VerySweatyBetty.com

Hello, my name is Denise and I designed the Wrapp.

The Wrapp literally wraps around the crotch of one’s briefs. The name just seemed to fit perfectly, like the Wrapp itself. The idea of the Wrapp came out of years of sheer desperation and utter frustration. The extra P stands for Perspiration.

Having taught myself to sew at 7, I have always kept decent size scraps from previous projects, tucked away…so I found my stash of muslin scraps, and got to sewing. I had some towels that were old, but not quite ready to be “dog towels” yet. So, I started drawing, freehand right on the fabric, using a commercial pad as a guide using a soft lead art pencil. My first attempt fitted great, however much to my disappointment, the Velcro closure added heat, and frankly did not work too well. Unless scratching ones inner thigh with the teeth of the Velcro was the goal…and it was not. So I took the seam ripper to all the Velcro, and tried a sew-on snap.

The snap looks great on paper, but the snap just could not take the tension. The snaps just popped open with the slightest movement. So, back to the drawing board…a simple hook and eye, they are still used on bras today. These work great admittedly, occasionally I have to either apply pressure to the hook to bend it in or get out the fine adjusting tool (known in some circles as a hammer,) and give the hook portion a tap to take it down a bit. So, that is what I went with…the hook and eye. Although very tedious to sew on, this works the best and does not add any heat, and doesn’t pop open. Initially there was no top stitching on the Wrapp, but was added later as the insert had a tendency to shift, hence I stitched it down to keep it from shifting…

I later switched from terry cloth to waffle muslin, for the (inside) liner – thus named because it looks like a waffle, when looking down on it. I also experimented with muslin fabrics as I had some difficulty with quality that I had never encountered with muslin before, some muslin had a tendency to pill and stretch. It was very disappointing to spend so much time on the construction of a garment to have it the fabric pill and stretch. So I finally went with a finer weave, more expensive, unbleached muslin that has a luxurious 200 thread count, and is always consistent.

I was just trying to solve an extremely difficult problem, for myself, to enable me to find a job. Never knowing, much less believing anyone else ever suffered from soggy elastic cutting into ones inner thighs to the point of wanting to literally rip my hair out of my head as I staggered around screaming. This excessive sweating started when I turned 14 and I suffered with it for well over 4 decades. It was only in the last few years that I even learned there was a name for this condition, moreover, I learned that it was not “just me.” For years I tried just about everything, baby powder, deodorants, antiperspirants, bladder control pads, yet nothing seemed to help. The talc turned to a gray sludge and only served to further aggravate skin eruptions. Deodorants and antiperspirants caused blisters, different soaps caused a variety of problems. The smaller sanitary pads did not work, they shredded into thousands of soggy pieces. The bladder control pads were bulky, hot, expensive and not always easy to dispose of. But as there was nothing else available, that is what I went with. But, with virtually no money, what to do, what to do…

What one frequently does is look within to solve a problem. So, I sat down and sewed until I made my Wrapps perfect. I wore my Wrapps for a few months, before I even found the Very Sweaty Betty web site. I was absolutely astounded to discover I was not alone. I am not the only person alive who sweats enough to float a battleship. It was such a relief to know it had a name. By then I had experienced a dry, comfortable crotch for a few months and I could not believe it. No skin eruptions, no yeast infections, no overheated, soggy clothing. After all those years that I did everything humanly possible to hide my soggy, miserable, painful secret were suddenly reversed, and now I was ready to take out billboard space over it.

