I Lived in This Merino Tee for 30 Days and It Never Quit: Ibex Naturalist Merino Wool Tee Review

The funk really started to set in around week three, which, all things considered, surprised the hell out of me. I wore the Ibex Naturalist Short Sleeve Crew for an entire month this fall in a quasi-masochist endeavor to understand merino wool better, and despite some protest from my better half, it went a lot better than expected.

Merino wool can be tough to justify when it comes to active apparel — it’s undeniably pricey stuff, and it’s not indestructible, oftentimes accumulating holes in high-wear spots. The Naturalist is about as pure merino as you can get, making it the ideal candidate for my torture test.

And the results? I may have been banished from close quarters with loved ones by the end, but the Naturalist held strong. Here’s how the merino wool tee shirt excelled, fumbled, and surprised me.

In short: Merino wool is one of the best materials for versatile active wear, but can it withstand abuse? I set out to see if the Ibex Naturalist had what it took and learned a few things in the process.

Looking for a new merino wool tee? Check out how the Ibex Naturalist compares to the rest of the options out there in GearJunkie’s Best Merino Wool Shirts Buyer’s Guide.

Ibex Naturalist Short Sleeve Crew: The Abuse Test

The rules are simple: I set out to wear the same Ibex T-shirt for all 30 days of September this summer. No laundering; no cheating by jumping in the lake. Sweat and all, I had to throw on this tee the next morning and pretend that the previous day’s 20-mile bike ride didn’t happen. 

The Ibex Naturalist is the successor to the brand’s classic 24 Hour tee — the top of the chain, 100% merino cut. This is a double-edged blade: 100% weaves get the full measure of anti-funk and luxuriously soft qualities that wool can provide, but can be susceptible to wearing out prematurely. This is why many merino tees today use a blend or draft the wool around a nylon core. 

The Naturalist, instead, trades a little durability for full-on comfort, which had me a bit worried that it would see the end of the month unscathed. This didn’t stop me from giving it the full measure, however: I hiked, biked, paddled, climbed, and worked out in the tee for the full 30 days.

The Wool

Ibex is big on its merino. The brand has always gone to great lengths to source high-quality wool from reputable and sustainable partners and then process and spin it in the best mills worldwide. The wool for the Naturalist is sourced from Australia and then sewn in Vietnam.

This merino is a 165-gsm–thick weave, which puts it in the all-around temperature range, and the wool fibers themselves are 18.4 microns — a little thicker than some T-shirts use to help with durability concerns. The KÜHL Cashmerino, for example, uses a finer 16.5-micron wool and feels just a smidge softer than the Naturalist. However, that tee does blend in 13% nylon, enough to notice a performance ding.

On day 8 of my test, I ventured off into the hills of a recent burn in search of morel mushrooms, returning a soot-covered mess. Carbon is a tough stain to scrub out (especially when you’re 22 days from a washing machine), but I was surprised to see most of the soot work its way out of the fibers the next day. 

Day 14 saw another trial, when I spilled some asada from a taco in my lap. Thankfully, any staining from this was easily averted. Finally, the 29th day saw the worst stain of all: a big splotch of 10W-30 while changing the oil on my truck. I’d typically wear something a bit more sacrificial for work like this, so this stain was the most tenacious of all.

Stitch Quality

A merino wool T-shirt isn’t just the wool it’s made from, but also how it’s assembled. Luckily for me, the Naturalist is sewn up right.

The shoulders of the Naturalist are bound with a saddle stitch — a method of joining material more commonly found in leathercraft, and one that safeguards against unraveling, as the stitch remains stable even if a thread is snagged. 

I’ve noticed this attention to stitch detail on other Ibex pieces that I’ve tested previously (the Ibex Woolies 250 base layer, for example, uses a baste stitch at the thumbholes, which is intentionally meant to be snipped free if you choose to use them), and it’s another hallmark of quality.

The rest of the garment is brought together with a flatlock stitch, which does create a small raised seam on the interior, but the softness of the merino makes this a non-issue. By the middle of the month, I couldn’t find a single stitch out of place. By the end, there was only a slight snag on the lower hem.

Finally, a nod to the logo on the Naturalist, which is an embroidered design on the lower hem — not flashy, not in your face, and of the same color as the T-shirt. Very nice.

Funk-ness Factor

I had to work hard to make this T-shirt stink. Even merino wool shirts with a little bit of nylon in the weave will start to go ripe in about a week, so it’s a testament to the power of pure wool that the Naturalist held out as long as it did before sporting an undeniable odor.

But still, even merino wool isn’t immune to gathering odor, and by around day 10 or so, the T-shirt would start to get a little ripe toward the end of the day. That said, I was surprised most mornings to find that the funk had evaporated overnight, especially if I left it out on the clothesline. 

Day 16 was about the tipping point when my partner finally brought up the elephant in the room, but it was no use — the Naturalist had already won. Two weeks of the same T-shirt is just silly, and I’m calling this a win for the Ibex.

Downsides

Zooming out from my little experiment, there are a few things to note for those swayed by its impressive performance. The big deal is the price: $90. Merino wool is premium stuff, but even among merino shirts, $90 is about the top of the heap. 

You can slide into a cheaper cut, such as the Ridge Merino Journey ($60) or Patagonia Capilene Cool Merino Shirt ($69), but both of these are going to be blends of nylon or polyester, and you won’t get the full merino experience. 

Even if the Naturalist only lasted these 30 days, however, that’s $3 a day. I’d bet that this shirt would go many times that, however, and it’s tough to put a price on quality like that. 

Results

Finally, on October 1, I revved up the washing machine and gave the Naturalist a well-deserved cold soak. Newly worn-in with a full month on it, the shirt had a few tenacious stains, accumulated some slight pilling around the hem, and had an undeniable odor, but other than that, the damage was minimal — even surprising.

Here’s a full post-mortem: The shirt had collected a few stains on the front, courtesy of my morel hunt and oil change. The stitching at the hem had frayed in one small spot on the left-hand side. And the screenprinted logo on the interior of the shirt had begun to peel off (I’ll live). Otherwise, after a detergent-heavy wash, it’s ready to rip for another full month here. 

I was honestly surprised that the Naturalist didn’t accumulate more holes. I’ve taken new merino pieces on longer hikes (3 to 5 days) and had them come out sporting at least a few snags here and there. So the fact that this tee came away with none speaks a lot to its durability.

Ibex Naturalist Short Sleeve Crew: Conclusion

I did it so you don’t have to, folks. But trust me when I say, the Ibex Naturalist truly impressed me with its durability, odor-fighting properties, and ability to remain soft day after day. Merino wool is some undeniably impressive stuff, and when it comes to blends, I now believe that if you can swing it, go for the 100% cut.

You’ll obviously pay for the privilege: $90 is steep, but for the stink-proofing (and softness) of the Naturalist, I’d say it’s worth it in the long run. You can get into Ibex for a bit cheaper, as well: The GOAT Short Sleeve Tee will run you $85 (and incorporates 11% nylon), and the Paradox Tee is even more affordable at $80, and weaves in TENCEL for a better hot-weather shirt.

But if you want the genuine article, the Naturalist is where it’s at. I was blown away by the performance over the last month, and have no issues believing this shirt will do many more months from here. For my sake (and my relationship’s), however, I’ll give this Ibex tee a well-earned break first.