【Taiwan Midsummer Wear Test】Four Days in 35°C Taipei with Just One Merino Wool T-Shirt

In early July, we spent seven days in Taipei.
Temperatures reached 34–35°C every day, with humidity repeatedly exceeding 80%.
We brought two C-one T-shirts—and did not wash them once.

To be honest, even though we sell wool clothing ourselves, we were still somewhat skeptical about wearing wool in summer—especially at the height of summer in Taiwan.

This is an honest record of those seven days, including what worked well and what did not.

Taipei’s Summer Was Harsher Than We Expected

July in Taipei may seem similar to midsummer in Tokyo, but it feels slightly different.

What stood out most was that the temperature barely dropped at night. While it exceeded 35°C outdoors during the day, the MRT and buildings were intensely air-conditioned. We moved between these extremes many times each day.

Then there was the humidity. Even in the morning, when the temperature was not yet at its highest, the air felt sticky the moment we stepped outside. Taipei’s basin geography seems to trap heat and moisture.

The purpose of this trip was to exhibit at the Taipei International Sports & Outdoor Show. Each morning, we walked about 15 minutes to the station, stood at the venue throughout the day, and then spent another three to four hours walking around at night for market research. We repeated this routine for seven days.

How We Rotated Two Shirts for Seven Days

We brought two navy C-one T-shirts and rotated them throughout the trip, with no washing planned.

Each staff member also brought two shirts. Some wore one for the first half and the other for the second, while others switched by day as I did. Although everyone rotated them differently, all of us completed the seven days without washing them.

Odor Was Genuinely Never an Issue

This was our biggest concern.

We walked every morning, stood and moved all day, and walked again at night. We kept wearing the same T-shirts for days in an environment where we were almost always sweating.

The conclusion: odor was never a concern throughout the entire seven days.

Not “Cool,” but “Dry and Comfortable”

To be honest, merino wool did not make the heat itself feel cool.

At 34–35°C in Taipei, hot weather feels hot whether you wear cotton or wool. We noticed almost no difference between fabrics in terms of immediate coolness.

The difference was in how our skin felt after sweating.

Cotton absorbs sweat and leaves a damp feeling against the skin. Merino wool, by contrast, continued to feel dry. That was probably why we remained comfortable even after walking for hours every morning and evening.

High Humidity Helped Release Wrinkles

We also made another unexpected discovery.

When we hung a worn T-shirt on a hanger in the hotel overnight, its wrinkles had disappeared by the next morning. Spending the night in Taipei’s high humidity seemed to help the fibers naturally recover their shape.

We had assumed that hot, humid conditions might not suit wool—but the opposite proved true.

The Two Best-Selling Products at the Exhibition

The exhibition also gave customers in Taiwan their first opportunity to see and feel C-one products in person.

C HIGH END and C BASIC tied for first place in units sold. Both are signature styles chosen by customers in Taiwan.

Conclusion

These seven days transformed our own uncertainty about wearing wool in summer into confidence.

Next, we will share our wear test from Seoul, South Korea.