Quick Drying Sweaters?

Frank,
I haven't seen any fast drying sweaters, but what about the thin polar fleece pull over type sweaters? My husband got one at R.E.I. I wear a slik long undershirt under my sweaters and then wash the silk undershirt only. I don't sweat much so it works okay for me.

Try Travelsmith or Magellans. More pricey, but they may have something. If not, a small thing of Febreeze works wonders for overnight freshening.

There really isn't a thing like a fast drying sweater.
Sweaters in my mind are a knit item, usually made of wool or an acrylic fiber, not fast drying because it is a knit.

Fleece takes a while to dry but could be an alternative. Look for micro weight fleece for best results.

you should look at SmartWool brand for micro-weight tops. They are made of Merino Wool and will dry faster.
you can layer under it to make it look like a sweater.

These are base layers in short, or long sleeve. REI has a good selection.

Cost is anywhere from @$65 on up.

Micro fleece sweaters are great as they dry very fast.
Smartwool and Icebreakers make great wool sweaters (not itchy!)and they can be dressed up as well. It is easy to wash them, light weight (takes up no room) and they don't wrinkle. Best of all they are odor-free! The downside is they can be quite pricey.

My top three choices are washable wool, acrylic and fleece. I probably look at 2 or 3 hundred wool sweaters before I find one that can actually be washed and dried. Even most of the washable ones want you to reshape and dry flat. I have one washable wool sweater, two acrylic sweaters and one thin fleece that are good for packing. I like the "100" fleece, because it's lightweight, with a full zipper. It's a hard combination to find, often the lighter weight fleece comes with a 1/4 or 1/2 zip.

You could also consider methods of drying your sweater more quickly. Take along an artificial chamois, the kind you use to dry your car, or the kind Olympic divers use to dry themselves after a dive. Roll up your sweater in that and stand on it in the tub or the shower to extract as much water as possible. For drying you could use an inflatable hanger and fill the sleeves with long skinny balloons blown up. This would work best with a non-knit sweater, like fleece. Knit sweaters would stretch out if they're dried on a hanger.

I really like a chamois for washing on the road. They absorb more water and wring dryer than any travel towel I've tried.

Acrylic sweaters and fleece do fine when you wring and hang them to dry.

I have a sleeveless pullover vest that works very well. Coupled with a long sleeve collared shirt, it's my "dress up" outfit. It's acrylic and If I'm staying two nights I wash it and don't worry about it drying overnight. It didn't get enough use in a recent four week trip to warrant laundering. When I do wash, I use the inflatable hangers which really work well in helping articles to dry, I have no problem, and it's a great layering piece.

Frank,

I did a visual pack list. It's not exactly what's in my closet but it's an idea. You can click on the items or scroll down the side to see where I pulled them off the internet.

http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=1440268

Frank, we travel to Europe every fall for a two-week trip thru a country or two. I used to take a couple of sweaters, but now carry on/wear one Russell Atletic sweatshirt in a dark color that looks like a sweater. These are sold at Kohl's and other such stores for about $12 on sale, and they hold up great. They are warm when they need to be, cool when they need to be, and hold up well. They don't wrinkle at all, and spills and other spots wipe off easily. If they had to be washed and dried in a hotel room I'm certain they'd do just fine.