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Merino Wool & Tencel

The Fabric

An unlikely pairing.

A merino sheep and a eucalyptus tree have one thing in common: this T-shirt. Here is what each fibre is doing, and why we did not use either on its own.

PRO | ORA Merino T in ultrafine merino wool and Tencel Lyocell

The blend

Seventy and thirty, for a reason.

Merino on its own is the best fibre in the world at managing temperature and odour, and it is still not quite as soft as we wanted against the skin. Tencel Lyocell on its own is beautifully soft and does none of the temperature work. So we stopped choosing.

Merino leads at 70% because it is the fibre doing the difficult part. Tencel takes the remaining 30% and its job is hand feel. That is not a token amount. Thirty percent is enough to change how the fabric feels the moment you put it on.

  • 70% Merino wool, 18.5 micron
  • 30% Tencel Lyocell

On the body

What each fibre is doing.

  • Temperature — merino

    Wool regulates rather than simply insulating. It absorbs moisture vapour as your body heats up and releases it as you cool, which is why the same shirt works on a cold morning and a warm afternoon.

  • Freshness — merino

    Wool is hygroscopic, absorbing up to around 35% of its own weight in moisture, far more than cotton or polyester. It holds odour molecules inside the fibre where bacteria struggle, then releases them in the wash.

  • Hand feel — Tencel

    Lyocell has a smooth fibre surface and it is what stops this reading as a wool shirt. Blended through the yarn, it takes the edge off and gives the cloth a quiet drape and a subtle natural sheen.

  • 18.5 micron

    Fibre diameter is what decides whether wool prickles. Anything under about 19 micron is classed as ultrafine and sits comfortably against most skin. Ours is 18.5, confirmed by our mill.

In practice

Wear it more, wash it less.

The point of a merino T is not that it is a nicer T-shirt. It is that it behaves differently between wears. In an olfactory study, unwashed wool retained 66% less body odour intensity than polyester and 28% less than cotton. Which in daily terms means this.

  1. 01

    Train in it

    It moves moisture off the skin and does not hold the smell of the session.

  2. 02

    Air it

    Hang it overnight rather than putting it in the basket. Wool recovers on its own.

  3. 03

    Wear it again

    Fewer washes means the garment lasts longer and uses less water over its life.

In the range

Where we use it.

One fabric, cut for men and women. The women’s is a boyfriend fit, the men’s a modern regular.

The rest of the range.

Tanks, crops and briefs are pure Tencel Lyocell, where softness is the whole job. Leggings, shorts and sports bras run on Repreve recycled polyester, where holding shape under load is. We pick the fibre to suit the garment rather than running one material through everything.

Tencel Repreve

Questions

The things people ask us.

Will it itch?

Very unlikely. Prickle is caused by coarse fibre ends pressing into the skin, and it is a function of fibre diameter rather than of wool itself. At 18.5 micron this sits in the ultrafine range, and the 30% Tencel softens it further. If you have found merino scratchy before, it was almost certainly a coarser grade.

Why blend it at all, rather than 100% merino?

Because pure merino at this weight is less soft and less durable than we wanted. Tencel improves the hand feel and adds strength to the yarn. The trade is that a blend cannot be recycled as easily as a single fibre, which is a real cost and worth saying out loud.

How often do I actually need to wash it?

Less often than a cotton or synthetic tee. Air it overnight and it will usually be fine to wear again. Wash it when it needs it rather than automatically after every use, which is better for the garment and uses less water.

How should I wash it?

Cool wash and line dry. Do not dry clean. Never tumble dry wool on heat, which is what causes shrinkage. The care label on the garment is the reference.

Is the wool mulesed?

We are confirming the mulesing status of our wool supply with our mill and will state it here plainly once we have it in writing. We would rather leave this blank than claim something we cannot yet evidence.

Where is it made?

Our Merino T is made in China. Further detail on our manufacturing partners is available on request.

Wool moisture absorption and odour findings as published by The Woolmark Company, drawing on CSIRO wearer trials and independent olfactory assessment. Fibre diameter of 18.5 micron confirmed by our fabric mill. TENCEL™ is a trademark of Lenzing AG; its certifications apply to the Lyocell fibre rather than to finished PRO | ORA garments.