How do those magical cooling towels work? They don’t.

 

You may have seen those handy cooling towels advertised on television or hanging around the necks of some famous or wannabe athletes.

 

 Unfortunately, they don’t really work. Consumer Reports put them to the test and found that they’re no more cooling than any old damp towel. They put the cooling towels, which are supposed to be 30 degrees below body temperature when snap-activated, up against cotton dish towels and measured their surface temperatures. The results: All the towels were cooler when damp, within about one degree of each other.