Dossier van D. - Radiant heat reflective clothing

Radiant heat reflective clothing

To insulate homes sometimes glass wool is used with on one side a film with a thin layer of aluminum. The glass wool insulates by still air in the glass wool, and the layer of aluminum reflects the radiant heat back.
This radiant heat is also called thermal radiation or infrared radiation.

I want to use this same principle, to keep myself warm. The insulation by still air can be achieved with synthetic batting/wadding, but also normal clothes will do. The layer of aluminum (or some other metal) should be breathable and must be on the outside. To protect the aluminum layer an extra layer of fabric could be added.

For good insulation, the layer of aluminum must be on the outside. For when the layer of aluminum would be on the inside, then the aluminum is heated by the body, causing it to transfer heat radiation to the environment.

For example, a raincoat doesn't need to be breathable, but because I want to wear it indoors constantly, it is necessary that the fabric is breathable.

Below are some examples of non-breathable materials with a layer of aluminum:
a few radiant heat reflective materials

The pictures show: A ground cloth, an emergency blanket, bubble wrap and carpet underlayment.
The emergency blanket is so thin that you can see through it. Yet it works very well. If I wrap the emergency blanket around me, then I notice after a quarter to half an hour that I lose less heat.
The underlayment with a layer of aluminum works also well.
I haven't used the others that much, but I assume they work just as good.

Below is a vest.
I tried to attach bubble wrap with a heat reflective coating to this vest. But I couldn't do it, because it was not flexible enough.
jacket with bubble wrap

It was my intention to buy a roll of flexible and breathable aluminized fabric. I wanted to sew that in a vest, a jacket and a duvet.
These are the possibilities I found:

Clothing for firefighters and clothing for workers with hot metal.

This is very tough material to protect, and not suitable for normal indoor use.
Jacks with unknown materials.

Sometimes clothing (mostly jacks) can be bought, which has a layer that reflects heat radiance. But it is often unclear whether the fabric is breathable. Sometimes 400 euros for a jacket is asked, while it is not clear which materials are used.
XITANIT™

This is a thread wit a metallic layer, of which special socks and vests are made. It doesn't seem possible to buy few square meters of this fabric.
Temptrol™

This is a flexible layer of plastic fibers with a very thin layer of aluminized plastic. Tiny holes are made in it, to make it breathable. It is manufactured by "Innovative Insulation, Inc.".
MIRoTEC©

For example blankets can be bought with this material. I could use such a blanket to make a vest out of it. However, it is quite expensive, and it is not exactly clear what the material is.
Sympatex Reflexion©

This is a very thin breathable fabric (membrane-like) with a layer aluminum. There are several manufacturers that use it in their clothes. It is possible to buy a sleeping bag, jacket or coat in which this material is used. They all cost about 300 euros, which is very expensive.
Aluminet©

Aluminet is a very open fabric. But it is used to reflect the sun light for keeping green houses cool. So it probably can't be used in clothes to stay warm.
Lamé

Lamé is a shiny fabric, sometimes used for Christmas clothing. The fabric is woven or knitted, and it consists mainly of a 'thread' of a small strip of plastic foil with aluminum. It is not intended to reflect radiant heat, but it turned out to have a reasonably good result.

This is the sample of Temtrol I received.
sample Temtrol

This material is very easy to cut and sew. It is less flexible and less breathable than woven fabric. If it is firmly rubbed with the aluminum side against another fabric, then the aluminum comes off.
This material is probably the best choice for jackets and coats. For a duvet cover I prefer a woven fabric.

Flammability

All these materials consist of plastic with a layer of aluminum. Because I want to use them as clothing, I wanted to know how flammable they are. So I tried it out.

This is with 3 different kinds of lamé, lying on sand.
When using these as clothing on the outside, then walking along a burning candle is already a risk.

This is with Temptrol, lying on sand. It melts, but doesn't catch on fire very easy:

These are the pieces lamé, in free air:

This is Temptrol, in free air:

This is a piece of knitted lamé:

Lamé

I bought a few different kinds of lamé, such as woven, knitted and stretch-lamé:

The material turned out to be difficult to handle, like cutting and sewing. The plastic threads coated with aluminum easily break during sewing.

Below is my duvet cover with lamé:

For a proper effect, only the topside of the duvet cover has a layer lamé.
Ik might turn the duvet cover inside-out, so the lamé is protected by the fabric of the duvet cover.
The radiant heat reflection appears to work well. And the material it is well breathable.
I only lie on my back, and my top (belly side) was warmer than my back. So I added another layer of lamé under my mattress. After that I stayed nicely warm.
In the winter I used two electric heating blankets (one on top, and one underneath me). But now just one electric blanket is sufficient, and sometimes I don't even have to turn it on.

This is my first garment with lamé:

It was mainly to see I it could be sawn onto a garment, and to see how the lamé would be if it was worn and washed in a washing machine.

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Last change to this page: November 2010