Quote Originally Posted by MommyBird View Post
Are these technical wool items different than the fashion items I have never had the pleasure to enjoy?.....Has anyone who welts tried the newer sports-tech stuff and survived?
Just to clarify, the new softer merino wool items we tend to rave about are not 'sports-tech' or 'technical wool'. They are just WOOL. But they are 100% merino breed sheep wool- which is much finer and softer to begin with and tends to not make people break out and itch like the wool sweaters we were used to when growing up.
There's nothing 'technical' or 'sports' about it aside from the fact that the merino breed of sheep produce the finest softest fiber sheep wool there is.

Maybe buy a sleeveless Smartwool base layer vest and give it a try? Smartwool, Ibex, and I believe Icebreaker use only fine merino wool in their 100% wool items. Others offer it too, like Patagonia.
You can also look for labels saying "100% merino wool" in thrift store sweaters.
Always read the labels....and beware of things labeled like "wool blend" or "wool tech", "wool fleece", etc....usually indicating only part wool content.