Quantumaniac

Pro Tip: Wear Black Clothes to Keep Cool, Not White

We’ve all heard the argument. “Wear white during hot, sunny weather because it will keep you cool.” Nope. In fact, the truth is found in the exact opposite - black clothing keeps you the coolest! 

What our eyes perceive as white is actually the combination of all possible visible light. The white clothing will inevitably reflect the great majority of wavelengths coming into it. Nothing groundbreaking here, that’s common knowledge. But it’s only half of the truth! 

Heat is not just coming from the sun, but also from our own sweating, hot (maybe in more ways than one) body. This heat source is also a hell of a lot closer than the sun. When wearing white clothing, all of the wavelengths of heat coming from one’s body are reflected right back! But when wearing black, it absorbs everything coming from the body. With the help of just a bit of wind to ‘clear’ the absorbed heat, black clothing (with identical conditions of course - thickness of clothes and what not) is the far better choice to keep cool!