Black or white? What color is better to wear in the heat to avoid overheating

The last thing you want to do in the heat is put on things that will raise your temperature even more. According to popular opinion, such things are any clothes in black. That's why they recommend giving preference to white and other light colors in the summer. However, the truth turned out to be a little more complicated.

According to the blog Suntect, to find out all the details, scientists conducted research using an infrared camera, bird feathers and traditional clothing of Bedouins in the Arabian Desert. Bedouins, despite the hellish heat, often wear thick, dark-colored clothing, which defies popular logic.

But dark objects do get hotter and faster in the sun. All because of their ability to absorb maximum light and solar energy. However, at the same time, they also absorb body heat on the flip side, whereas white clothes reflect both the sun's heat and the heat your body produces, returning your own heat to you. So, white can actually heat you up a little bit more than black.

Meanwhile, in 1983, the American Institute of Biological Sciences did a study that looked at the effects of animal fur color and bird plumage on their response to heat. And no direct link was found between the sun's heat load and coloration.

In other words, black or white birds or animals do not automatically determine how hot they are. Factors such as wind speed, coat structure and ruffled or flattened feathers play a much more important role.

Similarly, an experiment with Bedouin clothing, conducted in 1980, showed that the color of the outfit did not play a role. Then a volunteer was asked to stand in 45-degree heat facing the sun in the desert for 30 minutes at a time. While doing so, he alternately wore a dark Bedouin robe, a light Bedouin robe, a khaki military uniform, and shorts. The results, published in the journal Nature, showed that thick Bedouin clothing, regardless of color, better insulated the volunteer's body from the heat, and the loose fabric structure allowed the excess heat to escape outside. The wind literally blew waves of warm air outside.

So, the main conclusion from this shows that the color of the clothes you wear in the heat is not decisive. The main thing is that things should be free cut and made of fabric that is breathable - cotton, linen, etc. In this case, the excess heat will escape through them and you will feel better.

Previously OBOZREVATEL told how to cool the room without air conditioning in hot weather.

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