Why Leathers Smell
All normal, healthy people sweat - some more, some less. And all healthy people smell when they sweat - this too is normal. Sweat is important in regulating your body temperature. Despite enormous changes in the temperature of our external environment - be it tropical ‘that hot summer Sunday ride to Donnington Pak to see British superbikes’ or sub-zero ‘The ride-out to Matlock Bath on a crisp February Saturday afternoon’ - your internal body temperature remains fairly constant.
When you are exposed to excessive heat, ‘the skin tight leathers’ the sweat glands pour out their watery secretion (sweat) and carry out the vital task of cooling your body. This thermoregulatory mechanism has allowed us to adapt to the hottest climates, those leathers keep you warm in WINTER, even hotter in SUMMER.
Sweat is composed of the secretion of two types of glands: the 2 million eccrine glands distributed over the entire body, and the localised apocrine glands, which are restricted primarily to the armpits, the anogenital region, and the nipples. The growth of the apocrine glands is regulated by a hormone that begins to form about the time of puberty and decreases markedly in old age. (This is why children under the age of twelve and elderly people do not suffer from ‘body odoufr.’) These apocrine glands become active after puberty, respond to hormonal secretions, and are stimulated by emotional factors such as stress and sexual excitement.
Sweat itself is essentially odourless. Most of the odour is due to the action of the various bacteria on the milky secretion of the apocrine sweat glands. These bacteria are most active in moist and warm environments, particularly hairy armpits and the area that touches the seat.
Sweat from body regions devoid of apocrine glands can also have an unpleasant odour. For example, the odour of certain aromatic foods and spices (such as garlic and onions) are secreted in ecrine sweat. And eccrine sweat from prolonged exercising can cause an unpleasant odour due to bacterial action on the soft, wet skin. Walking up the prom, eying-up the talent wearing the full race suit on TT week.
Normally we lose about 2 quarts of liquid through persperation each day. Perpseration is not under voluntary control . You cannot decide when you want to perspire and you cannot tell yourself to stop this mechanism. Emotional and environmental factors (heat) influence the degree of sweating, especially over the palms, soles, armpits, and forehead; and doctors believe that cigarette smoking may also be responsible for excessive perspiration. You can, however, ‘harness’ this mechanism somewhat by using antiperspirants and deodorants.
A blind spot for smells… Strange as it may seem, many people with bad body odor are unaware that they smell. Scientific research has shown that some people cannot detect certain molecules. Their nostrils may be able to register the smell of garlic or curry, but not the smell emanating from their armpits.
What’s the treatment? Body odour is often easily treated and a medical diagnosis isn’t usually necessary. Take regular baths or showers, at least once a day. After puberty, using an antiperspirant can help to reduce sweating , and some also inhibit bacterial growth. This is rarely needed with younger children.
Fresh clothes should be worn every day, and clothing should be washed at as high a temperature as possible, then dried as quickly as possible, that’s for the items under your bike leathers. But remember the sweat still goes on to the linings of the leathers. Bacteria can survive in damp clothing and produce a characteristic smell and then you have to dry them out. Avoiding very spicy food may also help - obviously the occassional Friday night curry is unavoidable.
That’s why your leathers need to be cleaned professionally - to GET RID OF THE SMELLS, so contact Leathers Cleaned now.