Wool socks opinions

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Wow, ya made me laugh there with the ice crystals in the -assumedly- cooked foods! And teeth vibrations. And having to buy him various colors of the same thing so you will know he changed. Wowsers. My DH has a stock pile of the same shoes he's worn for years, but his shoes are the only thing he's picky about. They went out of production for a while but they are back.

As for wool socks, I just started wearing them a few years ago. Most are heavy crew style bought at Target. Some are heavy Smartwool hunting or ski socks, or DarnTough "tactical". I've bought those because I can get them in knee high styles, cushioned and extra thick. I think they are wearing better than the wool crew socks (think the brand was "Arctic" something or other), but whew, are they expensive, even on clearance. For me though, it is a health matter to keep my legs warm. Even today I'm indoors wearing thick wool leg warmers over my thick wool knee socks. Thank goodness I can wear wool without irritation.

[amarowsky]

Im moving from cotton blend socks to 100% darn tough and other marino wool. It was wasteful how many socks I had to throw out every year due to holes.... And not to mention they have almost no cushion for a lot of their life (as they get thinner and more worn).

Darn tough are lifetime guarantee. If u get holes, send them back and they replace them. That was enough for me to take the risk. I'm 3 months in and still love them. Bought 5 pair, medium cushion crew length. The fact that there warm, super durable, comfortable every time I put them on, made in usa, and never ever hold negative smells.... I'm more than sold.

Only cons they're costly up front + slightly more difficult to put on (more durable ,I think, makes them less stretchy). But once on..... Man they're comfy.

Will be buying the "light cushion"ones this summer. I'll see how well they hold up with less cushion.

[kork13]

Im moving from cotton blend socks to 100% darn tough and other marino wool. It was wasteful how many socks I had to throw out every year due to holes.... And not to mention they have almost no cushion for a lot of their life (as they get thinner and more worn).

Darn tough are lifetime guarantee. If u get holes, send them back and they replace them. That was enough for me to take the risk. I'm 3 months in and still love them. Bought 5 pair, medium cushion crew length. The fact that there warm, super durable, comfortable every time I put them on, made in usa, and never ever hold negative smells.... I'm more than sold.

Only cons they're costly up front + slightly more difficult to put on (more durable ,I think, makes them less stretchy). But once on..... Man they're comfy.

Will be buying the "light cushion"ones this summer. I'll see how well they hold up with less cushion.

Based on your previous recommendation for the Darn Tough, I'm planning to eventually replace my current wool socks with Darn Tough over the next year or two.... Plan to buy one periodically, and just wait until the current ones start to wear down. I haven't yet tried on the one pair that I received at Christmas, but they do seem quite nice. Really, the only problem with that plan is that I have alot of my current wool socks (from Costco & Cabela's) thanks to living in Alaska, and most of them aren't really showing much wear at all (lasted ~3 years so far).

[amarowsky]

Based on your previous recommendation for the Darn Tough, I'm planning to eventually replace my current wool socks with Darn Tough over the next year or two.... Plan to buy one periodically, and just wait until the current ones start to wear down. I haven't yet tried on the one pair that I received at Christmas, but they do seem quite nice. Really, the only problem with that plan is that I have alot of my current wool socks (from Costco & Cabela's) thanks to living in Alaska, and most of them aren't really showing much wear at all (lasted ~3 years so far).

I'm flattered that you are considering my recommendation.

But based on your last comments, I did see some merino wool socks for much lower price at Costco. If they're same ones you're talking about, I may give them a shot too. I would be even more happy to know that all merino wool is higher quality.

Darn tough had just been my 1st real experience with merino. If yours are holding up, then maybe it's just the material, that is the key to better better socks.

(Made in USA and their fun patterns are a nice + too though) you'll be happy with DT's or Cabela's/Costco merino i imagine.

[kork13]

I'm flattered that you are considering my recommendation.

But based on your last comments, I did see some merino wool socks for much lower price at Costco. If they're same ones you're talking about, I may give them a shot too. I would be even more happy to know that all merino wool is higher quality.

Darn tough had just been my 1st real experience with merino. If yours are holding up, then maybe it's just the material, that is the key to better better socks.

(Made in USA and their fun patterns are a nice + too though) you'll be happy with DT's or Cabela's/Costco merino i imagine.

Costco's men's wool socks are not merino (neither are the ones from Cabela's), but their ladies socks are. That's always bothered/annoyed me that most companies default to normal/coarser wool for men, and the softer merino for ladies. My wife uses the Costco merino socks all the time & loves them. The pricing on them is definitely quite good.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Buy one at a time. My DK2 can't handle wool. I won't say allergy because apparently she's allergic to nothing they tested her to but she obviously is with her eczema, hives, and stomach cramping. Wool is something turns out irritates her skin.

[cypher1]

I hardly buy new clothes, so whatever I replace I'm willing to spend a little more on quality depending the item. I recently picked up some thinner wool merino ones from Amazon. I'm not too particular, nor have allergies or get very cold, but they seem pretty comfortable even when working from home in the basement.

