search for ‘wool and warm weather’ you will see many people saying that wool is perfect for warm weather for several reasons. The first is that it takes the heat away from your body and lets it go, not hanging on to it like cotton and the second is real wool doesn’t hang on to smells in the same way as other materials, meaning it doesn’t need washing so often and you won’t be smelly!
On Tuesday, I had been forcibly ejected into the hot weather to go food shopping with my Mum. I wore some lovely airy shorts and an ordinary, thin cotton tee shirt. To say I had to wring out the shirt when I got home is an overstatement, but adding the heat to my existing anxiety-related sweating, I definitely had to change my tee when I got home.
When we decided to go to the cinema yesterday, I had intended to wear another tee shirt, but as I was having a shower (why do we always get the best ideas there?!) I remember reading several times that wool is great in warm weather. I decided to try it and I chose this top, again with shorts.
We drove into town, parked the car in a covered multi-storey park and walked out of the car park into the lunchtime heat. As we took the first few steps, it seemed no different than the day before, but as we carried on I focused more on how I felt in the top and to my shock, it felt cooler. And not just a little cooler but I could feel that the parts of me under the top felt a marked amount cooler than the bits that weren’t! And as I moved along, the wool really allowed any breeze to get through to me and let my skin breathe. It felt really odd but very welcome and when we got home the top was as fresh as the day it was made! I simply sprayed the top with some water (with a few drops of lavender essential oil in it) to freshen it and left it to air overnight hanging on a clothes rail. This is something I do whenever I wear a woollen top for no other reason than I like it!
And there we have it. My very unscientific anecdote about my journey into wearing wool in hot weather.
I will be attending my first-ever craft fayre on Sunday.
And there is an amber-level heat warning in place that day.
And I will be wearing a woolly top!
Update: I decided to look into this further to find out why wool keeps us cool in hot weather and warm in cold weather. Have a read!
