10 helpful tips against sweating

By Nicole

It's finally here: it's summer! You can pull your nice summer outfits out of the closet again. Time for the short-sleeved t-shirts! There is just one drawback though: during summer, the heat makes you sweat easily. Wet armpits don't just feel disgusting; they also don't smell great. This can make you feel quite insecure in social situations. You may feel uncomfortable thinking that someone else can see or smell your sweat stains.

We've put together some tips that you can follow to sweat less in the summer and reduce the smell of sweat that comes with it. These tips can also be applied to any other season, of course! Maybe you work out a lot or you're just one of many people who suffer from year-round sweating. You might have an important job interview coming up or another special occasion you're nervous about. Remember, sweating is normal for everyone: it just happens to some more than others. Don’t worry too much though. Most people aren't alarmed by seeing a sweat stain, especially during the summer.

Tip 1: Take good care of your skin

Personal hygiene is key to overcoming sweat odours. Wash your armpits regularly, if necessary several times a day. Preferably use a PH-neutral soap. This will help minimise the chance of bacteria reacting with sweat, which is the cause of unpleasant odours.

Tip 2: Shave your underarms regularly

Shaving, or at least trimming your armpit hair, is an important part of personal hygiene. That is, if you don't want your armpits to get hot, sweaty and smelly. Not only does fully grown underarm hair make your armpits feel hotter; the smell attaches to it as well. If you keep your underarm hair short, you'll soon find that it's much harder for it to hold on to the smell.

Tip 3: Change your outerwear every day

When you sweat, it reflects on your clothes. You'll probably notice that your outerwear feels damp around the armpits when you wear it. This will eventually dry out. However, the old sweat and associated bacteria just stay put. If you put this garment back on the next day, the bacteria can easily react with the old sweat. This will make you sweat faster, but more importantly, it will stink faster. The old sweat, as opposed to the new, is the main culprit when it comes to smells.

Tip 4: Buy and choose your clothes carefully

Ever notice how you sweat more in one shirt than another? Even though today it might be the same temperature outside as yesterday? Why is this? One important factor that plays a role is the material of your clothing. Clothing made from synthetic materials, such as nylon and polyester, easily retain perspiration. It's therefore better to choose plant-based fabrics that are airy and can breathe. Look for clothing made from 100% cotton or linen. Often, however, clothing is a combination of several types of materials. If you manage to find something that is made mostly of plant-based materials, this would be a good alternative.

By the way: we recommend this tip not only for your outerwear. It also applies to your underwear, socks and even your shoes. If you suffer a lot from sweaty feet and want to wear closed shoes to, for example work; it is best to decide on real leather. These ventilate a lot better. If you are not a fan of this, you can also use absorbent insoles in your current pair of shoes.

Finally, in tight clothes you tend to sweat more easily than while wearing loose fitting ones. Especially when it comes to your outerwear as this can have a significant impact on the sweat spots in your armpits. The sweat doesn't get the chance to dry out with the help of the air. You'll also get bigger sweat patches in shirts with tight sleeves, which will be more noticeable.

Tip 5: Use a good anti-perspirant

Did you know that the vast majority of deodorants do nothing more than mask the smell of sweat? They don't actually do anything about the sweating itself. So choose an anti-perspirant that contains aluminium salts. Such antiperspirants actively reduce or even prevent sweating. This works because the aluminium salts constrict the sweat glands, thereby reducing sweat production.

Often, these products should be applied the night before after showering. That’s because it usually works best on clean armpits and before you start sweating at all. If you normally shower in the morning then of course that works as well. After that, you'll have much less to no discomfort caused by sweating all day. So, make sure you don't confuse antiperspirants with deodorants - they only help to kill the bacteria that cause bad odours. So while regular deodorants can help with odour control, they don't help with sweating.

Tip 6: Preventing stress

Are you reading these tips in preparation for an important occasion for which you are nervous? Then stress is an important and relevant factor. Your body sweats in response to experiencing stress. So make sure you are as prepared as possible. For example, pick out your outfit the day before and have it ready to go. Do you have to leave early? Then make sure you set your alarm early so you have enough time in the morning. You can also make breakfast and/or lunch during the evening beforehand to save some time. If necessary, make sure you have read up on the subject. Often, most of the stress is based on thinking you are not ready to do whatever it is you need to.

Tip 7: Apply talcum powder

If your current deodorant or antiperspirant isn't enough, you can combine it with talcum powder. First, apply talcum powder to your underarms and then spray your deodorant or anti-perspirant on as normal. This helps to keep underarms dry.

Tip 8: Buy underarm pads

Do you want to be absolutely sure that no sweat gets on your clothes? Then you can buy underarm pads. You stick them to the inside of your clothes, precisely where your armpits touch the fabric. These underarm pads absorb moisture so it can't seep through your clothing to create a sweat patch. They are sufficiently discreet so no one will notice.

Tip 9: Avoid these foods

Yes, this also influences how much you sweat. Spicy foods have a tendency to raise your body temperature. Foods containing caffeine or alcohol have the same effect. When your body temperature rises, your body will try to control it. Unfortunately it does that by sweating..

Tip 10: Keeping your weight under control

Whatever your preference is for your own body type, that is entirely up to you. Nevertheless, we would like to give you this tip. This is because we don’t like to skip any relevant information. Higher than usual levels of body fat will also affects how much you sweat. This is because it causes your body temperature to rise. Were you planning on losing weight anyway, or have you already started doing so? In time, you will notice that your sweating will become less intense.

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