What Are Quick Drying Clothes?
Quick drying clothes refer to the apparel that dries faster. Compared with wool or cotton clothes, under the same external conditions, quick-drying clothes are easier to evaporate water and dry faster thanks to its moisture-wicking feature. It does not absorb sweat, but quickly transfers sweat to the surface of the clothes, and evaporates the sweat through air circulation, thereby achieving the purpose of quick drying. The drying speed of general quick drying clothes is 50% faster than that of cotton fabrics.
When doing outdoor activities, a lot of exercise makes clothes get wet easily. Quick-drying clothes are characterized by moisture absorption and quick drying, so they have become the first choice for outdoor enthusiasts for summer outdoor activities.
The amount of outdoor exercise is generally large, and it is very uncomfortable to stick to the body after the clothes are soaked in sweat. In order to get rid of the uncomfortable feeling of a lot of sweat pooling on the skin surface, some people will choose to wear “comfortable and breathable” pure cotton clothing.
But in fact, pure cotton clothing can only absorb sweat and is not breathable, so it is not suitable for sports. Quick dry clothes with good performance can introduce sweat into the surface of the clothes so that the sweat can quickly volatilize and restore the comfort of the human body.
Some people think that fast-drying clothes are very mysterious and believe that there are many high-tech ingredients in them. In fact, most of the quick-drying clothes are made of chemical fiber fabrics, but because of the different processing technology, it has all kinds of magical effects that ordinary clothes do not have. Quick-drying custom fitness clothes have low water absorption, good air permeability (depending on the material) and a certain degree of water repellency. After being wet, under the effect of body temperature or wind, they dry faster than ordinary clothes.
Main Function of Fast-Drying Clothes
Quick dry clothes are produced to meet the requirements of outdoor use environments. Under normal circumstances, you can wear quick-drying fitness clothes at the turn of spring and summer. They are more convenient and practical than heavy jackets. The main function of quick-drying clothes is to quickly wick away sweat, that is, to quickly absorb and diffuse sweat from the skin, and to increase the evaporation rate by expanding the area as much as possible.
If you wear ordinary sportswear and immediately switch to a resting state after exercising and sweating, you will get sick due to changes in body temperature. The quick-drying clothes can disperse moisture and keep warm, which helps keep the skin dry and fresh. Especially when doing outdoor sports, quick-drying clothes can play a better role in preventing wind, rain and moisture.
Design Concept of Quick Dry Clothes
The design concept of quick-drying clothes and its quick-drying principle is inseparable from the use environment. The initial design concept of quick-drying clothes is mainly based on two considerations:
- Internal Factor
People who engage in field activities are more prone to sweating. If you exercise a lot, your whole body will sweat profusely. If you are wearing ordinary clothes at this time, they will cling to your skin, which is particularly uncomfortable. However, quick-drying clothes can quickly evaporate sweat to the body.
- External Factor
When walking in the wild, the morning dew or drizzle will wet your clothes. If the trouser legs are tightly attached to the legs, it will bring an uncomfortable feeling. If you wear quick-drying clothes, their quick-drying performance and water repellent performance will help you avoid these unnecessary troubles.
Principle of Quick-Drying Clothes
This is a very professional question, and the principles used are different for different fabrics. Some fabrics use the characteristic principle similar to shape memory polymers; some fabrics use the principle of the microporous film; some fabrics use the principle of difference between the diameter of water droplets, water molecules, and air molecules, and so on.
Here, I will focus on the principle of using microporous membranes. Quick-drying fabrics using the principle of the microporous film are extremely common in the market. Its quick-drying principle is: the micropore diameter is between water molecules, and there is a film between the maximum diameter of air molecules and the minimum diameter of water droplets, and then the film is combined with the outer fabric, so the fabric has the effect of waterproof and breathable.
This is somewhat similar to the principle of GORE-TEX. The fabric that uses this principle plays a role in the microporous film. It not only plays a role of water repellency but also plays a role of breathability. Whether it is using the principle of microporous film or other principles, it is actually a chemical fiber fabric with different fibers.
Material And Technology of Quick-Drying Clothes
Quick-drying clothes are mostly made of 100% polyester fiber, commonly known as “polyester”, which is a synthetic fiber. The biggest advantage is that it has good wrinkle resistance and shape retention, high strength and elastic recovery ability, strong and durable, anti-wrinkle, non-iron, non-sticky hair; in order to increase the water-repellent performance, sometimes water-repellent treatment is carried out on the surface of the clothes.
Quick-Drying Clothing Fabric: Polyester Fiber
100% polyester fiber will make consumers feel uncomfortable wearing a layer of nylon on their bodies. To avoid this problem, different brands have their own solutions according to their own functional positioning. Some brand manufacturers change the discomfort of the polyester fiber after water absorption through different weaving methods; some brand manufacturers pay more attention to comfort and add some ingredients such as cotton; some brand manufacturers make fabrics such as cotton fiber that have a good quick-drying function.
Quick-Drying Clothing Fabric: COOLMAX
COOLMAX is one of the most common and relatively widely used fabrics developed by DuPont. Thanks to the hollow structure of COOLMAX, the fabric has an outstanding feature, that is, it has a strong sweat-wicking function.
Quick-Drying Clothing Fabric: MONI-DRY
MONI-DRY is a moisture-absorbing and quick-drying fabric developed by COLUMBIA. Its main feature is that it has 2 to 3 times stronger volatility and water absorption than ordinary cotton cloth, which effectively keeps the body comfortable and dry.
