Six or nine inches of coverage puts a soft layer between them so they glide instead of catching. Most shorts sold for chub rub stop between 2 and 4 inches, which is short of where thighs actually touch.
Ours reach past it, and the leg band is tensioned so it does not roll into a rope halfway through the day.
Bamboo viscose, UK 8 to 30, nine colours, every size the same price. From £13 a pair. Free UK delivery and a 60 day comfort guarantee.
Two things, and only one of them is about what you wear.
Friction. Skin moving against skin. Every step is thousands of small rubs, and the top layer eventually gives up.
Moisture. This is the part people get wrong. A little sweat is worse than none, because damp skin is tacky rather than slippery, so it grips instead of gliding. That is why chafing gets worse on humid days rather than dry hot ones, and why it starts sooner on a long walk than a short one.
You cannot change your thighs and you cannot stop sweating. What you can change is whether there is something smooth between them.
If you are reading this you have probably already tried two or three of these.
Sweats off in two or three hours. Fine for a run, not for a day out, and you have to remember to reapply.
Works until you sweat, then clumps. Can irritate on already-sore skin.
The coverage is right but they are too warm under a dress, and the flat seams still sit on the inner thigh.
Comes loose once you are warm, and taking it off hurts more than the chafing did.
Roll up within the hour. The roll becomes a rope at the top of your thigh, and now that is the thing rubbing.
The most common one, and the reason the category barely existed until recently.
The pattern: most of these treat the skin. Very few put something durable between your thighs and keep it there.
A good pair does one thing. It gets you to the end of the day without you thinking about your thighs once.
That is the whole test. Not how they look folded on a shelf. Whether you got through the wedding, the walk back from the station and the whole of August without once wishing you had worn trousers instead.
Five things decide whether a pair passes.
Most shorts sold as anti-chafing stop at 2 to 4 inches, which on most bodies is above the point where thighs meet. That is why they feel pointless by lunchtime. Find where your sore patch sits and buy a leg longer than it. Ours are 6 inch and 9 inch.
A band that rolls is worse than wearing nothing, because now the rolled edge is the thing sawing at you. This is the reason most women give up on the whole category. It is also the thing we spent longest getting right, and the thing our reviewers mention most.
Slip shorts and shapewear usually do not have one, so you end up in knickers underneath and two waistbands deep. Ours have a gusset. They replace your knickers rather than sitting on top of them.
Scale a garment up in one go and a bigger size arrives with a leg that still bites, which is exactly where you needed the room. Ours are cut separately, so the leg opens as the size goes up.
Chafing is friction plus moisture. Damp fabric grips, dry fabric glides. Breathable and moisture-wicking matters far more here than it does in ordinary knickers, and it is why these do not run hot the way cycling shorts do.
These are so good, no chafing at all in this heat and they don’t ride up like the others I’ve tried.
It is rarely constant. It shows up in specific conditions, and knowing which are yours tells you what to buy.
Tap the ones that sound like youIf yours is heat and dresses, a 9 inch leg in a breathable fabric solves it. If it is exercise, look at a technical fabric too. We compare running options here.
For hot weather, long days on your feet, exercise, dresses and skirts, a changing shape, pregnancy and postpartum, perimenopause, a 9 inch leg in a breathable fabric is the one to pick. It covers the whole contact band, and bamboo viscose moves moisture rather than holding it.
Because you have picked exercise: for long distance in heat, a technical synthetic manages moisture better than bamboo viscose. We compare running options here.
The single most useful thing to know: the rub does not happen in one spot. It happens across a band of thigh, and how far down that band goes decides your length.
If the sore patch is near the top of your inner thigh, a 6 inch leg covers it. This is most people most of the time, and it is the discreet everyday option.
If it runs further down, or you get sore in more than one place, go for the 9 inch. It sits just above the knee and covers the whole contact band.
If you are not sure, take the 9 inch. Too much coverage is invisible under clothes. Too little means you have bought something that does not solve the problem, which is how most people end up with a drawer of failed attempts.
What a great pair of pants, so comfortable. This is my first time trying a longer leg. Planning on buying more.
They are not the same thing, and it is worth knowing before you compare prices. The two get sold side by side and do different jobs.
Worn on their own. They replace the underwear you already wear.
Worn over your underwear, as an extra layer on top.
One is a garment you add. The other replaces one you already wear.
Neither is better, but it means a £10 slip short and a £20 pair of anti-chafing shorts are not the same purchase.
If you want the lightest possible layer under a dress for a wedding, a slip short is the right call. If you want something you can wear every day instead of your normal underwear, that is what we make.
Every size from UK 8 to 30. Every size the same price. No markup for a 26.
You have probably paid more for a 26 than someone else paid for a 10. Been offered the curve range in three colours while the main range had twelve. Found your size sold out in every colour you actually wanted.
None of that is your body’s fault. It is what happens when a size range is an afterthought instead of a starting point.
Drag to your sizeSame thigh both sides. The only difference is how fast the leg opening grows with it. Exaggerated so you can see it, but the behaviour is real: most brands scale a garment up in one piece, so the opening falls behind the leg it has to go round.
Not sure which size you are? Order the one you think and wear them. If it is wrong, your first swap is free, and nobody is going to ask you to justify it.
Grade a garment up in one piece and the leg opening grows at the same rate as the waistband, which is nowhere near fast enough. That is how a 26 ends up with a 16’s leg stretched over it, biting exactly where you needed the room. Ours are graded separately, so the leg opens as the size goes up. It costs more to pattern that way, which is the honest reason most brands do not.
A 12 whose thighs touch needs the same coverage as a 26. Nobody says that out loud, so it ends up feeling like a size problem when it is a length problem. Find where the sore patch ends and buy a leg that goes past it. If you are not sure, start with the 6 inch: it covers the thighs, it is what most people buy, and it comes in the widest run of colours.
