This was the starting point of our product search.
I remember it well.
Night sweats were a big problem – I was waking up several times a night with soaking wet pyjamas, having to change them once or twice a night. Then during the day, the hot flushes would occur without warning, leaving me hot and perspiring. This led me to start looking around for clothing (and bedding) which would handle the moisture better and not leave me wringing wet and freezing cold.
It was very hard to find the right products – which starting me thinking how useful it would be to have a place where all the products which were available to help understand and manage your Menopause were, so to speak, under one roof.
But, back to the clothing.
Both my husband and I are keen walkers and, living in Devon, spend quite a bit of time on Dartmoor so we were very familiar with the types of “wicking” materials that are used in performance outdoor clothing.
These quick drying fabrics are used in pretty much all sportswear these days. They work like this:
- The fabric works because you have lots of small fibres close to the skin which lift the moisture away (wicking)
- The fabric doesn’t absorb the moisture but transports it from the skin to the outer surface where it can evaporate into the air.
- This evaporation cools the surface of the fabric, which in turn helps to pull more moisture from the skin.
- The fabric remains breathable, which allows air back through the material to help cool the body.
- Cotton, in comparison, just becomes waterlogged and holds the moisture next to your skin leaving you damp and clammy.
We’ve talked to manufacturers around the world about this, and there are several who have developed fabrics which look and feel as soft as cotton, yet work in exactly the same as sports fabrics. Some of these are made from ‘man-made’ fibres such as polyester, whilst others come from natural fibres such as Bamboo and Wool.
We try to source our products from the UK as far as possible, but we can’t find everything we think you’ll want – so elements of our daywear, nightwear and bedding ranges come from Europe and the USA as well as the UK.
- Daywear
The daywear we sell on the site is based on a fabric called Qdry which has been developed in Europe. It really feels like cotton but it dries 3 times faster, which means it can transport 3 times as much moisture away from your body. This is provided exclusively to us.
- Nightwear
We stock garments made from either high quality wicking polyester or natural Bamboo fibre.
The polyester nightwear is from the USA and again is made from a cutting edge fabric, which ‘wicks’ away your sweat. It looks and feels like cotton but is 100% ‘wicking’ polyester. Designed to keep you dry and comfortable it can be washed time and again and still maintain its performance. It will keep you cool when its warm and warm when its cool! The nightwear is lightweight, wrinkle free and quick drying- great for travelling!Our Bamboo fibre nightwear is sourced from a small designer in the UK. We believe the combination of high performance natural wicking fibre and sylish, original design is unique! The fabric itself is incredibly soft, can be washed normally and keeps its properties over many, many wash cycles.
- Bedding
Our sheets, duvet covers and pillowcases are largely sourced from the UK. We stock Climarelle and Coolmax bedding. All of these fabrics have great properties for wicking away and / or absorbing moisture and keeping you cool at night.