5 Easy Fixes For Chest Hair Sticking Through Your Shirt

You’ve probably been there before. You reach down to pull off a stray hair, only to realize it’s actually chest hair poking or sticking through your shirt. Embarrassing? Yes, usually. Hopefully, no-one saw it. What can you do about it? 

There are several solutions to chest hair sticking through your shirt. Try and avoid shaving it, as the sharp edges of stubble can easily pierce through fine material. Trimming down or waxing would be better solutions. Wearing an undershirt would, of course, prevent these hairs from piercing through as well. If these fixes don’t suit you, wear a different shirt. Shirts made from microfiber or tissue fabric are more likely to let hairs peek through than double-ply cotton, for instance. 

Although that was your answer in a nutshell, it would definitely be worth discussing these solutions in more detail. 

We’ll talk about what you should do, and why. If one fix isn’t for you or doesn’t work for you, hopefully, one of the others will do just fine. 

Let’s tame that chest hair. 

How To Stop Chest Hair From Sticking Through Your Shirt

Here are your best options. Although they may not be the only ones, I’ve found that they’re the most practical solutions. 

As a man that’s suffered from this before, it’s important to keep it simple considering how often you’ll most likely need to maintain this practice. 

1. Don’t shave it

The solution seems simple. Just get rid of it. A lot of men in this modern age would have no problem with it whatsoever. 

But the chest hair removal method you choose could actually end up causing more harm than good. 

Shaving chest hair is a key cause of chest hair ultimately puncturing through your clothes. This is usually an unfortunate revelation because, for the first few days, it’ll feel and look great. Smooth as ever, and nobody will suspect a thing. 

But once that chest stubble starts to grow out, all hell breaks loose. The itch is unbearable for me, but some men don’t find it too bad. 

But more relevant to this article is the fact that chest stubble, just like any stubble, is sharp.

The shorter the stubble, the sharper the edges. Not only will it feel rough, but these sharp edges are perfect for puncturing through the fibers of a shirt. 

Because of this, you’ll find yourself having to very frequently shave your chest to try and fix this perpetual problem. Every few days you’ll notice a hair or two poking out to say hello. 

2. Try waxing or trimming it 

Waxing would be a better solution than shaving. Although it isn’t entirely different to shaving, at least you’re removing the hair strand at the level of the root.

With shaving, your simply cutting the strand at the surface of the skin. 

Eventually, you will get the same problem. Chest stubble will start to kick in, and you’ll be back to square one. 

However, with waxing, due to the fact that you’re removing the hair at the root level, you’ll have a longer grace period before the chest stubble becomes obvious. In other words, it’ll stay smoother for longer. 

Trimming down the chest hair is probably my favorite solution. The main reason for this is that it gives you complete control. It’s up to you how short you trim it down to. 

Plus, I often find that it isn’t hard to produce a natural-looking result with a trimmer or groomer. The edges aren’t as sharp as shaved hair, and so they’re less likely to cause trouble. 

The length to which you trim to is mostly down to personal preference. It needs to suit your style. If you would rather be completely hairless, trimming wouldn’t be the best option for you. 

It needs to be long enough that the chest hair edges don’t stick through your shirt. This will be a sweet-spot you’ll have to experiment with, as it partly depends on the texture and thickness of your hair. 

For me, the 1/4 inch length works well. It’s long enough for the edges to not end up too sharp, and it’s short enough to not cause little bumps under my tighter shirts. 

Again, test it out and find your number. This may be the ideal solution. 

3. Wear an undershirt

Those of you living in warmer climates probably shudder at the thought. In fact, it may be so warm where you’re reading this from that this isn’t really an option. 

However, even the lightest and thinnest of undershirts should be enough to act as an extra barrier between your chest hair and the outside world. 

For example, tissue fabric or microfiber undershirts are light enough to not feel uncomfortable and yet should still do the trick. 

If you do happen to live in a colder climate then this may be an ideal solution – you could do with the extra layer. Try and find one which doesn’t look too obvious under your shirt. A V-neck is usually a safe bet. 

The best thing about this solution is that it really is a quick fix. Let’s say you’re getting ready for work. You pop on your favorite shirt, only to notice your chest hair mercilessly poking through it sporadically and with no shame. 

You can simply cover it up with an undershirt, not be late for work, and not draw any curious stares during the course of the day. 

4. Wear shirts made from thicker material

Again, living in a warmer climate may not allow for this. But this is one of the most obvious solutions that people tend to ignore for whatever reason. 

They immediately jump to trying to change their chest hair when the problem may be easily fixed by a trip to the mall. 

Although microfiber shirts are light, comfortable, and durable, it isn’t hard for chest hair to slip out through those fibers. It’s a pretty common occurrence. 

That’s an example of your shirt material working against you in this instance. There are better options. 

2-ply cotton, for instance, wouldn’t let a single chest hair through. That may be a little too thick for your liking, but you get my point. The thickness of your shirt plays a huge role. 

Thin, airy fabric with a low thread count per inch and so lots of small holes in between the threads allow chest hair to stick through with no problem. Try and avoid this at all costs. 

5. Wear looser shirts

Tight clothing is never a hairy man’s best friend. I don’t use the term “hairy man” in a derogatory sense. Body hair is a pillar of masculinity and should be appreciated as such. But the clothing we wear needs to account for it. 

Tight shirts can cause intolerable itching when it causes chest hair to rub against the skin. This is usually more of a problem when the chest hair is longer. On top of this, it can cause little bumps to form under your shirt – these look pretty obvious. 

But when chest hair is shorter, for instance, after recently having been shaved, it’s way too easy for it to stick through a tight shirt. 

Even a single size larger could make all the difference. Tight shirts may be great for accentuating a muscular bod, but any appeal is quickly destroyed when people see those hairs poking through. 

Plus, if you were going to wear an undershirt as well, a looser shirt may well be necessary to account for it. 

Conclusion

Sure, it’s an unpleasant problem to have. but it’s frequently encountered, and I would say easily fixed. 

It’s one of the most common issues faced by men when they first start scapin’ their chest hair. Unfortunately, it isn’t usually even something you’d think you’d have to worry about initially. 

Hopefully, the fixes I’ve listed in this article are more than enough to help you ease this struggle. 

Remember, if you’re reading this in a panic looking for the quickest possible fix, I’d always go for the undershirt. Once you’re back home and looking for a longer-term solution, look into the other options. 

As always with men’s grooming, you’ve always got options.