WEBVTT - Should You Wear White Clothes to Stay Cool?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Lauren A bogle Bomb here. Question, what all

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<v Speaker 1>do astronauts, modernly traditional brides, American author Tom Wolf, and

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<v Speaker 1>some people trying to keep cool in hot weather have

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<v Speaker 1>in common? Answer? They all wear white, and that's probably

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<v Speaker 1>what all they have in common, but you never know anyway.

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<v Speaker 1>The sartorial thinking is this, fabrics of the lightest colors

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<v Speaker 1>force all the solar heat fighting its way to our

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<v Speaker 1>skin to just reflect away instead, where dark fabrics, the

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<v Speaker 1>idea goes, and you're stuck with that heat. Is it

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<v Speaker 1>greedily absorbs into the fabric and causes you to swelter

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<v Speaker 1>in your own clothes. But white clothing will cheerfully bounce

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<v Speaker 1>that solar heat right off, and you'll be more comfortable

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<v Speaker 1>on a hot day. But while all that certainly sounds

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<v Speaker 1>great in theory, there are a few other factors at

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<v Speaker 1>play that might be working against the light clothing adage.

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<v Speaker 1>At the very least, there is some compelling evidence in

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<v Speaker 1>the form of a real, true scientific study that says

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<v Speaker 1>it doesn't matter. Let's start with some research published in

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<v Speaker 1>night in the journal Nature titled why the Bedouins wear

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<v Speaker 1>black robes and hot deserts. The researchers were curious about

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<v Speaker 1>the fact that in oppressive heat, the residents of the

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<v Speaker 1>Sinai Desert wear billowing black robes instead of say white

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<v Speaker 1>or maybe a pretty pale lavender. What they found was

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<v Speaker 1>when they tested white robes versus black, and note that

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<v Speaker 1>they did this by having some poor guy stand out

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<v Speaker 1>in the heat while recording temperature, the differences were nil.

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<v Speaker 1>They found that the black clothing did more to absorb heat,

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<v Speaker 1>but that's where it stayed. In other words, the black

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<v Speaker 1>soaks up additional heat, but that extra is law by

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<v Speaker 1>the time it actually gets to your skin. A way

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<v Speaker 1>more useful for keeping cool, however, was the fact that

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<v Speaker 1>the robes are loose and billowing to allow air flow.

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<v Speaker 1>There's also a concept that the whole light clothing argument

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<v Speaker 1>is missing a key element the person who's wearing the clothes,

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<v Speaker 1>meaning that the heat your body radiates will reflect off

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<v Speaker 1>of white clothing as readily as heat from the sun does,

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<v Speaker 1>bouncing back to your body and actually keeping you toastier.

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<v Speaker 1>Not a bad theory, but it's not been tested on humans.

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<v Speaker 1>It's only been studied in birds with white plumage, and

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<v Speaker 1>that with mixed results. So the answer is it doesn't

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<v Speaker 1>make a huge difference whether you're wearing black or white

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<v Speaker 1>in hot weather as long as you choose loose, breathable

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<v Speaker 1>clothing either way. Today's episode is based on the article

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<v Speaker 1>should you wear light colored clothes and hot weather to

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<v Speaker 1>stay cool? On how stuff works dot com written by

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<v Speaker 1>Kate Kirshner. Brain Stuff is production of i Heeart Radio

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<v Speaker 1>in partnership with how stuff works dot Com and is

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<v Speaker 1>produced by Tyler Clang. For more podcasts my heart Radio,

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