If you love walking, running, climbing, cycling, rowing – actually any kind of exercise – then you need to do it while wearing wool as it really is the natural choice.

There has been a move to fleece and synthetic materials over the years but wool has far more benefits than all the rest … especially if you opt for merino wool clothes made by Glenbrae, based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.

It’s soft to touch and lovely on the skin (itchy wool is a thing of the past with merino), regulates and balances your body temperature by keeping you warm in winter and cool in summer and will even keep you smelling nice.

No wonder some now hail it as ‘air conditioning for your body’ and ‘a wonder fabric.’

Because it is.

You can have it as a base layer right next to your skin, a middle layer or even a top one.

When people think of wool their mind springs to woolly jumpers to keep you warm in winter. Yes, they do, but Glenbrae also do a range of thin merino jumpers to keep you cool in summer, especially when the temperature is just the wrong side of allowing you to walk around in a T-shirt.

This is because merino wool has natural crimps and bends which trap air better than all other fabrics so is naturally insulating. If sheep could talk they’d go on and on about how their wool is a natural, protective barrier against cold and heat, keeping them the right temperature while warding off the wet. Most of Glenbrae’s merino wool comes from sheep in Australia and New Zealand where it can often be sunny and hot as well as cool and rainy so is the perfect climate for growing this kind of ultra soft yet durable clothing wool.

Merino wool is a 100% natural material that can absorb up to 35% of its dry weight in moisture vapour yet still feels dry against the skin.

That’s why you’ll never feel sweaty or clammy while wearing a merino wool base layer. It’s way better than cotton that absorbs up to 20 times its weight in water and, if the weather takes a drastic turn for the worse, could leave you suffering from potentially deadly hypothermia caused by the wet and cold material pressed against your skin. Other synthetic fabrics can feel wet after soaking up just 7% of moisture.

When merino wool absorbs moisture by pulling it away from your body and into its fibres it regulates the air next to the skin so your sweat evaporates through the wool fibres and out into the air. This cools or warms your body in a process known as wicking away moisture to keep you feeling fresh and dry. A thin merino base layer would be ideal to wear while walking on a hot day.

The reason merino wool is super soft and light next to the skin is that it’s made from ultra-fine fibres which are less than 24 microns in diameter – one of the finest materials you can find in nature - especially when you think that the average human hair is four times larger at 100 microns in diameter. A micron is the short name for one micrometre which is one millionth of a metre. That’s about as small as it gets and means the merino fibres bend when they come into contact with your kin rather than digging into you to give that irritating prickly sensation.

If you don’t want people to think you’re, er, smelly, then merino wool is the fabric for you. This is because merino sheep produce a waxy grease called lanolin which is naturally anti-bacterial, eliminating bacteria that causes odours and so prevents smells. This means you can wear your merino clothes for all kinds of sweaty outdoor pursuits over several days without giving off any nasty niffs to anyone getting close to you. It’ll also save on your washing bill.

All Glenbrae garments are made with our unique elastomeric yarn called Spirol. That means it's stretchy and moves as you move to ensure the shape always stays the same. With Spirol your garment will never go baggy, has longevity and is easy care so you can machine wash it and tumble dry.

Merino wool also absorbs potentially harmful UV-A and UV-B radiation, protecting you while you’re out and about.

Glenbrae is manufactured by Spectrum Yarns based in Huddersfield – a world-renowned name for textile excellence - and only uses very fine fibres which are also the strongest (six times stronger than cotton) and the best quality. This means less fibre damage in the finished garment and is one of the reasons why Glenbrae clothes are less prone to pilling (that’s bobbly small balls of lint that form on the surface of fabrics) and retain their shape better, free of wrinkles.

Don’t forget that merino wool is recyclable and biodegradable so it’s the ultimate natural product in a world where textiles are the second largest polluter with many synthetic garments containing harmful plastics.

To see the full Glenbrae range go to https://glenbrae.com/