I’ve bought quite a few “cool” ties in the past. Last year I stumbled across a tutorial (of course I can’t remember which blog it was on), and made my own. I took crappy
photo’s of it, and by the time I was ready to blog about it–it was mid-October. Although, it was still needed in Florida the rest of the country was starting to break out the winter jackets. I decided to wait, and in doing so I’ve made quite a few since my first attempt. I had family in town from Pittsburgh this past weekend, and made one for each person, so they could use it whilesweating to death galavanting around Disney World.
photo’s of it, and by the time I was ready to blog about it–it was mid-October. Although, it was still needed in Florida the rest of the country was starting to break out the winter jackets. I decided to wait, and in doing so I’ve made quite a few since my first attempt. I had family in town from Pittsburgh this past weekend, and made one for each person, so they could use it while
Supplies:
1 scrap of fabric; 4 inches wide by 45 inches long (you can make this as short as 30 inches long)
1 tablespoon of Cracked Ice Crystals *You can find this in the floral section at Michael’s for around $5–you should get about 5-6 ties out of one package.
coordinating thread, straight pins, scissors, tape measure, and iron
Cut your piece of fabric out, fold it in half long wise (right sides together). With a hot iron using steam press the fabric together. Sew a straight stitch along the open end of the fabric (essentially creating a tube). Make sure you leave both ends open–it makes it easier to turn it inside out.
Once you’ve created the tube, carefully (and patiently) turn the tube inside out.
Next, you’ll want to measure out your “cool tie”. This cool tie happened to only be 40 inches long, so a good half way point was at the 15 and 25 mark. You’ll want at least 10 inches of space for your cracked ice crystals to expand. Once you’ve pinned this. Sew one of the sides closed.
Add one tablespoon to the neck tie. Some blogs will recommend only a teaspoon or two, I found that the happy medium is a tablespoon. Trust me after an hour or two of being wet these cracked ice crystals will expand and fill up the entire 10+ inch tube! Once you fill the tube make sure all the crystals are at the bottom of the sewn section. Sew the other side to close the tube along with around the perimeter of the tie itself. *Essentially you will only be sewing around 10 inches. Lastly, you’ll want to sew each of the ends closed. I choose to fold in the fabric, press it with the iron and sew a straight stitch on this cool tie. However, I have sewn a variety of decorative stitches to close them cool ties.
Finished product!
This is what your final product will look like once you wet it. Take note you will need to soak it in cold water for a few minutes to allow the cracked ice crystals to start to expand.
At this point the gel had only somewhat expanded in the tie.
*Here is what it will look like if you put over 1 tablespoon of crystals in the tie. The gels inside the cool tie will keep expanding hours after it’s been wet. It will look like it wants to explode. *Excuse my cell phone picture… I wanted to be able to show you what it looks like fully expanded. **Take a look on the left side of the picture–That’s Mr. Woodsy with his neon green cool tie that he wore as a headband to mock his childhood idols; The Ninja Turtles!
Comments & Reviews
erma poston says
I love the idea, since you place them it in water to use. How wet do your outfit get. Or is they good only for playing sports and outdoor work. ?
Katie says
Hi Erma, thanks for reaching out to me. Your clothes don’t get too wet but definitely ideal for outdoor activities. We live in Florida and use these at the theme parks or when doing yard work. Hope that helps answer your questions.
Rhonda says
What kind of thread do you use to make these?? cotton? poly? nylon? with them being in water and ice I’m not sure?
Katie says
Hi Rhonda–I’ve used whatever the traditional thread is and had no issues.
DonnaH says
Hi, Katie. Do I understand correctly that the only part of the 40″ strip that gets cold is a 10″ section in the midde of the tube, and this section is where the crystals go. Then the 10″ section is sewn closed. That would leave 15″ on each end of the tube empty? I had one of these years ago but have misplaced it somewhere. I get overheated easily, so this will save me this summer. :-). Thanks.
Katie says
Hi Donna–yes you are correct. Happy sewing! 🙂
BetteAnn Damico says
Hi yes they are awesome to cool down with, but they also work great for your pets to keep worm in the winter. I get 2 or 3 tubes, soak them in water then put them on a plate and put them in the microwave for about 45 sec. remove excess water before putting them in a large zip lock bag remove all the air in the bag, then put the bag into a pillowcase (I found a pillowcase for baby’s pillow is just the right size) . Then I put one each in my outside cats bed to keep them worm In the cold winter months. Make sure they”re not too hot you don’t want to burn then. They stay hot for about 8 hrs. I put them out before bed then gather them in the am. then do it all over again. I love them. Thank you for telling me where to find the crystals. Up until now I didn’t know what they were called and no one at the craft stores around here new what I was talking about, so I had to buy up all that I could find in the summer because I can’t find them in the winter. Thank you so much again
Katie says
BetteAnn that is a great tip. I would also try searching for them on Amazon–they might be cheaper!
Kristina says
What kind of fabric do you use?
Katie says
Hi Kristina, I have use basic cotton fabric and it has worked beautifully!
sharon says
turning the tube out, use a large safty pin. pin one end of the tube feed the pin into the tube, keep feeding until you have turned the tube right side -out. easy ! how does this cool? is the water cold, and then stays cool?
Katie says
Hi Sharon, the gel inside the cool tie is a cooling gel so that’s how it stays cool. It also isn’t a bad idea to dip the cool tie in ice cold water–it keeps it much cooler over a longer period of time!
