What is the best colour to wear in a hot climate?

Question

This will settel an argument between me and my fiance. I'm saying White clothes will keep you cooler, she disagrees.

Answer 1

u r absolutely rite! its undoubtedly WHITE!

Answer 2

White, because it reflects more of the light energy, stopping it from converting to heat throught the clothes, and if you go to the Middle East, you'll see that all the men wear white robe-like dress because its cooler. Funnily enough, your fiancee will be pleased to know the women dress head to toe in black traditionally!! Is this to make them suffer????
It is the same with cars. Leave a black car and white car in the sun, and the white one will be cooler inside when you get in, because a lot of the light energy will have been reflected by the white colour, but absorbed by the black, heating it up. The surface outside on the white car will be hotter than the black, because of the heat created by light energy bouncing off the white. This is why pale skinned people burn easily too, and races from hot climates have darker skin. The white skin reflects the light energy, and so heats up on the surface and burns. The dark skin absorbs it to an extent, meaning the heat is spread out and doesn't burn the surface.
If something is shiny, it reflects light energy too.
So, ideally, you want to wear a white, shiny, loose fitting garment.

Answer 3

Of course white becasue it reflects the heat. That's why the buildings are painted white in hot countrys. When you touch something dark that has been in the sun it alwasy feels a lot hotter than something light.

Black absorbs all of the lights energy which is why it gets hot. Where as white will refelct most of the light (after all seeing white is the resualt of the full spectrum of colours being reflected/emitted) and therefore will stay cooler!

Answer 4

White, absolutetly. Black absorbs the most of the sun's rays and converts that energy into heat. You can feel the same effect seeping off of blacktop on a hot day. White reflects nearly all of the sun's rays, keeping them from turning to heat in your fabric.

UV is a seperate consideration entirely. White cotton has an SPF of about 5, black may have a nominally higher SPF, but neither is enough to keep you from being burnt without sun block.

This is the experiment that will prove it.
http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/jan99/915978290.Bp.r.html

and another done for a school project
http://www.ase.org/uploaded_files/educatorlessonplans/lesson_why_is_it_hotter.pdf

and a sciency explanation
http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/newton/askasci/1993/physics/PHY34.HTM

Answer 5

Silver would be the absolute best colour as the best reflector - and following that if you wish to avoid appearing like an 80's experiment in fashion then white. Better still though would be to have this in combination with a black inner lining as this would help absorb heat from inside your clothes that would then get radiated out by your lighter silver/white on the other side.

Answer 6

Half naked is the best solution.Color does not play much. Texture of cloth is important. The main cause is infra red radiation rather than the colours.

There is air between the cloth and body which is a poor conductor of heat and when it is heated by long exposure will not find place to circulate other than the space between the body and cloth.

The cloth must have pores in it so as to circulate air as against the colths in winter which should not allow the hot air to go out.

Answer 7

White deflects the sun, therefor is cooler. Think of an Arabian movie...on a horse in a long white robe? In the hot climate like a dessert white deflects the sun...dark colors absorb the heat.

Answer 8

White reflects the heat off of you and so you wont get as warm. The black and darker colours absorb the heat more therefore making you hotter. Bright colours such as yellow normally attract little bugs and things that may in turn bite you...during the day stick to white!

Answer 9

Reflective silver (chrome) would probably be cooler than white; But would not be the best color to wear unless you are an astronaut.

You did post it in the Physics category.

P.S. You might also loose the argument, because white is not a color.

Answer 10

Cool loose white cotton. It allows the body to breathe and white reflects the heat whilst dark colours attract it. That's why we usually see white uniforms in India during the British raj with white helmets, cricket whites, wimbledon was traditionally white etc etc

Answer 11

I would have said something reflective as it will reflect the sun off you.

Black, although a slimming colour, attracts the sun, so that is to be avoided.

Most people do wear white on holiday though don't they! On this occassion, I say that the male wins.....