We’re told to sweat once a day for the sake of our health, but we’ve never been told to sit in that sweat for the sake of our hygiene. Luckily, living an active lifestyle doesn’t have to mean living a stinky one — at least, not if CoreSport’s moisture-activated cooling fabrics do what they say they do.
In much the same way that your sweat is meant to cool you down, CoreSport’s new athletic shirts are activated by perspiration. So the harder your workout, the cooler you’ll be. The clothing makes use of Specific Heat Capacity yarn and special fibers that claim to absorb perspiration, then cause the moisture to evaporate quickly. This, the CoreSport team says, will allow for clothes that are eight degrees Fahrenheit cooler than traditional shirts. And instead of wearing fabrics that will stick to your skin, the CoreSport collection is said to stay dry and airy.
“Coresport’s cooling technology is achieved by the joint action of heat, moisture, and air,” the team noted. “This technique works when wearing dry clothes. Through intense work or exercise, or sweating during everyday activities, moisture intervention will quickly produce cooling effects.” It’s rather similar to Arctic Cool’s Hydrofreeze apparel, which similarly claims to wick away moisture, evenly dispersing sweat so that you’re kept at a more consistent (and cooler) body temperature.
CoreSport’s claims are predicated upon tests completed with athletes from the Barcelona Sporting Club Guayaquil’s soccer team in Ecuador. Twenty-four athletes participated in CoreSport’s study, where half of them wore “standard sports clothing,” while the other half wore CoreSport shirts during 80-minute athletic tests. At the end of a workout, CoreSport tested body and core temperatures and found that the players wearing the CoreSport gear had a 30 percent lower surface body temperature than the other players. Moreover, the core temperature of athletes wearing CoreSport shirts was said to be 0.5 degrees Fahrenheit cooler.
When compared to other similar product offerings, CoreSport feels a bit light on the science of cooling. Take, for example, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s “living cell” shirt, which also claims to be self-cooling. “We found that microbial cells are sensitive to moisture change in the environment,” Wen Wang, a biotech researcher who led the study, told Digital Trends. “At dry condition, the cell shrinks to a smaller size, while at humid conditions, it swells to a bigger size.” The resulting shirt made with a coating of these cells allows for better airflow and breathability when it comes into contact with sweat.
In any case, any shirt that allows us to work out without working up a stench seems to be worth a try. You can pre-order a CoreSport shirt from Kickstarter for $39, with shipment expected in March.