Tighter feels like it should mean more secure. It means the opposite. These need to sit flat against skin to glide, so squeeze them and the band digs, then rolls, and now the rolled edge is the thing rubbing you raw. Between two sizes, take the bigger one.
Twelve sizes, no curve section, no separate page, no surcharge at the top end. We stop at 30 and we would rather tell you here than after you have ordered.
Shop chub rub shortsThis is counterintuitive and it is the most common mistake.
Anti-chafing shorts work through full contact with the skin. The fabric needs to sit flat against your thigh so the two surfaces slide past each other. A pair that is slightly too tight bunches into a ridge, and a ridge is a rub.
So if you are between sizes, size up. Our UK 8 to 30 range grades the leg opening separately from the waist rather than scaling everything together, which is why the leg still sits flat at a 26 or a 30.
Every size is the same price. Charging more for a 24 than a 10 is indefensible.
Measurements are on the size guide, and the first swap is free.
Different clothes, different problem.
Under a dress or skirt. Nothing between your thighs at all, so this is where chub rub shorts do the most obvious work. The 9 inch, in a colour close to your skin tone, is what most customers land on for a wedding or a hot day out.
Under leggings or gym kit. The chafing is usually seam-related rather than skin-on-skin. Look for flat seams and make sure the short's leg ends below the legging seam, not on top of it.
Under jeans and trousers. Less common, but a long day sitting can chafe at the top of the thigh where the trouser seam presses. A smooth 6 inch leg fixes it.
In bed. Hot flushes and night sweats cause a version of this that nobody talks about. A breathable long leg helps, and it is why some customers buy a second set purely for sleeping.
Nobody warns you about this one.
Your shape changes faster than your underwear drawer does, you run warmer than you used to, and chafing that was never an issue turns up somewhere around the third trimester. It is a small, unglamorous misery on a long list of them, and it is the sort of thing you end up simply putting up with, because everything else right now is about the baby.
It does not have to be one of the things you put up with.
Move the waistbandUp, and it sits well clear. The band is wide enough that it holds without gripping in one line. Folded, it clears from underneath. Most people swap between the two depending on the day, and change their mind about which they prefer. Over a bump it stretches across rather than closing in, so there is no tight edge sitting in one place all day.
Drawn to make a point, not to scale, and everyone’s scar sits somewhere slightly different. These are ordinary boxer shorts, not a surgical garment, and we would rather say so than imply otherwise. If you have had a caesarean, your midwife is the person to ask about what to put against a healing scar.
Ordinary knickers concentrate their entire grip into one narrow line, and that line has a habit of landing exactly where you least want it. Ours is a wide flat band, so the same hold is spread across the whole width of it instead of pressing into a groove. That is the only reason folding it down works at all.
Your size is a moving target and there is no prize for correctly guessing where it stops. Take the size you are now. If it changes, your first swap is free and nobody will ask you to explain why. Between two sizes, take the bigger one.
It covers the thighs, it is what most people buy, and it comes in the widest run of colours. The 9 inch sits just above the knee, so pick that one if you already know you like a longer leg. Both are soft enough to sleep in.
Two pairs covers it. One to come home in and one for the days after, both a size up on whatever you were before. They go on over everything, they do not need thinking about, and they will still fit in six months when nothing else in the drawer does.
These are very comfortable and cool to wear. Prevents chafing when wearing dresses. They have been a godsend in this hot weather. They wash well too!
Prevention is one thing. What to do about skin that has already gone is another, and almost nobody covers it.
See a pharmacist if the skin is broken and weeping, if it is not improving after a few days, or if there are signs of infection such as spreading redness, heat or pus. Chafed skin can get infected and it is worth catching early.
This is general information, not medical advice.
Breathable and temperature-regulating, so it moves moisture instead of holding it against the skin. That matters more here than it does in ordinary underwear.
More on the fabricBamboo viscose is less forgiving than cotton. Tumble dry it and you lose the softness that was the point.
Full care guideFor skin-on-skin thigh rub, yes, and the mechanism is simple: they put a smooth layer between your thighs so the two surfaces slide instead of catching. What decides whether a pair works is the leg length. Anything under about 5 inches does not reach the point where most thighs touch.
The same thing, under a name that came from the community rather than the industry. Chub rub shorts, anti-chafing shorts, chafe shorts and thigh chafing shorts all describe underwear or a slip short with a long enough leg to stop thighs rubbing. What varies is whether they have a gusset, and therefore whether they replace your underwear or go over it.
The leg band is tensioned to stay put, and a longer leg has less distance to travel before it meets resistance. Some customers do report mild ride-up and you can read one saying so in our reviews. If it happens, check the size first, because sizing down is the usual cause.
Cotton is breathable, cheap and forgiving in the wash. Its weakness for this specific job is that it absorbs moisture and holds it, and damp fabric against moving skin is what turns friction into raw skin. Bamboo viscose moves moisture and dries faster. A cotton short with a genuinely long leg will still work, so this is a preference rather than a rule.
Depends entirely on the leg. Anti-chafing knickers usually means a brief or a short boyleg, which does not reach where thighs touch. Check the inseam measurement rather than the product name, because brands use both terms loosely.
Yes. Ours have a gusset and are made to be worn on their own. That is the difference between these and slip shorts, which have no gusset and go over your underwear.
Your normal UK size, from 8 to 30. Between sizes, size up, because the anti-chafing works through full skin contact and a tighter fit bunches rather than glides.
For shorter distances and walking, yes. For long distance in heat, a technical synthetic manages moisture better, since bamboo viscose absorbs rather than repels. We go through the options in our running comparison.
