Is EnduraCool towel as cool as advertised?

Instant-cooling towel put the test

SAN ANTONIO – The commercials highlighting professional athletes claim the EnduraCool Instant Cooling Towel can help you beat the heat. So, hot off the tennis court, doubles partners Carol Pichot and Mary Ann Winden agreed to give it a try.

"Without indoor courts, we need all the help we can get," Winden said.

They had seen it advertised on TV. The company behind it, Mission Athletecare, claims the towel has a special proprietary weave that slows evaporation, creating a sustained cooling effect.

The ads say you simply soak it in water, wring it out and snap it to activate the cooling technology.

Pichot and Winden immediately liked the soft feel. The towel is mostly polyester microfiber with a bit of nylon.

The women snapped the towels as directed, put them around their necks and returned to the court to continue their match.

The company claims the wet towel cools to 30 degrees Fahrenheit below the average body temperature and stays cool for two hours.

On an infrared thermometer, the EnduraCool was shown to be 69 degrees -- 19 degrees cooler than the arm of the person holding it. 

By comparison, the thermometer showed a wet cotton dish towel was 70 degrees.

Two hours later, the EnduraCool towel was still cool at 70 degrees. The dish towel was slightly warmer at 73 degrees.

While there may not be any magic in the EnduraCool towels, both Pichot and Winden gave it a thumbs up.

"It's great," said Pichot. "I like the way it's lightweight."

And they said it still felt cool even after they'd continued to play.

The EnduraCool is machine-washable and costs $15.

While the science of evaporative cooling works with most any towel, the women agreed the EnduraCool was comfortable and looked much cooler than a dish towel.


About the Author:

Marilyn Moritz is an award-winning journalist dedicated to digging up information that can make people’s lives a little bit better. As KSAT’S 12 On Your Side Consumer reporter, she focuses on exposing scams and dangerous products and helping people save money.