The commercially produced incontinent pads I had been using cost approximately $15.00 for a pack of 60, so even using 2 pads a day that was still about $180.00 a year. They were bulky, uncomfortable, hot, added to the landfill, and were expensive. The Wrapp encapsulates the elastic on one’s briefs, holding the elastic away from the skin, allowing the moisture in the bend of the leg to evaporate instead of being absorbed into the (elastic and) underwear. And my Wrapps are completely washable, hundreds and hundreds of times, they get softer with each wash and there’s no need to iron! No more standing in line at the grocery store with a bulky package of incontinence pads (Wrapps work for more than ‘just’ perspiration)…all that and they still catch a laugh too! I now wish I had discovered these when I was going through menopause, but I didn’t, oh well…

Wrapps were initially just for myself. However, for men, there’s more good news, the Wrapp work just as well for you, holding the elastic of your briefs up off your skin, no more chaffing in that oh so delicate area, and no one will ever know unless you tell them. This too, came about quite organically (and later went on to be tested by various men and women to wear whilst playing sports). I was at the kitchen table, cutting out a batch of Wrapps, and my sisters boyfriend (a musician) walked by, and asked what I was making. I explained the Wrapps and he wanted to know if he could try them. A few days later, he asked if I had any more of them, he had an outdoor gig he had to play and the Wrapp worked great for his outdoor gig…Now, all of our Wrapps have been marked with an indelible pen, with our names, so we all know his from mine and my sisters Wrapps as virtually every batch of clean clothes has dry, clean, cool Wrapps, ready to go…

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email me. I will respond as soon as humanly possible.

Denise x

www.coolwrapps.com

Hi, my names Steve Tribe. I have suffered from Hyperhidrosis since I was born. And still am! I’m going to be writing this blog every month and hoping you’ll learn a bit more about how to cope with Hyperhidrosis through my blog.

I spent most my teenage years (like most sufferers) trying to hide my Hyperhidrosis. Then following ETS 13 years ago, concentrated on trying to come to terms with the resulting compensatory sweating. Finding the Hyperhidrosis Support Group spurred me on to try and take charge of my Hyperhidrosis (or at least kid myself that I was in charge of it). I’ve had the bit between my teeth ever since, giving me the determination to continue to find new ways of ensuring information about Hyperhidrosis is out there and available for sufferers.

Although I am very proactive in trying to raise awareness of Hyperhidrosis, I still greatly struggle in actually talking about my Hyperhidrosis, or even being present whilst someone else is talking about my condition. Conversations that I have had with friends about it have happened by accident, more than by design, and only because I’ve got to the point of no return, and found myself having to explain myself. That said, when that has happened, friends have been supportive. In a few cases, those friends have gone on to offer practical help in my work with the support group. One example is, because of my rantings, my son’s girlfriend had learnt enough about Hyperhidrosis to realise that one of her school friends was suffering, and knows that she was in a position to help her. I had only originally reluctantly told her to make a point about something. She now volunteers her time with the support group and as a teen advisor for VSB.

I am grateful that the support group has given me the knowledge to enable me to try different things to improve my living with Hyperhidrosis. I found myself this week, starting to tell a work colleague, who needed to know that someone understood her dark moments this is because, her mum is suffering cancer for the third time. Yes, even I struggled to find the right words of support there.

I suppose its worth mentioning that as far as my own suffering is concerned, I use iontophoresis (when I remember, as I’m not very disciplined), I have also started taking a modified release increased dose of oxybutynin. If you’re familiar with oxybutynin, you’ll know that one of the downsides is dryness of the mouth and eyes. I hadn’t previously realised about the eyes, and as I wear contact lenses I’m hoping it doesn’t become a case of vanity versus Hyperhidrosis!

My doctor’s surgery is a large practice with several GP’s so which one you get is a bit of a lottery. However, when I went recently to see about increasing my oxybutynin the GP I got to see admitted that she knew very little about Hyperhidrosis, but that she was only to willing to learn. She respected my personal knowledge, going as far as to make note on my records about ‘patient knowledge and support group involvement’. I’m now apparently her ‘guinea pig’.

I shall end this blog with the fact that I am in the middle of editing the 5th newsletter from the support group. A mammoth task, as this currently emails out to 3965 members. I hope we see the day when that number is zero, for that will mean we have found a cure!

Steve Tribe