Anti-Odor Fabric Put to The Test: These Hiking Shirts Stink Less and Dry Faster

We’re no strangers to sweat. We live in Utah, after all, where the desert sun is hot and the air is dry and hiking up mountains regularly happens when it’s over 90ºF. Naturally, that means we’re no strangers to funky smells coming from our clothing, either. So we decided to run a little test to see what fabrics dry fastest and stink less when they get sweaty.

Why? Because:

• We don’t actually love smelling like hiker trash
• Doing laundry sucks
• Laundry uses a lot of energy and water
• Synthetics shed more microplastics in the wash than anywhere else, so washing less is best
• We don’t always have access to a washer (hello, road trips and thru hikes)
• We’re ultralight backpackers, so we’re usually only wearing one shirt for a multi-day trip
• Nobody likes to be damp with sweat for an hour after they’re done exercising

But we know from previous tests that synthetic shirts with any kind of anti-odor technology, while they wick sweat and dry fast, still smell after just one or two wears. So we took a handful of shirts made of different materials–cotton, hemp, polyester, wool and a new castor bean oil-based fabric–and put them to the test to see which stunk less after multiple wears and which dried fastest on a warm day. Here are the results.

About the Hiking Shirts

But first, a bit about the hiking shirts we used for this test:

• Castor Bean Oil: We tested the Terracross shirt from Italian brand Uyn (pronounced “win”). It’s a 99% bio-based material that also includes eucalyptus and often un-utilized fibers from cotton plants. Which means it’s biodegradable and won’t shed microplastics! It feels similar to wool, but less itchy, stretchier and super breathable.
• Hemp: The Astral HempTech T-shirt was the representative for the hemp family. Made of a blend of hemp and organic cotton (most brands don’t offer 100% hemp options), it’s heavier weight, but still really breathable and not at all clingy.
• Cotton: We wore the 100% organic cotton Pact Featherweight Slub Long Sleeve Tee for the test. It’s super lightweight and breathable, which makes cotton a great material for hiking shirts for hot weather, but it doesn’t have as much stretch since there’s no elastic. We love that it’s made of renewable, sustainable, natural materials.
• Wool: A standard in the outdoors, we borrowed an Icebreaker Merino Tank because we’re vegan and don’t own wool. But for the sake of science and thoroughness, we included a merino wool hiking shirt in the test knowing wool often excels at anti-stink properties and is a popular fabric in the outdoors.
• Synthetic: One of the most popular options and some of the best hiking shirts are synthetic, renowned for drying fast and wicking sweat like nobody’s business. We tested the Fjallraven Abisko Day Hike shirt because it doesn’t have any specific anti-odor properties.

Anti Odor Fabric: What Materials Smell the Least?

To test each shirt’s stink factor, we wore them each for several very warm hikes, let them dry completely, and then did a smell test as soon as possible afterward (not the most fun part of the job, let me tell you…). Here are the results, ranked from the least stinky hiking shirts to the most stinky to highlight what fabrics don’t retain odor–or at least as much. (Ranked 1-5 with 1 being the least stinky.)

• Castor Bean Oil: 🤢🫥🫥🫥🫥 After three days of intense exercise in this shirt (and plenty of sweat), we were surprised to discover that it hardly smelled at all. In fact, we were downright stunned by how little stink was coming off of the Terracross after it absorbed as much perspiration as it did. What’s more, it breathed stupendously well, didn’t feel clingy or sticky at all, and was a genuine delight to wear. 1/5
• Wool: 🤢🫥🫥🫥🫥 We weren’t surprised that the wool shirt didn’t smell much at all after getting it good and sweaty over a few days. In fact, it had a barely imperceptible smell once it dried out. 1/5
• Hemp: 🤢🤢🫥🫥🫥 We weren’t surprised by the lack of stink on the hemp option. After all, hemp is touted to be naturally anti-microbial to at least some degree. In fact, it smelled barely worse than the castor bean or hemp option. Just enough to be noticeable. And while it was a heavier weight shirt, it still breathed well and didn’t feel clingy. 2/5
• Cotton: 🤢🤢🤢🫥🫥 This shirt’s smell was just a TINY bit more noticeable than the hemp, even after several days of getting soaked through with sweat. In fact, we were tempted to call it a tie with the cotton, but several noses detected just enough more stink. Let’s call it a 2.5/5
• Synthetic: 🤢🤢🤢🤢🫥 This was no surprise; we know synthetics stink. Heck, even synthetics treated with anti-order products still develop a distinct smell after a couple of days (though it’s not as strong and it takes a little longer). If you’re worried about smell above all else, this one’s guaranteed to be the worst offender.

