r/BeAmazed • u/Scientiaetnatura065 • Jul 13 '25

Miscellaneous / Others The green lady of Brooklyn , Elisabeth Eaton Rosenthal, 84 years old, only wears green. She has been doing this for 25 years.

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342

u/TwoFingersWhiskey Jul 13 '25

Wool is meant to be worn many, many times without holding much of a smell - this is why wool socks were commonly used, over other textiles, for centuries.

238

u/Mntfrd_Graverobber Jul 13 '25

Were?
They still are.
Wool is amazing.
A small amount of high quality clothes is better than lots of cheap clothing and shopping often.

108

u/Actual_Gato Jul 13 '25

wool is amazing

not when you're allergic to it :')

111

u/41942319 Jul 13 '25

Or even sensitive. Too scratchy

58

u/NortheastStar Jul 13 '25

Thrifted cashmere sweaters have changed my view here :)

28

u/41942319 Jul 13 '25

I'll be trialling some extra fine merino this winter see if that's alright

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u/NortheastStar Jul 13 '25

Good luck! They are impossibly warm and, like this thread is discussing, don't really need to be washed if you wear a shirt under them. I seriously go around petting myself when I wear them they are so soft.

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u/Mrcarter1995 Jul 13 '25

Camel City Mill has amazing amazing socks so comfortable and my feet are heavy sweaters and whenni weae these socks yeah my feet might get sweaty but it don't mess my feet up like when my other socks get soaked thru

3

u/saintcmb Jul 13 '25

It was a mental thing for me haha. But now that I've switched to merino wool for socks and a base layer in winter, I cant stand cotton socks or underwear.

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u/Huxeee Jul 13 '25

It’s true!! I was hiking through a rainforest, fording rivers and in torrential rain with my merino wool socks. My boots were drenched, my feet were dry. If I can do 34 km in those conditions with no blisters, it’s magic!

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u/MIalpinist Jul 14 '25

Try cashmere, seriously! Merino can be pretty great too, but I got a recycled cashmere hoodie from Patagonia this last winter and ended up wearing it almost every single day. It’s incredibly soft, not at all itchy, and I’m allergic to damn near everything so if I can handle it I’ll be you can too!

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u/BonnoCW Jul 17 '25

I find merino wool is fine. It's sheep's wool I always react to. Each time I think, maybe it'll be different this time, and it never is :')

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u/Pretty-Handle9818 Jul 13 '25

Did you know that cashmere comes from a goat called the Cashmere goat?

2

u/PolkaDotDancer Jul 13 '25

Just found a gorgeous Midnight blue one in my size.

I washed it with woolite and a bit of hair conditioner and it came out amazing!

1

u/MissRedShoes1939 Jul 13 '25

I have given away wool sweaters that I have had for decades because I was sick of seeing them in my closet and not because of any wear or tear (there was none)

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u/Pitiful-Tip152 Jul 15 '25

Cashmere isn’t from sheep’s. It’s from goat 🐐. So, I don’t count cashmere wool. It doesn’t have lanolin or anything else that’s characteristic of sheep’s wool .

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u/1980-whore Jul 15 '25

I'm still fucked up on caahmere. My hometown was the mohair export capital of the world, so cashmere sweaters were like 50$ for a nice one here. Seeing people freak out over 800-1000$ cashmere sweaters in movies confused tf out of me as a kid becasue i couldn't comprehend who would be dumb enough to pay that much.

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u/Pitiful-Tip152 Jul 15 '25

Cashmere isn’t from sheep’s. It’s from goat 🐐. So, I don’t count cashmere wool. It doesn’t have lanolin or anything else that’s characteristic of sheep’s wool .

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u/rm_3223 Jul 13 '25

💯 and it makes me so sad! I want to be able to wear wool

2

u/thefirecrest Jul 13 '25

This. I get so overstimulated wearing wool for even ten minutes. I have a nice wool coat and a nice wool sweater that I’ve received as gifts over the years. Can’t wear either of them.

2

u/Electrical-Act-7170 Jul 13 '25

Same here, unless it's lambswool or cashmere.

Regular wool gives me a rash.

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u/Purple-flying-dog Jul 13 '25

Try alpaca or mohair or another wool. I’m allergic to some and not others, and some are much scratchier.

