If you want to know why polyester fiber is chosen as the material for cycling clothes, why choose polyester fiber instead of cotton?
After we exercise, our bodies will sweat a lot. When the sweat is excreted from the body, it cools us down. However, if the clothes we wear are not breathable, they will be damp, hot and stick to our bodies, making us feel as stuffy as if there is a ball of fire on our bodies. At this time, there are two options: cotton or polyester fiber? The breathability of cotton is better than that of polyester fiber. Polyester fiber is not very breathable. If polyester fiber is made into a very tight fabric, it will be extremely non-breathable when worn, just like being wrapped in plastic paper.
So, does it seem that cotton wins hands down? It's not that simple. The advantage of cotton lies in its breathability, but it is disadvantaged by its water absorption. Polyester fiber does not absorb water. After sweating, the sweat will not be absorbed by the clothes but will be expelled outside the clothes, accelerating evaporation. Therefore, clothes made of polyester fiber are also called sweat-wicking clothes. As for materials like cotton and linen, not only do they not wick away sweat, but they also have a siphon effect. When one area gets wet, it will quickly spread everywhere, turning the clothes into sweat-storing ones.
But isn't polyester fiber clearly a non-breathable material? It doesn't matter if it's not breathable. It can be made into a hollow structure. In this way, it can take into account both breathability and sweat-wicking. The higher the proportion of polyester fiber, the better the sweat-wicking effect.
So, does polyester fiber have no disadvantages when used to make quick-dry clothes? Polyester fiber is not as soft and elastic as cotton, so it doesn't feel as comfortable when worn. Therefore, we need to make a trade-off according to the season. For example, in summer, when you sweat profusely, the comfort brought by sweat-wicking has a higher priority than the comfort of having a soft and smooth fabric against the skin. So, quick-dry materials with more than 99% polyester fiber can be used. If it's spring, autumn or winter and you don't sweat much, using about 70% polyester fiber can increase the comfort.