Quick Dry Hiking Shirts: What Materials Dry the Fastest?

Next, in addition to taking note of how fast hiking shirts dried when hiking, we took each one, sprayed them the same number of times with a spray bottle, left them outside, and checked them every five minutes (front and back) to see which felt completely dry to the touch first. Was it the most scientific test in the world? No. But it should offer a decent baseline. We’re not totally surprised by what we found after testing them all on the trail in real-world conditions. (Ranked 1-5 with 1 being the quickest drying.)

• Castor Bean Oil: 💧This shirt dried the fastest by close to 5 minutes. It was tight race, but both the front and back of the fabric were dry before any of the material’s competitors. 1/5
• Synthetic: 💧 Next to dry out was the lightweight synthetic shirt, which was thinner than the castor bean oil shirt. It was only a few minutes behind. 1/5
• Cotton: 💧💧 Nearly tied with the synthetic shirt was, surprisingly, the cotton one. It’s likely because it’s warm and dry here in Utah and the material was very lightweight and breathable. Thicker cotton materials take much longer to dry. 2/5
• Wool: 💧💧💧 Likely due to the super light weight of the material and the hiking-specific design, the wool shirt dried faster than we expected; just a few minutes behind the fastest drying materials. Not all wool will dry so fast, though, especially thicker fabrics and especially when layered with other clothing in the winter. 2/5
• Hemp: 💧💧💧💧💧 We expected this shirt to dry the slowest largely because it was much thicker material than the other options we tested. That said, it was only 5-10 minutes behind, so not a deal breaker, at least in the summer. 5/5

Remember, though, that drying times have as much to do with material thickness (thinner fabric dry faster), temperature (warmer temps mean faster drying) and humidity (dry environments will dry clothing faster) as they do with actual material composition.

These tests were done in hot, dry Utah. In cooler or more humid environments, drying times may increase many times over, turning a difference of a few minutes into potentially hours. Which is why we never choose slow-drying fabrics for backpacking or hiking in cold or wet weather. Hemp and cotton especially may never dry out completely.

Bottom Line

So what material is the gold standard for stinking less and drying fastest? And which will we choose for most adventures? Well, we love cotton and hemp and other plant-based fibers for warm, dry weather.

But honestly, when we can, we’ll opt for apparel made out of castor beans more than any other fabric for most extended adventures. It’s plant-based, so will biodegrade and not shed microplastics, has an excellent balance of anti-stink and quick-drying properties, and doesn’t require animals to create it. That’s an all-around win for sustainability, but also comfort, because it’s also not clingy, is supremely breathable, and a pleasure to wear.

Unfortunately, it is still a fairly new material technology, so isn’t super widely available yet. That said, we hope to see more brands crafting clothing out of castor bean oil soon!

While fast-drying materials may be the more important factor when it comes to safety (damp clothes can mean a faster route to hypothermia), the impact smelly clothes can have on a trip can’t be understated. It’s no fun to have to purposely distance yourself from your hiking buddies just so their stench (or your own) doesn’t induce nausea after three days on the trail.

Stink-free hiking shirts can also mean you stay more comfortable and have to do less laundry whether you’re on a day hike, a weekend trip or a thru-hike. And less laundry is always a win.

So gear up in less smelly hiking clothing and wander on.