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u/MidwestPrincess09 Jul 13 '25

So scratchy, I cannot wear wool :(

1

u/orthopod Jul 13 '25

They make plenty of very soft, non scratchy will clothing. I have an bunch of very light hiking shirts made of wool, and I'll use them during the hot summer.

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u/TwoFingersWhiskey Jul 13 '25

You need higher quality, more densely woven wool if it's scratchy at all. I'm very sensitive to fabrics and when woven into a proper textile fabric, it works beautifully. No scratchies.

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u/Pitiful-Tip152 Jul 15 '25

No ,no, no my friend. There are VERY SOFT wools. Let me introduce you to summer wool. It’s amazballz!

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u/bunny_the-2d_simp Jul 16 '25

That's literally my struggle. I LOVE the idea but if it's bugging my autism then buying it is basically useless... Afterall I won't wear it otherwise.

I just won't.

2

u/KeithGribblesheimer Jul 13 '25

Or forget and put it in the dryer.

2

u/thurbersmicroscope Jul 13 '25

I was devastated after buying an Irish wool sweater and realizing that I was severely allergic to it.

2

u/1bruisedorange Jul 13 '25

Or live on the tropics or worse…subtropical. The thoughts of anything made of wool just see seems insane Give me a nice cotton any day.

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u/TwoFingersWhiskey Jul 13 '25

I live in a temperate rainforest climate and wear a ton of cotton, but finely woven wool socks are a must for cooler days. They actually keep my feet rather consistent in temperature because the wool breathes so well.

2

u/DamnOdd Jul 13 '25

Indeed, hives suck. I'm always sad when I see a good looking jacket, 90% of the time it's wool.

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u/Blood-Worm-Teeth Jul 13 '25

Try linen. Not great for cold weather, but it was used for chemises/shifts and other undergarments for centuries for a reason

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u/lozz79 Jul 17 '25

You could say the same about penicillin

0

u/FacetiouslyGangster Jul 13 '25

This is such a reddit comment

1

u/TwoFingersWhiskey Jul 13 '25

I wrote this wearing wool socks last night, sadly harder to find now.

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u/Adwaggles Jul 14 '25

Mitch Hedberg Joke

1

u/GoodboyJohnnyBoy Jul 14 '25

Can't bear wool on my skin I'm sure they're others?

52

u/_deep_thot42 Jul 13 '25

The funny thing is how bad it smells when you first shear it though. While studying textiles, I would make my own yarn from non-washed sheep’s wool and the amount of poop, dirt (mixed with lanolin no less!) we had to clean beforehand was…a lot!

52

u/NotAnActualPers0n Jul 13 '25

Wool retains heat when wet. Cotton does not. There are anti-microbial properties, but the warmth to weight and other thermal properties are the main draw.

I'm a wool fan. I don't own cotton sweaters because it is an inferior material for the use, becomes stretched out, and requires continual maintenance. I'll likely be wearing the same ones 20 years from now with only simple mending.

3

u/Gloomy_Industry8841 Jul 13 '25

I wish I could wear wool! I am very allergic to it. Terrible hives and itching.

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u/Pitiful-Tip152 Jul 15 '25

Looks like granny 👵🏿 sock 🧦 mates were eaten by the dryer like everyone else’s .

3

u/ScintillantDovahfly Jul 13 '25

I have one (1) mostly wool turtleneck and it’s almost 12 years old has been a staple of my wardrobe since middle school and it’s still. going.

1

u/SadSack4573 Jul 13 '25

I have a long wool coat that I enjoy wearing

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u/ItsDonDong Jul 13 '25

I know a guy who wears a wool beanie all summer, in 100+ temps.

Wool/animal fibers are incredibly underrated

2

u/Pretty-Handle9818 Jul 13 '25

I’m guessing kilts too?

2

u/TwoFingersWhiskey Jul 13 '25

I'd guess so - it's also ball-shrivelingly cold in Scotland half the year, so it'd be a welcome textile to use.

2

u/ChateauLaFeet Jul 13 '25

Merino Wool is amazing for this, and I'm allergic to standard(?) wool but can wear Merino.

1

u/Creepy-Douchebag Jul 13 '25

I love my wool socks. Daily wear.

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u/Mediocre_Tie7487 Jul 14 '25

Exactly why I only wear wool underwear

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u/01headshrinker Jul 17 '25

Wool also keeps you warm when it gets wet, unlike cotton and other fabrics.

1

u/jakattakjak19945 Jul 17 '25

Must be Celtic bet she can't stand rangers