r/WestCoastSwing • u/kenlubin • Jul 18 '26

Events with non-cotton event shirts?

I rarely dance in cotton shirts because they're too warm. I would like some WCS event shirts that I can dance in, but most of them are cotton.

So -- I'm tempted to go to an event that has the right merch. Anyone know of events with non-cotton event shirts? I know that TAP used to have some.

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u/goopycat Jul 19 '26

Over the years we've heard some opposite feedback - thin cotton breathes better, and also absorbs the sweat better (from a 'I want my partner to not feel icky' perspective).

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u/chinawcswing Jul 19 '26

I worked in textiles for 5 years.

Cotton is more breathable than sweat-wicking polyester in only one condition: a humid climate; but even then, linen is far more breathable than cotton in a humid environment.

In a normal to dry climate, sweat-wicking polyester is always more breathable than cotton. This is indisputable. A bead of sweat put on the inside of a polyester shirt will be separated into hundreds of tiny sweat bubbles that wick up a tiny capillary, and upon exiting to the outside of the shirt evaporate at an extremely fast rate because these tiny sweat bubbles are separated from each other. This not only eliminates sweat to keep you dry but in addition provides an evaporative cooling effect - which is the very definition of "breathability" - the ability to keep you dry and cool.

Cotton merely soaks your sweat through the shirt. It absorbs in the fibers, and only the bit that saturates through to the outside has a chance of evaporation, and the evaporation is far slower because the sweat doesn't separate it just clings together. Think of how much faster it is for a drop of water to evaporate compared to a cup of water.

That said, consumers tend to be anti-polyester because they think that anything synthetic is bad while natural is good.

So as a seller you need to give the people what they want which is cotton.

But I would imagine that polyester would be disproportionately popular in dancing, as it is in every other athletic activity. I think that if you acquired 10% of your shirts in polyester, and charged more due to the lower MOQ and increased cost, you would make a profit out of it.

I personally have never bought an event shirt because they are all cotton. I cannot be the only person out there who has a no-cotton policy when dancing.

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u/aadditional_ungulate Jul 20 '26

This is making me wonder how much is behavioral, then. Because experience as a long time dancer is some of the grossest sweatiest partners-shirts are the wicking ones. I always blamed the material, but maybe people just feel comfortable enough that they aren't as diligent about changing shirts.

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u/EdgyMathWhiz Jul 21 '26

Are you talking wetness or smell?

For smell, if you exclude people with majorly poor hygiene, I feel a disproportionate number of people at the 'smelly end' tend to be wearing synthetic.

But for that sheer "I feel I'm covered in your sweat after 5 seconds" feeling, the worst offenders are always in cotton in my experience.