Cooling Tee Shirt Powered by Physicool

Call me obsessed, but I’m really intrigued by all these cooling technologies that are making their way into t-shirts, performance gear, and even some undershirts.

It all started with looking for a law enforcement undershirt to wear under their hot kevlar.

Then, with the summer months just ahead of us, I find myself more and more focused on discovering ways I might be able to keep myself cooler by way of wearing certain undershirts.

In doing further research about cooling shirts, I came across the recently launched Physicool Cooling T-Shirt (£49.99, $30.89 USD).

The product is a result of a collaboration between FamouslyFit.com/OK! Magazine and Physicool Ltd. 

Based in London, Physicool Ltd. is the brain-child of founder Kay Russell.

Physicool Product Background

Bandage product: Physicool is a new and unique, stretchy, reusable bandage that combines cooling, compression and support.

Physicool provides instant treatment for inflammation and bruising of muscles, tendons and ligaments.

It is highly effective and quickly reduces swelling and pain. The bandage can be applied in seconds, you just need to have it at hand, and its effects are long lasting, even after the bandage is removed.

Physicool works by drawing heat out through rapid evaporation, as opposed to most other products that work by driving cold in.

It’s perfect for domestic, sport and leisure use.

As a long-time equestrian, Kay initially founded cooling product Equi-N-icE, a product for horses that is designed to pull heat away from horses legs and cool their limbs after exercise. 

Once Kay discovered that people, including the jockeys were using Equi-N-ice on themselves, she launched the Physicool product designed for humans.

In 2009 she was approached by the producers of the BBC entrepreneur show, The Dragon’s Den, who asked her to pitch her idea to the dragons.

Kay left the tv show with £100,000 by offering up 30% equity in Physicool Ltd to dragon Deborah Meaden.

Physicool Cooling T-Shirt

Launched in late April, the performance polyester moisture wicking t-shirt combined with Physicool’s coolant spray will help keep the wearer cooler for up to 2 hours.

The unique technology uses a cooling solution which when applied to the Physicool-Max fabric will uptake a coolant process and draw heat away from the skin therefore making the wearer feel chilled and fresh.

Although the coolant is liquid it doesn’t drip or make the wearer feel like they are wearing a wet t shirt – The Physicool-Max fabric was specially designed to carry the liquid and hold it for a period of time.

The shirt has already received interest from European Premiership Football Clubs to help keep professional players cool during games in hot weather.

Celebrities including Jack Tweed and Will Young have been spotted with the new shirt and Prince William and Catherine Middleton have been given the shirts as wedding presents to help them stay cool on honeymoon.

Q & A with Kay Russell

By way of an email, I introduced myself to the Physicool team and asked some additional questions about the cooling tee. Kay was kind enough to personally respond:

Q: Are you planning to make any other colors? For example, staying cool is a huge issue for the police force. I get tons of law enforcement visitors looking for an undershirt to wear under their kevlar, but they are required to wear black undershirts. V-neck only, or will you offer a crew neck?

A: We can do other colours and shapes but only as we progress or on specific order

Q: Fabric: the site doesn’t say what kind of fabric it is, but I have to assume it some form of synthetic like polyester or nylon. Can you tell me more about the fabric (not in marketing terminology, but actual fabric)?

A: The fabric is a polyester. Physicool-Max is a high-performance fabric designed to improve the comfort and freshness of people who wear it and work with the Coolant

• Its helps move sweat away from the body towards the outer face of the fabric, where it evaporates quickly.

• Used with Physicool coolant, this effect is multiplied, providing instant long term cooling

• Physicool-Max’s capillary action works because the spaces between its fibres effectively form tubes which act as capillaries and transport the Coolant to the skin.

• As a rule, the narrower the spaces between the fibres in a fabric, the more effectively they will draw up moisture. For this reason, fabrics with many narrow capillaries, such as the microfibres in the Physicool-Max fabric, are ideal for moisture transport and give a greater area for the coolant to work and be held.

Q: Coolant: What’s the coolant made from, generally speaking? I’ve seen other cooling fabric sprays, so curious if yours has a similar chemical make-up.

A: The coolant is the magic and works by drawing heat away not driving cold in

Q: Do you have any t-shirt distributors in the United States? I see that you have Physicool resellers here, but will they be carrying the cool t-shirts too?

A: We will be selling the T-shirt in the states through our distributors and naturally they will  looking to build up stockists etc , but the T-shirt has only just been launched here in the UK now.

My Physicool t-shirt and coolant are enroute, so as soon as I receive it and have a chance to try it out, I’ll share more information.