Pame says
Also NEVER freeze them after soaking them thinking they will stay cold longer. IF you freeze them the crystals are ruined! I have used the same cool bands year after year, by just letting them dry out flat or hang dry. I have also used a mini cooler with ice and water mixed to rotate them at hot out door events in Las Vegas when the temps were 115 and this worked great!. I also have washed them in a washing machine, but you better make sure you stitched them really really really good or you will have a mess in the washer. I also used all different types of the crystals from floral shops to online orders, and they all basically work the same. Again NEVER freeze them or they will not dry out and rehydrate ever again.
Cynthia says
I freeze mine ll the time. I let last years dry out at the end of summer, thew them in tap water a few weeks ago and back in the freezer they went! I drive a para transit bus and it gets really hot by the loading ramp and inside the cab area and I over heat easy. I throw mine (3)in a cooler with ice packs I made from the same gel and my vacuum sealerbags and bottles of water and I’m good to go!
Kristy says
Can I use hydrating beads or water gems instead of the cracked ice crystals?
Katie says
Hi Kristy, I’ve only ever used the cracked ice crystals. I can’t give advice on anything else. If you use one of the other options please let me know how it turns out! I would love to know! Good luck!
Pame says
Yes I have tried the hydrating beads and water gems and they both work fine. You just have to figure out how much you need to add per how big your section is… The different type of crystals will be different on how much you use
Wendy says
I learned a really fast way to turn right side out, skinny things like this. I put a long piece of yarn inside the tube with the ends sticking out. Then sew 1 end (sewing the yarn into the tube) then sew down the side like normal. Then all you have to do is pull on the yarn and it turns right side out easy peasy. 🙂 great tute!
Katie says
Great tip Wendy! I think I’ll share it on our Facebook page for other readers! Thanks for stopping by!
Tammie says
I use these to keep cool, but my mom has the opposite problem. Because of a health problem, she is always cold while the rest of the family is sweating. Do you think if I made one with rice to warm in the microwave it would work on the same principle to warm her up?
Katie says
Hi Tammie–I’ve seen the rice warming bags at craft fairs. I definitely would say its worth a try!
Pame says
YES rice sacks heat real good in the microwave. BEST to use flannel fabric to make your sack with as it retains the heat and also makes it a moist heat. Make your sack and remember only to fill it no more then 1/2 full with rice. This way you can move the rice around inside the sack while heating. ALSO make sure you watch in microwave as they CAN catch fire if heated too long. I have some large ones I made and I heat for 5 mins, mixing around 1/2 way through heating time. Our winters (NE Nevada in the high desert, at the base of the Ruby Mountains) are very cold with -10 to -20 the normal low temps for jan & feb, and lucky if we hit 10 for the day time high! We heat the heat sacks and toss them between the sheets of the bed about 30 mins before climbing into a nice warm bed… Oh my heat sacks stay nice and hot in the flannel fabric for a good hour or more. You can also get plain white flannel fabric and make the sacks as inserts to put in outer pillow type cases…. Have made the rice sacks as I called them and the cool bands (ties) for years. The crystals when you order in bulk on line come in different size crystals. Also if you make the heat sacks for gifts and need to mail them, just make the sacks and include the directions to fill 1/2 way with long grain white rice and sew end closed. This way you don’t have to pay for heavy weight postage. Mine wound up being around 4-5 lbs a heat sack!
Diane says
I have made many of these. I buy the crystals at the hardware store. A bag of about 1 pound was 12.00. I have made probably 200 ties and I still have crystals. My instructions are exactly the same except it calls for a “scant teaspoon full of crystals”. I do put in a full teaspoon but not more and have had no complaints about the tube not being full enough or not lasting long enough. Good Luck!!
Katie says
Great to know about the crystals. Thanks for stopping by.
Banba says
It’s always a good idea to make quite a few of these up at once, and then just throw out any that get funky and grab a new one from the stash. If you take a small cooler with with you and keep good cooler hygiene (no open food in the cooler- everything in plastic), then you can re-dip the cool ties into the cooler to keep them chilly!
Mrs. Woodsy aka Katie says
Banba, I love your tips!
PieHeart says
Nice looking ties! Love em!
Rhonda Barrett says
Hi,I have been using cool ties for a few yr’s. I think I had a reaction to one…I thought it was from getting some bleach from a frosting kit on my neck. But I wore the cool tie I had been drying out again yesterday & my neck has a red crusty,very sore ,almost like a bad sunburn feeling. I had noticed a musty smell from the cool tie,so I had hung it up to dry.Yesterday I had the same smell from it,I’m thinking maybe it had mold in it & caused this. Have you ever heard of anything like that happening? Thanks,Rhonda Barrett
Mrs. Woodsy aka Katie says
Hi Rhonda, I’m so sorry to read about your allergic reaction (that’s what it sounds like to me). I’ve never heard of any of these symptoms. I would definitely stop using it immediately and either buy or make a new one to see if maybe the old crystals over time gave you this reaction. Then again it could be a chemical from the crystals that are irritating you. I’m not a doctor nor do I know if any of my suggestions will help. Good luck!
Rena says
Thank you for sharing this with everyone, they look easy to make and a good thing to have on hot days. I have read the many questions but the one I have is will the crystals go back down and can they be used over and over again?
Mrs. Woodsy aka Katie says
Hi Rena, thanks for stopping by Sew Woodsy. Yes, the crystals dry back up and can be used over and over again. I have found though, after consistently using the cool tie for a year that the amount of crystals start to shrink and almost dissipate over time.
bobbi says
I have 2 different kinds that I bought in a store. one is great, gets large and most important, it doesn’t get slimy like the other one I bought. do these get slimy using the ice crystals? the good one has beads that feel round inside prior to expanding
Mrs. Woodsy aka Katie says
My neck ties have never felt slimey. It’s important that you air dry the ties out so they can dry out completely.