How to Keep Underarm Sweat from Soaking Your Shirt: Five Simple Tips

We all sweat, every one of us. Unfortunately though, some of us sweat more than others. This is unfortunate only because we live in such a vain society that we now fear embarrassment if we sweat under our arms, a place where nature wants us to sweat. Luckily, for most of us, sweating in general isn’t such a bad thing, at least not when we’re in an environment where it won’t seem embarrassing, such as when we’re working out in a gym. On the other hand, there are places we really don’t want sweat leaking thorough our clothes to the point where others will notice. A business meeting, for example. The five tips below are intended to help in those situations where you really don’t want sweat soaking through your shirt or blouse:

1 – Deodorant and Antiperspirants. To be clear. Deodorants are little more than perfume. They are not intended to reduce the amount of sweat (perspiration) that is produced by your body. They are made to simply mask the odor that can arise when sweat is produced. Antiperspirant, on the other hand, is engineered specifically to reduce the amount of sweat that is produced by the sweat glands that lie beneath the skin of your arm pits. Antiperspirants are more effective with some people than with others. Also, some brands work better for some people than others. To find out which is best for you, try as many as possible, especially if you’re a person that sweats a lot. Also, to be clear. It is not sweat itself that has an odor, it is what happens to it. As with all organic material, sweat is subject to decay, which is caused by micro-organisms nibbling. It might seem gross, but the reason our armpits start to smell is because we have little bugs eating our sweat.

2 – Shirt Material. You can’t always stop sweat from happening, but you can choose the type of material you put on your body. Some material absorbs sweat better than others. Some materials actually cause more sweating to occur by preventing body heat from escaping or by not allowing the sweat that is produced to evaporate. The color of your shirt also has an impact on sweat as well. Dark colors grow darker when wet. In general white shows the least. Finally, by wearing shirts that don’t cover your underarms, you certainly can avoid sweat wetting the material, but by doing so, you’re likely to increase the amount of sweat produced due to the heat buildup of skin on skin.

3 – Liners. For those that don’t know about them, liners are pieces of cloth or paper that line the inside of your shirt or blouse. Their purpose is to absorb sweat, thus preventing the sweat from making it’s way to your shirt. Liners are usually held in place by a sticky substance that also allows them to be easily removed. Some liners are reusable and can be tossed in the washing machine, others are not and are thrown away after use. Liners are the best way to prevent sweat from soaking your shirt. You can use them with practically any shirt. The exception being of course, shirts or blouses that don’t have material covering your arm pits. Along these lines, you also always have the option of wearing more than one shirt at a time, with the idea in mind that the undermost garment will absorb any sweat that is produced and thus prevent the one on the outside from getting wet and being seen by others. While this is good idea in theory, the problem is, wearing more than one shirt generally makes you hotter, which in turn will make you produce more sweat. This is why liners are usually a better option.

4 – Stress. One of the more difficult ways to keep sweat at bay is by reducing heat and stress. Obviously, you can’t always control the temperature, particularly if you’re outside. You might be able to do something about the other major cause of sweat though, stress. There are breathing techniques and other stress reducing options that you can research in great deal on other sits.

5 – Emergencies. Sometimes we find ourselves in situations we hadn’t expected. We’re put on the spot, or are asked to do something we weren’t expecting. These kinds of things lead to instant stress, and quite often, instant sweat, which depending on the circumstances can be just plain embarrassing if it starts to show under our arms. So, what to do? The first thing, upon discovering you’ll be in such a situation, is to run to the nearest restroom. Unroll a ton of toilet paper and stuff it into your armpit. If you have access to scotch tape, use it to keep the toilet paper in place. If you don’t be sure to keep your arms pressed together as you work or you run the risk of the paper falling and embarrassing you. If you don’t have access to toilet paper, you can use other things, even notebook paper. Anything to block the sweat from getting from your skin to your shirt. You might also consider keeping a spare shirt or blouse at your work place or wherever you might need it should something unexpected occur. Finally, try splashing your face with water. This will help to cool you down and might also help with the stress.

This article is intended for anyone that has ever been embarrassed by sweaty armpits. It is hoped that these five simple tips for helping to keep underarm sweat from soaking your shirt will be helpful. Good luck.