HEIQ® Cooling Technology

Photomontage Left image: Stock photo - A woman in a desert looking overheated, thirsty and close to a heat stroke. Copyright: maridav / 123RF Stock Photo Right image A participant of the Marathon Des Sables running through the desert. He is wearing a custom made BUFF® Coolnet UV+ as face mask. Distributed by Original Buff® S.A. for the promotion of Buff® products
Extreme Heat. The BUFF® Coolnet UV+ fabric cools you. So good you can use it as a face mask whilst running.

It’s hot. So hot that heat exhaustion or stroke are a real danger. Add some activity and you need some serious cooling.

The head is a great place to cool. That’s why you sweat so much there.

The BUFF® Coolnet UV+ fabric was created to help. It uses your sweat to cool you, plus HEIQ® Smart Temp technology.

HEIQ® Smart Temp Technology:

  1. Starts cooling you when your body temperature rises and stops once you cool down again
  2. Creates an up to 2.5 degrees Celsius lower fabric temperature
  3. Stays active for the lifetime of the fabric

The image below shows the cooling effect in action as soon as the temperature goes up. See the blue dot on the bottom right. That’s a drop of water. Above it, there is the same fabric and a drop off water without HEIQ® Smart Temp. No cooling effect visible.

A comparison of the cooling effect of HEIQ Smart Temp technology using a temperature sensing camera. The comparison shows that the technology cools when the temperature goes over 30 degrees Celcsius.
HEIQ® Smart Temp cools as soon as the temperature rises

Here is a video that explains the technology in detail

Popular Applications

Motorcycle

Danielle Murdoch on the first leg of her epic Australia, Africa, Europe and back trip. She is standing in front of the Northern Territory border sign. The sun is shining, it is hot and she is in full motorcycle gear. © Danielle Murdoch http://motomonkeyadventures.com/
Heat and motorcycle gear don’t go well together. The cooling fabric around the neck can ease the heat (Motomonkey)

Motorcycle gear in the heat is dreadful.

But there is a gap between the helmet and the jacket. Your neck. Your neck is a great place to get cooling.

The BUFF® Coolnet UV+ as helmet liner does a few good things. It

  • Cools the neck in the heat
  • Draws the sweat out of the helmet. Keeps the helmet dryer
  • Keeps the bugs out of your jacket

 

Fishing

Fly fisher holding a catch in the flats. He is wearing a High Uv Buff® as face mask. The cooling effect makes the face mask comfortable. © Pat Ford http://www.patfordphotos.com/. Licenced by Original Buff S.A for the promotion of the High Uv Buff®
Intense sun and heat. The BUFF® Coolnet UV+ fabric cools to make your sun protection comfortable (Pat Ford)

You are out all day. Sunscreen is not really an option. It creates all kinds of skin issues.

You’ve probably seen the pro’s wearing a face mask. Thats’ the BUFF® Coolnet UV+.

HEIQ® Smart Temp makes the BUFF® Coolnet UV+ the only face mask you can wear comfortably in the heat.

Cycling

Scott smiling into the camera at the 2005 24 hour mtb race in Kooralbyne. It is hot. He is wearing a Original Buff® as helmet liner to cool down. It also stops sweat from running into his eyes. © Buff Downunder Pty Ltd
Hot under the helmet? The BUFF® Coolnet UV+ as a helmet liner gives you cooling.

Bicycle helmets are hot. No matter how many air vents. And then there’s the sweat running down into your eyes.

The cooling feature of the BUFF® Coolnet UV+ as a helmet liner

  • cools your forehead
  • and keeps the sweat out of your eyes

Travel & Adventure

Andrew Johnson on the Sepik River in Papua New Guinea. He is wearing a Visor® Buff® and raising his arms in a victory pose. Image taken during the first source to sea traverse of the Sepik River in Papua New Guinea. © Clark Carter. http://www.adventureplaybook.com/
Hot, humid? No wind somewhere in the jungle? The BUFF® Coolnet UV+ fabric will give you heat relief.

Many great places to visit are in hot & humid climate zones.

The cooling feature of the BUFF® Coolnet UV+ can help you in many ways:

  • Sweat in your eyes – A cooling bandana or sweatband
  • A cooling wristband
  • A neck cooler

Limitations

The HEIQ® technology is a liner on the inside of the tube. Wear your BUFF® Coolnet UV+ inside out; it can’t work magic.