[HundredK]

Buy one at a time. My DK2 can't handle wool. I won't say allergy because apparently she's allergic to nothing they tested her to but she obviously is with her eczema, hives, and stomach cramping. Wool is something turns out irritates her skin.

This is a weird aside, but I also have a horrible time with wool making my skin rash, and that led me to discover that I have a serious sensitivity to aloe vera. I was putting aloe on a rash caused by wool, and the rash kept getting worse and worse, but I didn't connect the two things at all. Ended up at the doctor who had no idea what was going on and called in a derm specialist who gave me some steroid ointment and had me taking double doses of allergy pills. And then a few months later it happened again, and it finally clicked as I went to apply aloe to the rash that it was getting progressively worse everywhere the aloe touched. Stopped using aloe based products and everything cleared up quickly. I've changed all the products I buy to ensure there's no aloe and now I have no unexplained skin problems whatsoever. It was even in the shampoo and conditioner I was using and now I don't have an itchy burning scalp anymore. So I just thought of that when you mentioned DK2. Might be a thing to consider if no allergies are present and if you also happen to be using aloe products to soothe the issues caused by irritants.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

This is a weird aside, but I also have a horrible time with wool making my skin rash, and that led me to discover that I have a serious sensitivity to aloe vera. I was putting aloe on a rash caused by wool, and the rash kept getting worse and worse, but I didn't connect the two things at all. Ended up at the doctor who had no idea what was going on and called in a derm specialist who gave me some steroid ointment and had me taking double doses of allergy pills. And then a few months later it happened again, and it finally clicked as I went to apply aloe to the rash that it was getting progressively worse everywhere the aloe touched. Stopped using aloe based products and everything cleared up quickly. I've changed all the products I buy to ensure there's no aloe and now I have no unexplained skin problems whatsoever. It was even in the shampoo and conditioner I was using and now I don't have an itchy burning scalp anymore. So I just thought of that when you mentioned DK2. Might be a thing to consider if no allergies are present and if you also happen to be using aloe products to soothe the issues caused by irritants.

OMG this too. I was told my one dermotologist to use aquaphor but by the more recent one that might be causing the problem with the lanolin. So we swtiched to this euerin red top cream not lotion. And shampoo and body wash as well. it appears to be doing better. Although i suspect the hives from the dairy which happened from eating clam chowder and yogurt but IDK. Lots of weird stuff. I don't get it at all. But then again I know my DH is allergic to a bunch of stuff that we can't figure out either.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

LAL, this morning I was just checking out each ingredient in red top Eucerin creme because my husband has been having trouble with it. The jar we have lists "lanolin alcohol" as one of the ingredients. It seems some people with wool or lanolin allergies can be sensitive to lanolin alcohol. https://www.dermnetnz.org/topics/all...wool-alcohols/

[LivingAlmostLarge]

LAL, this morning I was just checking out each ingredient in red top Eucerin creme because my husband has been having trouble with it. The jar we have lists "lanolin alcohol" as one of the ingredients. It seems some people with wool or lanolin allergies can be sensitive to lanolin alcohol. https://www.dermnetnz.org/topics/all...wool-alcohols/

Yep lanolin is bad, but we use the advanced repair creme eucerin specifically not the regular bottle. And creme not lotion. And that lanolin is also in aquaphor. Hence probably why it didn't work. And now the body wash is also advanced repair. It's annoying. I have so much cremes and lotions from dr. I should have said advanced repair creme not eucerin original which the dermotologist said has lanolin.

[myrdale]

The last 5 years I've been working towards redoing my wardrobe as well. I've had to tell my family to stop buying me cloths for Christmas. Also I am an XL-Tall, so most XL stuff will fit OK but it just ain't quite there.

Personally I wear ExOfficio Give-n-Go boxers. They are typically $30 per pair. They feel great, but they don't last indefinitely, maybe a 5 year life span. Every couple of years I'll order a couple new pair and toss any ratty ones.

Over the past year I've fallen in love with Columbia Thistletown Park crew and long sleeve. They are around $25 per shirt.

For jeans, I am wearing Lucky Brand 181. They run $85 per pair. They look great and feel great, but don't always hold up. I think I have split 4 pair.

For work clothes, its all Dockers for khakis $40 and LL Bean for dress shirts, $60 each.

I had ordered a couple of dress shirts for work from Tailor Store. Great quality and reasonable price, but LL Bean is easier.

Prior to khakis being a suggestion (**cough.. cough... requirement) I wore Lee Carpenter jeans. These are amazing for work pants.

As to the original topic, for wool socks, I think the brand I was using was SmartWool at $25 per pair. I got these for hiking, which they are excellent for. But then I started wearing them day to day. Even in the middle of summer in my work boots they did a good job.

I ended up switching over to Wigwam ankle socks. $20 per pack of 6. These last maybe a year.

If I go back to wool socks, I'll probably try Fox River next. I've heard good reviews on them.