Jürgen Müller, Head-Patterns, Mayer & Cie, says, warm functional underwear is a must for athletes, coaches and spectators These products are mostly knitted on circular knitting machines. High-tech sports and thermal underwear produced in Mayer & Cie. machines keep users warm and provide comfort at the same time.

Extra warm thermal underwear produced from single jersey, plush and fine rib all deliver warmth and comfort. Made of thicker yarns such as microfibres of between 150/1 and 167/1 dtex, all in E28 gauge, the inside of the single jersey fabric is napped for a fleece effect. Jürgen Müller recommends MV 4 3.2. II and the S4-3.2 circular knitting machines for this purpose. In addition, Relanit machines suitable for the manufacture of thermal underwear are stated as Relanit 3.2 S, Relanit 3.2 HS and Relanit 4.0.

Plush fabric with a 1.5 mm short loop also feels like fleece on the skin. The MPU 1.6 knits this fabric in gauges E22 to E28. Müller explains that yarn that shrinks a little is especially good for this purpose and says; “It can be functional microfibre yarn, which is always multifilament”. A 10 per cent admixture of elastomer yarn is also common.

The third alternative for circular machine-knitted thermal underwear is fine rib fabric napped inside. Elastic by definition does not require any elastomer content. Müller relays that underwear manufacturers often opt for a mixture of 75 per cent cotton and 25 per cent polyester, disclosing; “On an FV 2.0 or a D4 2.2 the double jersey fabric comes out fine in E22 to E24 gauge”.

Müller underlines that body mapping is another trend in sports underwear. Different perspiration areas of the human body are taken into account and patterns are made with double-sided plating. Body mapping requires larger plain segments in the back or stomach area as well as breathable jacquard areas underneath the armpits or on the sides, he adds.