The same goes for wearing dirty fabric. If the technology doesn’t touch your skin, it won’t work.

Also, the fabric has to be flat on your skin. No air pockets allowed. Also, not more than one layer.

I recommend making the fabric moist and shaking it before putting it on. This way, you have an instant cooling effect on your skin. You don’t first have to sweat to get the cooling effect.

Then, of course, every technology has its limits.
You are a heavy sweater that hates the heat.
You are in a tropical rainforest.
Chances are that even the BUFF® Coolnet UV+ fabric will fail you.

At least you know you’ve tried the best money can get you. Better get out of that place or take ice packs with you.

How to easily check other fabrics for cooling

Test it

This one is easy. The best is to take your Buff® Coolnet UV+ as a reference. Do the following first with your BUFF®. Then do it with any other fabric and you can compare.

  1. Make the fabric wet and squeeze excess moisture out.
  2. Feel the fabric and memorise the temperature.
  3. Now shake the fabric vigorously in the air to activate any cooling process
  4. Now, feel the fabric flat on your palm or on your cheek. Does it feel cooler or not?

Sources

HEIQ® Smart Temp Page

HEIQ® Smart Temp Blog Post

BUFF COOLNET UV+ with HeiQ Smart Temp Youtube Video

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Only Non-Toxic and Non-Itchy Ingredients – Oekotex Certified

8 December 2018 No Comments

The most dangerous way for a toxin to enter the body is not through the digestive system, but through the skin

Andreas Schimkus, former senior industry adviser to the Council of Textile and Fashion Industries of Australia's (TFIA)
A toddler wearing a Baby Buff® as a face mask. The toddler looks happy. Source: buff.eu
A Buff® passes the most stringent test for fabrics. Free of anything irritating or harmful for babies.

Did you know that fabric ingredients are grouped into toxic or safe and non-itchy?

The difference in costs is huge.

This article shows you how to spot the safe products and why Buff® headwear ticks the right boxes

What makes you itch?

There are 2 main reasons for fabrics itching.

The first is bacteria. Call it bad hygiene or simply fabrics that make you sweat and breed bacteria (cheap polyester beanie hat for example).

The second is toxic and irritating ingredients in making the fabric.

There are ingredients available that can not only make you itch but also severely impact your health.
These ingredients are on a list and banned in most 1st world countries.

How safe are we in Australia?

Not at all, unfortunately.

Australia has no tests or regulations regarding safe textile ingredients. You can import into Australia whatever you like.

This leads to Australia being the only 1st world country supplied with 3rd world quality clothing.
Whenever we mentioned in China that we are from Australia and want headwear that passes the Oekotex test, we heard something like, “Why do you want to waste money on Oekotex. You are from Australia. You do not need this …”.
We were quite shocked at first but got used to hearing it all the time.

Here is a nice article from Choice that goes into more detail
https://www.choice.com.au/shopping/everyday-shopping/clothing/articles/chemicals-in-clothing
My favourite quote is

Products that are made in China for the Australian market could not even be sent back to China, as many of them would not meet the Chinese product safety standards but are acceptable here.

Andreas Schimkus, former senior industry adviser to the Council of Textile and Fashion Industries of Australia's (TFIA)

How do you find safe and non-itchy clothing in Australia?

You look for the Oekotex® certificate.

Oekotex® is a worldwide testing standard for classifying the safety of clothing.

Just look out for something like the logo below. If you spend more money to make your product safe, you will have it tested. If you can’t find it, assume the worst.
Especially if it’s our beloved “The same, just cheaper…” products.

The logo of the Oekotex® 100 certification for babies (class1). Source: buff.eu
The logo of the Oekotex® 100 certification for babies (class1)

You can always go to the AITEX website and enter the test number. That will give you all the details of the test.

So what are Buff® tested to?

The more intensive the skin contact of a product and the more sensitive the skin, the stricter the human-ecological requirements that need to be complied with.

Oekotex® 100 website

All adult products are rated to class 2. This is the class for adults close to the skin clothing (underwear, socks, headwear,…)

All baby products are rated to class 1. The most stringent class.

