I love to wear my alpaca woolen products every day, every moment of the day. But when it rains, I often wonder… Can I wear my alpaca woolen garment in the rain?
extraordinarily Alpaca woolen products are great for rainy weather: they are water repellent and able to absorb up to 30% of their body weight in water, meaning neither the garment nor you will feel wet or clammy. However, in prolonged, heavy rain, a garment will eventually get wet.
Alpaca wool has great features that help protect you from the elements, like rain, wind and cold. Let’s see how that works!
Alpaca Wool is Water Repellent
buy cenforce 200mg uk While alpaca wool is not 100% waterproof, it is water repellent to a very high degree. This means that the fiber wicks away moisture before it gets absorbed. The water drops remain on top of the fiber without making it wet.
When a garment is water repellent (or water resistant), it means it can protect you from rain. Rain is basically water dropping down from the sky, and an alpaca woolen scarf will be perfect to keep you dry.
The water is repelled before it can get absorbed. Which means that it takes a while before an alpaca woolen garment actually gets wet.
It also means that you can wipe away drops of water, or shake off an alpaca woolen garment to remove the raindrops or speed up the process.
Check out this video I made in which you can see how this works!
Alpaca Wool is Absorbent
According to Cameron Holt (PDF: When Is a Myth Not a Myth?, 2018), the alpaca fiber can absorb up to 30% of its dry body weight. This means that it will take longer for an alpaca woolen garment to feel wet, compared to other materials.
The fact that alpaca wool is absorbent, is a great benefit for the wearer. It means that in cold or wet weather, the wearer will not feel clamminess from the garment.
When it rains outside and we get wet, it is that feeling of wet fabric on our skin that makes us feel uncomfortable. Similarly, the feeling of wearing a damp and clammy garment is very unpleasant, too!
With an alpaca woolen garment, you don’t have to worry about facing unpleasantly cold or wet weather. The garment will protect you to a high degree. Compare this to polyester and other synthetic fabrics that can absorb 1 or 2% of moisture before feeling wet!
I wrote another article about how this works. Click the link to read it! Is Alpaca Wool Waterproof?
Alpaca Wool Evaporates Moisture
When an alpaca woolen garment does get wet, its fiber evaporates moisture in a hot environment. This is important because it increases the comfort factor for the wearer.
When it rains and you start to feel the wetness from the garment on your skin, it is generally considered uncomfortable. However, when an alpaca woolen garment reaches that point, the fiber evaporates the moisture, making it feel dry again.
This works in cold and wet environments, where the body temperature serves as the hot climate that helps evaporate moist, but also in hot and dry conditions, where sweat evaporates from the garment.
Alpaca Wool Is Water Repellent, NOT Waterproof
There is a difference between being water repellent and being waterproof. The fact that alpaca wool is water repellent, is actually a benefit, because it makes a garment much more breathable.
When something is water repellent, it means it repels moisture and rain, but it will eventually get wet.
When something is waterproof, it means that no water penetrates or gets absorbed by the fabric ever.
Alpaca woolen garments are water repellent, not waterproof. This means that they eventually will get wet.
Waterproof Is NOT Necessarily Better than Water Resistant!
Waterproof garments (often polyester with waterproof finishes) might protect you very well from heavy, heavy, rain, but they will still feel clammy and sweaty underneath. The sealed protection takes away all breathability that garments have.
The benefit is that it will (should) protect you 100% from getting wet, but the downside is that it is not always comfortable to wear! Especially when you are active and your body heats up and starts to sweat.
In order to be comfortable in cold and wet weather, you being protected from the rain is one thing, but being able to move freely and comfortably in your clothing is another.
Personally, I freak out when I’m wearing clothes that aren’t breathable. I feel as if I’m suffocating. But maybe you prefer being protected from the rain rather and the clamminess does not bother you as much.
It depends on you! But if you’ve made up your mind that an alpaca woolen garment is the perfect accessory for whatever you’re doing, check out my sustainable water-repellent products here:
It Also Depends on How Rainy it Is
Of course, there is a difference between some light rain and a heavy downpour. So, what kind of rain does alpaca wool protect you from?
Alpaca woolen products will protect you from light to moderate rain and for a short period of time in heavy rain. It will depend on the thickness and design of your garment, as thicker garments will be able to absorb more water.
Apparently, there are 200 different words for rain in the Hawaiian language. So, that means there are probably as many different types of rain, right?
Not sure if that logic is 100% waterproof, but you get my point: not always will an alpaca woolen garment protect you from the rain.
Alpaca woolen garments are perfect for activities like hiking and skiing! Find out more in these other articles I wrote about this:
- Can You Go Skiing With Alpaca Wool?
- Can You Go Hiking With Alpaca Wool?
- 13 Activities Alpaca Wool Is Perfect for?
How Do You Dry An Alpaca Woolen Garment After it Gets Wet from the Rain?
If you’ve been caught in a heavy downpour and your alpaca woolen garment is wet, you will need to let it dry.
It is important to dry an alpaca woolen garment that got wet from the rain. Make sure you put it to air-dry, on a flat surface. Don’t hang the garment as the weight of the water can make it lose its shape. Remove excess water if it is very wet by rolling it between two dry towels.
It is important to dry an alpaca woolen garment that got wet from the rain. Depending on how wet your garment is, you can’t just put on a coat rack and let it hang there.
First of all, it will make the other garments wet, which can cause mildew, mold and bad smells. To prevent this, it is always better to dry an alpaca woolen garment that is wet, before you store it.
Never put an alpaca woolen garment in the dryer. Make sure you put it to air-dry, on a flat surface. When an alpaca woolen garment is hung to dry, the weight of the water will pull it down, which can make it lose its shape.
When an alpaca woolen garment is wet, it will stretch out, so this is something you need to be careful about!
Never wring, twist or rub a wet garment, as this will cause an alpaca woolen garment to felt! (Which is irreversible!)
If you want to remove excess water from an alpaca woolen garment, place it between two towels (or one big one – depending on what kind of garment it is) and gently roll it up. By gently squeezing out the water, the towels will absorb a lot of it. This helps the garment dry quicker and will remove much of the extra weight immediately!
When an alpaca woolen garment is really wet, it might take some time to fully dry.
After washing my alpaca woolen hat, it took about 12 hours for it to dry. My alpaca woolen sweater took 24 hours to dry!
Never dry an alpaca woolen garment next to a direct source of heat (like a heater, or a fireplace, or the sun), as this will damage the fiber.
