Layering with wool and why GSM matters

 

When I first started wearing wool, I thought they were wrong about it's warmth. I have since discovered using the GSM weight of my clothes and layering. Here's a primer with a bit of help from AI for you.

Am I still wearing wool?

The short answer is yes, all the time, all the items. I am so comfortable wearing wool and will never go back to synthetics. In fact, I cleaned out so many of my non-natural fiber clothes I found I had nothing to wear when I get my hair cut. Why does that matter? 

Natural or Not...

It’s not always cut and dried when trying to stick to natural fabrics. We know wool, cotton, and bamboo are natural while polyester and nylon are not. But what about rayon and some of the newer fabrics out there like TENCEL™ and Lyocell? And when does a wool blend lose the best attributes of wool? As the percentage of wool in the blend decreases, the loss of its desirable properties becomes more apparent. Let’s take a look.

Drying & Organizing My Wool

I’ve been on my merino wool conversion journey since December 2022 and during that time I’ve tried several methods of drying my clothes. Initially it was attempting to dry things flat. I bought two items from Amazon – a mesh over the door dryer rack and a sweater rack. The sweater rack wouldn’t fit in our tub and took up too much room, so back it went. 

Sunscreens – good or bad?

We’ve been told for years to wear sunscreen to help prevent skin cancer as well as fight the signs of aging. I’ve already had skin cancer so this is important to me. And all sunscreens should work, right? 

Not necessarily. Over the years we’ve discovered there are different things to consider other than just the SPF.

Leather or not...

So many times while browsing Amazon, I will see things made out of vegan leather. I typically avoid that if I am looking for real leather. I already avoided anything made of PU leather, it just sounded nasty. Yeah…P U (stinky). LOL!

Don’t wear stripes – they make you look fat. WRONG!

Even when I was thin, I avoided horizontal stripes like the plague. Even when I was skinny (5′ 3″, 110#), I felt too fat. Fast forward almost 40 years and I don’t care anymore. Most of my merino clothes are solids, a far cry from the colorful synthetic leggings and graphic tees I was wearing. While I have a variety of colors, I really wanted more patterns/prints and they have been harder to find.

One more vote for long-lasting wool clothes…

One more reason I buy wool clothing, that will last me years, instead of fast fashion disposables. An excellent, but disturbing article.

Wool GSM and other wool stuff…

When I first started buying merino clothing, I didn’t pay attention to the gsm of the items. Nor did I look at the percentage of wool in the clothes. I have since learned better. Lower gsm is good for warm weather or an under layer but I need the higher gsm for colder months (and yes, I still have to layer).

Another sign of aging…

This one is simple – clothes should be comfortable and presentable. Period. I no longer need to appease the fashion gods. Simple looks, looks that skim the unsightly (to me) body parts. Colors that make me smile. Material that’s soft. 

What I don’t like about wool…

Seriously, there is ONE thing I don’t like about wool that wasn’t an issue with other materials. I have an iPad, iPhone, and Apple Watch and they all collect fingerprints and smudges. A lot of them. It used to be easy to just swipe them with the bottom of whatever casual shirt I was wearing.

Sadly, not with wool. All that does is smear the surface more. Sigh…

I love shoes...

Yes, I admit it. I’m not as bad as many are, but I do like having a variety of shoes. As I moved into my wool wardrobe including Allbirds wool shoes, I cleaned out a lot of my old ones. I even had a small tote full of Teva Mush II flip-flops. I loved them so much, every time Amazon would put them on sale, I’d grab a pair.

Things to know about merino wool…

I grew up in the 50s when wool was hot, heavy, and itchy. I remember taking over my father’s Navy pea coat. It was so heavy and I tried to keep it away from my skin where it would it. Mohair became the craze in the early 60s and everyone wanted one. They shed and although softer than the earlier wool items I had tried, they still became itchy after wearing a bit. Fast forward to the late 80s when I was involved in community theater. I was in a play and the costumer had me put on a cashmere sweater. Oh my! I was shocked at how soft it was. Way out of my budget, it was soon forgotten.

What wool has done for me…

If you’ve followed this blog for a while, you know I’ve made the move to mostly organic clothing. That means wool (merino), cotton, hemp, and linen. I started this transition in December of 2022 and my goal was to be able to pack less for our two month European vacation. Little did I know….

Sudsy, sudsy, sudsy….

I keep reading about how to make your towels softer and fluffier. It’s often caused by using too much detergent in our washing machines, especially the HE ones. When we got our washer for the house seven years ago, it was my first agitator-less machine so I read up on using it. I discovered we were using way too much detergent in our small stack washer in the RV so I was determined to not use too much in this one.

Another change, another choice

In the past I’ve written here about my moving my wardrobe into wool (I’ve since included cotton/flannel/hemp/linen as well) and chemical additives. Now one more thing has changed. We have moved from plastic cutting boards back to wooden ones. While the plastic ones were easy to toss in the dishwasher, we were unknowingly putting microplastics into our food (and environment). There have been several recent studies and reports on this.

Becoming aware...

Growing up, you don’t think much about the chemical additives in the things you use every day for your beauty routine. Lotions, cleansers, shampoos and that sort of thing. Initially, you looked at the cost. Then you examined the claims. Over the years you try to find the ones that work the best for you without breaking your budget.

Fashion Fuss

Aren’t you glad I moved on to a new letter? Actually, I’m tail-gating piggy-backing on yesterday’s post: Clothing – Clothes?

I’ve never been one to follow fashion. In high school and my 20s-30s, it was mostly due to money. As I progressed in my career, I had to use my money wisely yet look professional. Tailored looks worked best. In my casual life during that time, I often adopted a fashion trend just as it was going out. Like bell bottoms and mini-skirts. I wore them, but the fashion industry had moved on.

Clothing – Clothes?

 

Did you know clothing is the clothes people wear? Huh, confusing, isn’t it. Then there is cloth like in facecloth or the cloth you buy to make clothing (or make clothes?). And we can’t forget closet, which has no connection with clothes/clothing. It came from the French word ‘closet’ for small enclosure.

Colors...

As a child, my mother loved to dress me in reds. So much, in fact, that as an adult I avoided red for many years. My favorite color was warm blues. I wore a LOT of blue clothes. One day I found a sale on a red suit. As a professional, I needed suits and when they were on sale, I would grab them.