You can find the logo of the Oekotex® 100 certification on the back of the Original Buff® packaging. Source: buff.eu
The logo of the Oekotex® Certification on the Original Buff®

Sources

Choice – Chemicals in Clothing

Oekotex® 100 webpage

Wikipedia – Oekotex® 100

UV/Sun Protection

6 December 2018 No Comments
Photomontage: Left image Cutout of a man with a severely sunburned face. © Jonny Hunter, Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0), https://www.flickr.com/photos/jonnyhunter/3565036940/in/photostream/ Right image A flyfisher proudly displaying his catch. He is standing waist deep in salt water and he is wearing a High Uv Buff® as face mask. © Pat Ford
Ouch. That must hurt. The Buff® fabrics protect. (Jonny Butler / Pat Ford)

Sunburns hurt. Skin cancer can kill.

The Original EcoStretch and the Coolnet UV fabric give you UPF50 excellent protection (98% UV/Sun protection).

Scan of a UPF report issued by ARPANSA
Skin Cancer aware? If it’s not rated it will not protect you.

This is an example of a UPF report. It was performed by the founders of the UPF rating ARPANSA. Nowadays both Original EcoStretch and CoolnetUV fabrics are constantly monitored for their UPF rating at the factory. The testing company is Aitext Textile Research Institute.

BUFF® Original EcoStretch and CoolnetUV multifunctional headwear comes with a label stating the standard (AS/NZS 4399:1996), the UPF Rating and the testing laboratory.

Beware of UPF Claims without reference to the test!

We see a lot of tubular headwear that advertises sun protection claims but has no labels or mention of the test standard. Those claims are bogus. Why?

A thin fabric without a UPF rating cannot protect you from skin cancer.

For example, a T-shirt is only around UPF 6. That’s because it just filters out enough UVB to stop a sunburn. It will not stop you from getting skin cancer because it doesn’t filter out UVA enough.

UVA is harder to filter, and it goes deep into your skin, so the damage is not visible.

That’s where special dyes and other ingredients that absorb UVA and UVB satisfactorily enter the game. This function can only be tested and proven in a laboratory.

That’s why sun-protective clothing is more expensive than non-protective clothing.

So, if you see a tube with a UV protection claim that doesn’t clearly state the UPF rating with the testing standard and the testing laboratory, do yourself a favour and walk away.

Most Popular Use

 
Fly fisher holding a catch in the flats. He is wearing a High Uv Buff® as face mask. The cooling effect makes the face mask comfortable. © Pat Ford http://www.patfordphotos.com/. Licenced by Original Buff S.A for the promotion of the High Uv Buff®
Intense sun and heat. The BUFF® CoolnetUv fabric cools to make your sun protection comfortable (Pat Ford)

Fishing

The most popular application so far for sun protection. A face mask that you can wear in the heat.
All fishing professionals now wear the BUFF® CoolnetUV for this one reason: Replace sunscreen and still be skin cancer protected.

 

In the Snow

A man wearing a High Uv Buff® as face mask in the snow. He is in a ski resort. © unknown
Forgot your sunscreen? A BUFF® Original EcoStretch helps you out.

How often did you forget your sunscreen? I have tons of times.

  • Wear it as a face mask and you’re protected
  • Not sweating – It eases the biting wind

 

Travel

Halong Bay in Vietnam as seen from a kayak. The kayaker in front is wearing a High Uv Buff® as legionnaire style cap. Submitted to us as part of a testimonial. Copyright unknown
Long sun exposure during a great adventure. Good to have a protective and cooling BUFF® CoolnetUV as legionnaire cap with you.

You’re travelling and you have this opportunity to go on a tour. No cloud in the sky, and of course, you didn’t bring some specialized headgear with you. The BUFF® CoolnetUV tube as a legionnaire-style cap will give you protection.

 

Endurance Sports

A participant of the Marathon Des Sables running through the desert. He is wearing a custom made High Uv Buff® as face mask. Copyright is unknown. Distributed by Original Buff® S.A. for the promotion of Buff® products
Sunscreen sweating out, and there is no time to replace it. The BUFF® CoolnetUV protects. The fabric cools enough to wear in a desert.

Running events in the sun are a prime example. You’re sweating throughout the day, and no sunscreen will work for long. You also don’t have any time to apply sunscreen constantly.

Events like the Marathon des Sables have their custom-made BUFF® CoolnetUV for their participants. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than burning to crisps.

 

Limitations

They are thin fabrics so stretching them too much or wearing them thin over several years reduces the protection.

Sources

ARPANSA Resource Guide for UV Protective Products

Wikipedia – Ultraviolet

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