Quick-Drying Clothing Fabric: ACTIVENT
ACTIVENT is a chemical material developed by the American GORE company that is windproof, very breathable, and also resistant to a little water. It is a kind of film that needs to be pressed together with other nylon materials. Quick-drying clothes made of this fabric are more suitable for cyclists.
Cleaning And Maintenance of Quick-Drying Clothes
Like hiking shoes, quick-drying underwear also requires correct cleaning and maintenance measures. For quick-drying clothes that are not waterproof, a machine wash is fine.
For Teflon coating or other fabrics with waterproof function, it must be washed depending on the intensity of use. After washing, the degree of water repellency will decrease to varying degrees, and it can be restored with “Niwax” spray.
Early quick-drying clothing fabrics were mostly made of polypropylene. This fabric is easy to pilling. The more washing times, the more obvious the phenomenon, and it is easy to age when it is dried or near a fire source. Later, polyester was often used instead of polypropylene, and its characteristic is that it is not easy to pilling and aging. When washing these two fabrics, don’t rub them vigorously, and turn them to the “gentle” position if they are machine washed.
When drying quick-drying clothes, it is best to avoid direct sunlight like hiking shoes, because synthetic fibers are prone to aging under direct sunlight. In addition, the fibers used in quick-drying clothes are almost not refractory materials, and a spark may ruin your carefully selected quick-drying clothes. So please pay attention to fire prevention when smoking or playing at a campfire.
Application of Quick Drying Clothes
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Wear in the field
Quick-drying clothes should be worn personally in the field. Some mountaineering enthusiasts like to add a T-shirt to quick drying clothes. If it is a pure cotton T-shirt, the sweat will be preserved by the pure cotton T-shirt and will not be able to spread quickly, then the outer layer of the quick-drying clothes doesn’t make any sense. However, if you wear a T-shirt made of COOLMAX material in quick-drying clothes, COOLMAX can quickly wick away sweat.
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Wear in the city
Quick-drying clothes can be worn in the city. Some mountaineering enthusiasts also wear quick drying clothes in the city. In fact, the main advantage of quick-drying clothes is that they wick away sweat quickly. But its comfort is not as good as pure cotton T-shirts, and it’s even more stuffy than pure cotton clothing. If you are in the city and do not sweat a lot, and you are not worried that you will be damaged by the mountain wind after sweating, there is no need to wear quick-drying clothes.
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Perspiration
It is best not to wear quick drying clothes next to the body. After all, quick-drying clothes are chemical fiber products, so they don’t feel good when worn next to the body. Secondly, from the perspective of the effect of perspiration, many quick-drying clothes have a water-repellent coating.
Fast-drying clothes made of these materials have poor sweat absorption ability. The ability to dry quickly after all wetness is okay, but the sweat on the body cannot be absorbed by the clothes. Therefore, if you buy a quick-drying garment of less than 200 yuan, it is best to put on a CoolMax sweat-wicking garment inside, which is responsible for absorbing the body’s sweat and then draining it to the outer layer.
You can’t wear ordinary cotton T-shirts inside. Once you sweat, pure cotton will hardly wick away sweat, and it will be dangerous if you put it on your body and be blown by the wind. If you wear an over 100 usd quick-drying garment made of real quick drying moisture-absorbing material, then you can wear it alone.
How To Wash Quick Drying Clothing?
1. Whole Wash
In the production process, in order to ensure waterproof, breathable and windproof performance, various coatings or films are used on the fabric of the quick-drying clothes. The film will not be damaged naturally, but excessive external force and strong corrosive substances will damage the film. Therefore, quick drying clothes cannot be dry-cleaned or machine-washed. Generally, they can only be hand-washed with water at about 40 degrees (do not use hot water).
First, completely soak the clothing, and then use a sponge or cotton cloth to directly damp the surface of the clothing with an appropriate amount of detergent. Neutral detergent must be used (the shampoo and detergent used in our daily life are all neutral). Do not use bleach agents and softeners. Simply knead and rinse until the water is clear.
2. Partial Wash
First of all, be careful not to get oily stains and difficult-to-clean substances when wearing, so as to reduce the frequency of cleaning and prevent excessive damage to the film. If a certain part of the clothes is stained with stains, the stains can be partially cleaned to avoid staining other parts and affecting the overall appearance. It is recommended to use a universal foam cleaning agent, shake well before use, and then spray the foam evenly on the surface of the clothes at a distance of about 20cm from the stained part. After waiting for 30-50 seconds, gently wipe the stained surface with a cotton cloth.
3. Use Professional Clothing Detergent
Nikwax® Tech Wash® Professional Garment Cleaner is suitable for washing waterproof and breathable fabrics. It can be used to dry clothes quickly to achieve better washing results.
After completely soaking the garment, pour 100ml of detergent (suitable for two pieces of clothing) and soak it for about 10 minutes, then scrub with a sponge or cotton cloth. For local stubborn stains, you can use a sponge or cotton cloth to directly damp an appropriate amount of detergent to wipe. Tech Wash is a neutral detergent. You don’t have to worry about damaging the skin during the washing process. After washing, rinse it until the water is clear.
How To Dry Quick-Drying Workout Clothes?
- Put the clothes on a drying rack and dry them in a cool and ventilated place;
- You can also dry clothes at a lower heat setting.
If you find that your clothes are wrinkled, you can use a hairdryer to dry them in a cool environment.
How To Store Quick Drying Clothes?
- Store in a relatively dry environment; although the quick-drying clothes themselves have the ability to dry quickly, you should choose a dry environment when placing them.
- It’s best to hang it in the closet, don’t fold it, so as not to crush it.
Correct washing, drying and storage can prolong the service life of quick-drying clothes and let it accompany you to spend more time outdoors.
