Best Polo Shirts for Hot Weather: Top Materials, Styles & Cooling Tips

Polo shirts are among the few garments that offer a great combination of style, comfort, and versatility once the weather gets hot. The garment has evolved into a warm-weather essential with the advancements in performance fabric technologies, keeping wearers remarkably cool. However, with the rise in demand for performance polo shirts that are typically made of polyester or polyester blends, there also seems to be a concern on the viability of polos in general during the hotter months.

This blog will be addressing a few of those questions consumers have.

The ideal material in hot weather should be lightweight and breathable. Cotton checks all the boxes there. Linen is also an excellent choice for hot and humid climates. But cotton comes in a few variants like Ringspun cotton, Egyptian cotton, Peruvian Pima cotton, classic Pima cotton and more. These varieties offer superior breathability and super soft comfort. You may already know all of these little details, but could be wondering if fabric blends are effective. Depending on the particular blend and even the knit, they can be.

Cotton blends: By cotton blends, we mean fabric blends that combine mostly cotton with other materials like polyester, spandex or lyocell. These won’t cause any issue to wearers during hot weather. As a matter of fact, the garment will also have useful properties from other materials in the blend - like the flexibility of spandex, the moisture-wicking and shape retention of polyester, the natural comfort of linen etc. 

Polyester blends: This is where it gets tricky. Cheap garments made of a polyester blend may end up disappointing you. Polyester blends will have more polyester in them combined with other materials. If it’s a poly-cotton blend of reasonably good quality, you are good. The moisture-wicking will be superior to cotton and you still get the breathability that cotton offers. These blends are what you typically see in performance apparel. Modern performance polos can keep wearers cool and dry in environments of moderate temperatures. 

That is subjective. From a scientific angle, pure natural cotton and linen fit the description of being the “coolest” to wear functionally. Both these fabrics offer exceptional breathability and excellent airflow. Though linen shirts and cotton polo shirts get wrinkled easily, it’s offset by the great airflow and a relaxed summer appeal. 

Apart from this, modern fabric technologies brought great changes to performance polos as well. It’s got to a point where we now have various styles of performance polo shirts engineered for hot weather. Their polyester blend fabrics can combine features like moisture-wicking, better airflow and breathability to keep the wearers cool - something polyester was not capable of back in the day. Polos with a piqué knit weave also deliver notable cooling effects by creating small air pockets across the fabric that promote ventilation.

Cotton is generally superior to polyester for hot weather wear, especially for polo shirts. While polyester delivers better moisture-wicking, cotton offers better breathability and a more comfortable feel against the skin. Cotton naturally allows heat to escape and doesn't trap odors like synthetic materials. However, modern performance cotton-polyester blends can offer the best of both worlds like we mentioned earlier. 

There are brands that offer polos with additional properties like UV protection and anti-microbes. The Core 365 88181 Origin Performance Piqué Polo from our Core 365 polo shirts collection earned its title as one of our summer bestsellers due to its moisture-wicking, UV protection and anti-microbial performance. The polo promises great odor resistance and excellent comfort. There are many more styles like this that are great picks for summer. The point is that when you have to choose between cotton and polyester, you won’t go wrong with the latter as long as it’s from a reputed brand and the fabric is focused on performance.

There is a misconception that Piqué is a sort of new fabric built for comfort. It isn’t. Piqué is actually a texture weave that’s impressed consumers enough for them to consider it a fabric itself. Piqué weave or “Piqué fabrics” have a honeycomb-like appearance. They are commonly made from cotton but can also be done from polyester. So there’s Cotton Piqué and Polyester Piqué, and a few Piqué blends. You see Piqué typically more on polo shirts, giving the garments enhanced breathability and a little more formal appeal compared to plain jersey knits. These knits are also quite strong. 

As for Pima cotton, it’s a type of cotton that’s exceptionally soft yet durable. This is because unlike regular cotton, pima cotton fibers are longer. Long fibers add a lot of softness to the material and make it more resistant to tearing, pilling, and shrinking. Pima cotton originally was used only on high-end clothing and towels to offer a luxurious feel. But now it’s become accessible enough to be used to make polo shirts without exorbitant price tags. There’s a specific type of Pima cotton that’s grown only in the United States, adhering to really strict quality standards. It goes by the name “Supima”, claiming to be superior to the regular pima. 

Jersey polo shirts have a smoother, more t-shirt-like texture. Piqué is generally better for hot weather owing to the enhanced ventilation. Jersey polos, while comfortable, tend to cling more to the body and provide less airflow.

Based on everything we covered above, here’s how we would rank fabrics for the hot weather season.

1. Pima Cotton Piqué - Luxurious and comfortable option to beat the heat
2. Linen/Cotton Piqué - Excellent breathability and comfort at slightly higher costs
3. Regular Cotton/Cotton-Linen Blend - Great comfort at lower costs
4. Cotton-Spandex Blend - Great for active movement
5. Performance Blends - Good for high-activity situations

We recommend lighter colors for hot weather. But many of our customers who are professional decorators still choose dark colored polos for customization. Light blue, charcoal, stone and gray are popular choices for summer. However, for practical purposes, medium tones like navy and heathers can be good compromises with reasonable heat reflection. 

Yes. The Dri-FIT fabric technology was developed by Nike for superior moisture management that regular cotton polo shirts can’t match. Though cotton is naturally more breathable and comfortable, they don’t wick “away” moisture. The moisture is absorbed and retained, keeping the wearers cool with better airflow. Overtime, the moisture retained can go warm. Dri-FIT shirts are made of microfiber polyester with a hydrophobic layer that moves moisture away from the skin to the shirt’s outer layer, where it can evaporate quickly. Though Dri-FIT is meant to keep wearers comfortable during intense physical activity, the technology’s features also make it viable for hot weather to a considerable extent.

You don’t have to limit yourself to Dri-FIT polo shirts from Nike alone. YouApparel offers polo shirt styles from other brands that have similar and effective fabric technologies like UltraClub’s Cool & Dry lineup and Devon & Jones DRYTEC20 technology. Here are a few examples.

UltraClub 8210 Cool & Dry Mesh Piqué Polo 

Team 365 TT51 Men's Zone Performance Polo 

Devon & Jones DG150 Men's DRYTEC20™ Performance Polo 

To choose the right polo shirt for hot weather that meets your requirements, you need to consider the fiber type, fabric technologies, and the weave structure too in some cases. Premium cotton varieties like Pima, combined with a piqué weave, offer the best balance of comfort, breathability, and professional appearance. 

While synthetic materials and blends have their place, especially in high-activity situations, natural fibers generally provide the best overall performance in hot weather conditions. However, natural fibers may not be particularly effective if it’s dependable, uniform polo shirts you seek. Similarly, long-sleeved polo shirts made of polyester may not be what you need if the intended use is indoors. 

To make sure you are getting the right polo shirt, you can always reach out to our Customer Support team for quick guidance and information.