Wool&Prince Return with a T-Shirt You Almost Never Have to Wash

Wool&Prince, the team that brought us 'The Better Button-Down' shirt, which you can wear for 100 days straight without washing, is back. This time, they're tackling the humble T-shirt. They've come up with a 100 percent wool garment that's odour-resistant, offers 'natural climate control' and is super-soft. To get it on the market in a way that maximises quality and minimises prices, though, they need to submit a US$35,000 initial factory order. So they're looking for help via Kickstarter.

The Wool&Prince crew spent eight months investigating and experimenting with hundreds of fabrics, trying T-shirt styles and testing out various fits. The rigorous research process involved putting the three final prototypes through stressful situations, including a 20,000km road trip across 45 US states, a 23-day cycling and camping trip in Alaska, a messy week at Oktoberfest, Germany and an extended feel test/vox pop with New Yorkers.

In the end, they decided on 16.5 superfine micron Merino wool. Its extreme sweat-absorption capacity prevents the odour created by the breakdown of sweat via bacteria. Plus it's both naturally insulating and naturally breathable, meaning that the wearer is kept warm in cold weather yet cool in hot weather.

The Wear-More, Wash-Less T-Shirt is currently available in crew-neck and v-neck styles, and in two different colours: black and heather-grey. If the stretch goals are reached, the repertoire will extend to include a polo and the palette to include bright navy and red. According to Wool&Prince, the fit is neither too baggy nor too tight, being akin to the T-shirts sold at American Apparel.

Fifteen days remain in the Wear-More, Wash-Less campaign. Of the US$35,000 goal, just over US$26,000 has been pledged by 225 backers (as of 14 January). US$58 buys you one T-shirt, US$108 buys two, US$158 buys three and US$208 buys four.