Heat loss ocurrs thru either convection, conduction, or radiative heat exchange in combination with evaporation and sweat. What is the difference between each of them?

How does evaporative cooling work?

What Is Relative Humidity?

Does Cool Water Absorb More Heat Than Hot Water?

Can products made of Hydroweave® be frozen?

What about custom designed products?

Where can I learn more information regarding heat stress and heat fatigue?

How long do BodyTeq products work?
The amount of time BodyTeq apparel will provide comfort depends on your particular working environment. Heat, humidity and air circulation will influence active cooling times. The cooling effect can range from 30 minutes in fully enclosed applications (such as an Hazmat suit) to as much as eight hours in applications where the garment can breathe.

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I lose that cooling sensation after a short period wearing my BodyTeq product. What's going on?
Think of this condition as the "swimming pool effect," where your body reacts to a sudden change in temperature (like when jumping into a pool). After a few minutes your body gets used to the water temperature. That's what happens when you wear your BodyTeq garment. Your body becomes acclimated to the cool feeling, but the garment is still working to keep your core body temperature low for a long period of time.

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Can BodyTeq products be refrigerated prior to use?
No. BodyTeq products should never be refrigerated or frozen, as freezing temperatures can cause vascular constriction, can restrict the body's ability to shed heat, and could pose a health hazard to the wearer.

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I seem to get wet when I wear my BodyTeq garment, what's going on?
It is important that excess water be fully wrung from the garment before wear and the lining wiped dry before use. Do not be concerned with removing too much water, as BodyTeq's special absorbent fibers will maintain an appropriate amount regardless of how much water has been wrung from the garment.

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After wringing I still seem to get wet?
Hang problem garments for 15 minutes, enabling excess water to collect to the bottom of the garment. Then wring a second time, removing any surplus.

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What's the best way to activate my BodyTeq product?
It's real easy. Simply soak your garment in water for 3 - 5 minutes, then wring all excess water from the piece (it's impossible to wring TOO MUCH...BodyTeq products only soak up a finite amount of water in the special polymer batting). After wringing out the garment just wipe the inner nylon lining and outer shell dry and wear! To reactivate, simply repeat these easy steps!

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How do I care for my BodyTeq product?
Just remember that you need to prevent the polymer batting from becoming soap saturated. To do that, simply presoak your garment in the wash for 5 minutes then add a mild detergent. Wash as normal on gentle cycle, rinsing twice. Surface stains can be pre-treated with stain remover, but chlorine bleach should NEVER be used. You can line- or machine-dry on low heat. To inhibit the growth of mildew, store your garments only when thoroughly dried.

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Heat loss ocurrs thru either convection, conduction, or radiative heat exchange in combination with evaporation and sweat. What is the difference between each of them?
Protective clothing affects body core temperature by restricting the normal modes of body cooling. The body gains heat by exposure to the environment and through the metobolic generation of heat. Heat loss occurs through convective, conductive, and radiative heat exchanage in combination with evaporation of sweat.
 
The body uses blood circulation for moving sweat from the body's core to the skin where it can transfer to the outside environment. Convection occurs when skin temperature is higher than the air surrounding the body, and is facilitated by air movement. Conduction occurs when the skin is in direct contact with clothing or other material that can absorb heat. Radiative heat loss is relatively small, but is based on the temperature difference between the body and another object.
 
Clothing confounds these mechanism because it traps a small layer immediately next to the skin. With activity and warm conditions, this air layer becomes heated, reducing the effectiveness of both convective and conductive heat losses. This air layer also becomes humidified through sweating and restricts the exchange of air with the outside environment. Since sweat evaporates most readily in low-humidity environments, evaporative heat transfer is reduced. The burden on the individual wearer is further increased when the overall environment is hot and/or humid combined with high levels of physical activity.
 
In general, heat-resistant clothing must often cover most of the wearer's body; and some applications require relatively heavy and bulky protective clothing to provide adequate protection from heat. The fabric used in this type of clothing works to create multiple air spaces from layering materials or using "batt"-like constructions. Thereby, the same principle that is used to provide protection from thermal hazards creates a new hazard in itself, potentially over heating the wearer. Hydroweave® fabric eliminates this problem.

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How does evaporative cooling work?
When water evaporates from a surface, that surface becomes cooler because heat is expended to change the water from a liquid into a vapor. A nice breeze on a hot day cools us because the current of air makes perspiration evaporate quickly. The heat needed for this evaporation is taken from our body surfaces.

As water comes in contact with air, it evaporates to become moisture in the air. The amount of water the air can hold depends largely on how much water is already in the air. The term humidity describes the amount of water in the air. At any given temperature, there is a maximum amount of water that air can hold.

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What Is Relative Humidity?
Humidity is said to be high if the air contains large amounts of moisture and low if the air contains only a small amount of moisture. When the air holds as much moisture as possible at a given temperature, the air is saturated. The warmer the air, the more moisture it can hold. Relative humidity (RH) gauges the amount of water in the air relative to the amount needed for saturation. If the air contains half the amount of moisture it can hold, the relative humidity is 50%.

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Does Cool Water Absorb More Heat Than Hot Water?
Water temperature does not have a great effect upon the cooling produced through evaporation. At 90º F (32º C) it takes 9,000 BTUs (2.268 kilocalories) to evaporate a gallon of 50° F (10º C) water and 8,700 BTU (2.192 kilocalories) to evaporate a gallon of 90º F. water. In this example, the water is 180% warmer and results in only a 3% reduction in the amount of heat absorbed.

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Can products made of Hydroweave® freeze?
Hydroweave® does not freeze.

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What about custom designed products?
Our design staff can create products with your specifications for any application. If you can wear it, we can make it...!

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Where can I learn more information regarding heat stress and heat fatigue?
American Academy of Family Physicians
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Occupational Safety & Health Administration
National Institute of Health
Medical College of Wisconsin
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

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