Agion Stink at Nothing Experiment- Part I

I recently received a free workout shirt from Agion in order to participate in an experiment they are doing to try out their odor free workout wear. Basically, you get a free technical (i.e. non-cotton) T-shirt if you test it out and write them a review. One side of the T-shirt is treated with their odor removing formula and one is not.
I haven't finished testing my shirt yet, but I thought I'd go ahead and blog about my experience with it today. If you want to be a tester, you can sign up to get your free shirt here. They want you to get the shirt as sweaty and stinky as possible, in the most interesting way possible, then write to them about it. There is also a chance to win a vacation if the most people vote that your test is the best one, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't stand a chance. :)
I had planned to wear my shirt on a bunch of runs this summer because I get pretty disgusting then, but once the shirt came in I realized I had to change my plans. Why? Because the shirt, supposedly a small, is huge. I wore it with mid thigh (think 5" inseam) gym shorts today and it was nearly as long as the shorts. I kind of hate to say that because it sounds like I'm complaining about a free shirt, but I'm just mentioning this because it changes my testing approach. (I find that running in baggy clothes leads to a lot of discomfort and chafing.)
Fortunately, Tulane's Reily Center has been uncomfortably hot since the weather has warmed up. I can definitely work up a sweat in there and I figured that if I pushed myself pretty hard, I'd be able to give the shirt a good initial test run.
In brief, I lifted weights, did 20 pushups, a bunch of ab work, and then hit the treadmill for my favorite indoor cardio workout: power walking at a 15% incline (which is as high as it goes), 4 mph, for 30 minutes. I decided to amp it up by raising the speed to 5.5 mph for a two minute interval every 5 minutes. I was sweaty by the time I finished with the weights and abs, but after the cardio I was drenched. My hair was dripping with sweat. Mission accomplished- I was disgusting!
To add to my disgustingness, I must confess that I chose tonight to test out the shirt because I went to Lola's (awesome Spanish food) last night and ate a TON of garlic. I am positive that I was vampire proof all day today and I figured it would add to my stinkiness at the gym. (Apologies to my fellow gym goers, by the way!)
I also weighed myself before and after my workout on the scale in the gym. It said I lost 0.4 lbs after my workout, which basically means that I sweated out that nearly half a pound water. (I drank a BIG glass of water when I got home!)
As for the shirt, the first thing I noticed about it was that it did a good job wicking away my sweat. Although I was a sweaty mess from the neck up, the shirt itself was dry (and I'd been wiping my face on it and sort of pressing it onto my torso to make sure it got really sweaty) and looked really crisp and presentable. The shirt is white, which I think helped make it looks especially dry- but I definitely didn't think it looked like a workout shirt at the end of a workout.
But the big question is- how did it smell? Well, I worked up the courage to sniff my arm pits. I'd actually forgotten which side was supposed to be odor free, but I figured it out immediately. One armpit smelled, predictably, like a sweaty armpit, but the other smelled exactly like the shirt did before I put it on. Success!
I found myself thinking about when and where I would wear a shirt like this. First of all, I don't really care how I smell after a standard gym workout or a nice run at the end of the day. I'm not going to do anything but go home and shower. And my hair and skin look pretty sweaty so there is no hiding the fact that I've been sweating. However, I think that an odor free shirt would be pretty useful for more social type sports- like Kick Ball, where you will be interacting with people. I think it would be nice to feel like I didn't smell repulsive in a situation like that. I also think that an odor free shirt would be good pretty much all summer in New Orleans for non-athletic outdoor activities. Due to the humidity, I find myself smelling pretty offensive after a while even if I go outside but don't exert myself.
All in all I'm not sure I would use an Agion shirt as a gym or running shirt, but I might be likely to wear one to an outdoor festival or a team sporting event.
Of course, I'm not ready to call an end to my experiment. I'm definitely having fun trying to think up creative ways to test it out. I really want to see how the shirt holds up to multiple washes, and I want to see how it stands up to a tougher challenge- namely, my darling fiance. I'm going to give the shirt to him in the end anyway since it's too big for me, plus I find man sweat to be stinkier than lady sweat and I want to see how the shirt holds up. So next- I'll wash the shirt and then convince him to wear it for a workout-hopefully a nice long run!
So stay tuned for Part II!