December 10, 2009

  • Velour Versus Polar Fleece®

    It’s that time of year again:  routinely wearing as many layers indoors as most people in temperate zones ever wear outdoors, and trying to maximize the insulative properties of each layer, indoors and out, without adding excess bulk.  Bulky clothes can be a killer in terms of mobility.  Having to disrobe my upper half in the outhouse, so I can reach my butt and do the paperwork, could cause a life-threatening drop in core temperature.

    My priorities are survival and mobility, but if I can throw in a bit of sensual pleasure without sacrificing practicality, I’ll do it.  Silk long johns are my favorites in mildly cold weather, or as a next-to-the-skin layer beneath warmer merino wool in colder weather.  Beggars can’t be choosers, however, and dumpster divers take what we can get.  Color and style don’t matter much, but anything that doesn’t fit comfortably gets donated to acquaintances or thrift stores.  We are proactive recyclers, salvaging what we can before it gets to the landfill. 

    Merino wool is rare, and if we do find any, it usually has been shrunken to doll-size.  Duofold® shows up in dumpsters all the time, probably because it also shrinks if not washed with care and dried without heat.  However, I wear Duofold® long johns that have shrunken down to my size from something that once fit a big man.  They are relatively bulky, but warm.

    I have been loving Polar Fleece® ever since it started showing up in the discards.  At first, I was amazed to see so much of it, given how expensive it is generally, but I suppose it makes sense.  Affluent people do tend to throw away more of everything than poor people do.  It comes in several thicknesses, and I was so impressed with the warmth of the heavyweight stuff that I bought a few pairs of Polar Fleece® socks.  They are wonderfully warm — I’m wearing a pair now, over thin polypropylene liners, inside my “yeti-feet” booties of stuff that looks like dirty white shag carpeting.

    Another surprising discovery was that velour is warmer than Polar Fleece® of similar thickness.  Thin velour isn’t very warm, but recently someone threw away three pullovers in my size, made of a denser, thicker velour that is very warm.  Currently, my “pajamas” consist of a charcoal gray velour pullover and a pair of thin thermal knit long johns under jersey athletic pants in navy blue.

    When I got up this morning, it was single digits below zero (F) outside and about fifty degrees inside.  I put on my little blue hat, a calf-length polar fleece zip-up robe (gray background with earth-toned teddy bear and snowflake print) for extra insulation, and a GORE-TEX®  windbreaker of deep forest green for draft protection.  The windbreaker has a collar of leather that feels cold and hard against my skin, so I pulled the velour collar out and smoothed it back over the leather for luxurious tactile sensations.

    Keeping my head, feet and core nice and warm allows adequate circulation to my fingers.  All that, plus extra attention to the fire that has gotten the temp up around sixty in here now, makes it comfortable to keyboard without gloves.

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