How Is Odor Generated?

We’ve all been there, maybe you were at the gym or on a camping trip, and you start to realize that you are giving off a rather unpleasant odor. Not only is it coming off your body, but it is also on the clothes you are wearing. If you are hunting or on a camping trip with limited clothes, this can be a big problem, and it all comes down to how odor is generated.

Odor Is a Multi-Stage Process

So what is causing this odor? The generation of odor starts with the bacteria on your skin. We all have bacteria on our skin, and it’s actually healthy. However, when we introduce moisture (sweat) to the environment, it provides nutrients for the bacteria.

The bacteria begin to feed on the nutrients in your sweat and break it down into smaller molecules. The smaller molecules can evaporate at skin or room temperature and be detected as an odor. Studies on sweat and odor in sportswear confirm that skin microbes turn non-smelly sweat into volatile odor compounds, especially when moisture gets trapped in fabric. That’s why odor tends to stick around even after you’ve cooled off — the compounds cling to fibers long after the bacteria are gone.

The next question is, what can you do to prevent these unpleasant odors from coming off of you? Well, you certainly can’t stop sweating, so the answer lies in the garment you’re wearing.

Odor Control Solutions: Antimicrobials Alone Are Not Enough

Antimicrobials can be applied to apparel to control the growth of odor-causing bacteria. However, this does not stop all the odor. Along with the odor being caused by bacteria, your body is also releasing odor vapors that can pass through the fabric and be detected as odors. Luckily, there are odor adsorbers that can also be applied to apparel to capture and trap these body odors.

Looking around, you may see that most anti-odor apparel simply incorporates an antimicrobial. As you can see, the antimicrobial alone is not enough. The antimicrobial helps prevent odor-causing bacteria from using your garment as a 2nd platform for odor generation (Skin + Garment), but what about the odor coming off your skin? A dual-function odor control incorporates both antimicrobial and an odor adsorber, providing complete odor control.

To see how dual-function technologies prevent odor before it starts, visit Sciessent’s Odor Control Solutions page.

For brands evaluating odor-control options, 7 Key Odor Control Questions for Apparel Brands breaks down what matters most in selecting the right technology.