Keeping cool when you are hot is a difficult task. You can only remove so much clothing before you are “naked” and sometimes even then, you are still too hot. Dressing conservatively and modestly is important too depending on your travel destination — you don’t want to cause an international incident!
We recently reviewed the Columbia Omni-Freeze Zero Rules T-shirt for Men and for Women and although we love the shirt, I thought I’d try another “cooling” product — the Frogg Toggs Chilly Pad Cooling Towel just to see how it compares. This cooling towel comes in different colours and sizes. Mine is about 13×33 inches and weighs about 6.5 oz outside of the box.
How to store Frogg Toggs Cooling Towel
The original chilly towel comes rolled up and sealed in a plastic bag within a plastic tube. When travelling, I don’t use the plastic tube. I just store the towel in a ziplock bag.
How to clean Frogg Toggs chilly pad cooling towel
It is recommended to wash before use and to store it slightly damp. I had to wash it a few times before use because it had a plastic chemical smell to it. The chemical smell could be of the material itself, or it could be from the mildew resistant properties of the item, which is kind of a good thing because storing something damp is nasty.
Tip: if you should let the towel dry out it will harden like cardboard, just wet it down and it will go soft again
Looking for a travel towel to dry yourself off with? Click here for a buying guide.
How to use Frogg Togg towel
- Thoroughly, wet the towel with water. The water can be any temperature, it doesn’t have to be cold water.
- Wring the towel out.
- Drape the towel over your body and as the water evaporates, it cools you down.
What I like about the Frogg Toggs Chilly Pad Cooling Towel
- It can be draped on to any part of your body to cool you down.
- It comes in a multitude of colours and sizes.
- Reasonably priced.
- Machine washable.
What I don’t like about this instant cooling towel
- It needs to be wet to activate.
- I had to wash it a few times to get rid of the plastic chemical smell.
- It feels weird against your skin and has a rubbery feeling to it. You have to get used to it because obviously, it has to touch your skin to work
- Awkward because you have to carry an extra item with you and it really is a one trick pony. You can’t use the Cooling Towel for any other purpose.
- Once the water evaporates or the towel starts to feel warm – it no longer works until you wet it again.
- The package says that it will keep you cool for up to 3 hours. I have never been able to keep it cool for more than 1 hour.
- I did get some stares wondering why I was walking with a towel around my neck.
Frogg Togg Chilly Pad Cooling Towel is the original cooling relief towel but check out these other brands of cooling towels on Amazon.
Final comment about chilly towels
I didn’t compare the Frogg Toggs Chilly Pad Cooling Towel to a plain old regular wet bath towel or a wet shammy, but in theory, I think it would have – the same result – as the water evaporates it would make you feel cooler.
Given the cons, I listed above I prefer the Columbia Omni-Freeze Zero Rules Clothing line because it requires nothing added to make the fabric work to cool you down plus it is much more travel-friendly and portable.
Check out some COOL Clothing reviews:
– Omni Freeze Zero Rules Gets Top Score
– Staying Cool in Arizona with Columbia Omni Freeze Zero
I sell similar towels and I have been able to keep them cold for many hours. They have so many different uses. They are a shammy material and the smell was an issue for me as well but it leaves pretty quickly with my towels. I invested in them for merchandise to sell at my shows and use them all the time
Nice product. It would be better if it didn’t look like a towel but a scarf with summery colours and prints! Then, you wouldn’t get stares :)
While it may not something that we’ll be using for a few months it’s great to know that there are options available to help during the hotter months of the year.
Thanks Mary.