Cool gel neck wraps?

[dizkidz2]

I'm not really sure what the name of them are -- but I saw them on one of those shopping networks, and the caller said she was going to DW and was going to take them with her.
They are these gel wrap things that are supposed to stay cool, and are worn around your neck or around your head.
Has anyone tried these and know how long they'd be cool for?
If they work, they would be good for our Aug. trip.

 

[Danno Magee]

My wife and I used some on our trip in 2003. I'm not sure if they are the same type you saw and are asking about. They would stay relatively cool for a good amount of time. If they started to heat up, all you need to do is stop by a water fountain and let them soak under the water for a second. Basically just wetting down the gel would get it cold. I would suggest taking some ziplock bags, however, so that when you take them off and want to put them in a bag they don't get everything else wet.

 

[samsid99]

My family and I use these wraps last July on our trip and are planning to again for this august. I would leave mine in the fridge over night and the previous poster is right, when they stop being cool just wet them in a sink. It does provide some relief in the heat. I bought mine at walmart for 2.88 last year and have seen them again this year just haven't gotten them yet. Hope this helps.

Kelley

 

[SueM in MN]

You'll usually find them in the camping department in stores like Walmart.

 

[ellyn2000]

Just got my DH one from Home Shopping Network and it really works. Its activated with plain water and feels very cool (like ice) He loves it for working in the heat of summer. You can look @HSN.com.

 

[dizkidz2]

Thanks for all the info! I think I'm taking a ride to Walmart today
If not there, I'll look into HSN. I still have a few weeks befor we leave

 

[conciergekelly]

Are the ones at Walmart disposable or can you use them more than once?

 

[Maybelle]

you can use them more than once. If you put them into ziploc bags though, don't forget aboput them. You have to let them dry out just by sitting out, and they take a long time! If you forget them in the baggies, they will mildew really badly, believe me!!! Blech!!!

I actually bought a few for our June trip, and we never used them. I thought they were kind of squishy and gross feeling, but dd liked them.

When you have one on, it looks kind of like a small boy scout bandana tied around your neck. Not exactly a fashion statement, but then, when it is in the nineties with 100% humidity, who cares about fashion!

By the way, I bought mine at Wal Mart in the camping dept. They are called Aqua Cool.

 

[WeLubDeeDub]

Yep! Got ours at Walmart...very inexpensive!
Did you see them on The View yesterday? One of the summer keep cool tips was to wear one tied around your head like a head band. They do seem to work. Hopefully they will, as we will be going in mid August!

 

[dizkidz2]

Ok went to Walmant the other day and found them. Got them home soaked them in water for 5-10 minutes, squeezed them out.
We found them to be very cool, but sticky and drippy It seemed the more I squeezed them the more sticky they got.
I can't imagine wearing them around my neck all day. Each time I touched them, my hands got sticky.
Are the ones from HSN any better?

 

[jjan]

Ok went to Walmant the other day and found them. Got them home soaked them in water for 5-10 minutes, squeezed them out.
We found them to be very cool, but sticky and drippy It seemed the more I squeezed them the more sticky they got.
I can't imagine wearing them around my neck all day. Each time I touched them, my hands got sticky.
Are the ones from HSN any better?

They were sticky because that isn't what you are supposed to do, sorry to say. You soak them for only 3-5 minutes and then pat them dry. You oversoaked the crysals causing them to swell too much and come through the fabric and them squeezed them causing it to be worse. Try letting it dry out all of the way and try again and, unless they are ruined, you will have much better luck I'm sure.

 

[tatooed goofy]

My DD overheats very easily and faints so we do whatever we can to keep her cool. We had some we bought at Walmart and others from the State Fair. Both after 2 days started getting sticky and slimy. We ended up with rashes around our necks from the gel oozing out by the third day. Just thought I would share that. I don't know if anyone else had the same experience. We really liked like they kept us and DD cool so, we kept wearing them till the rash. This year we bought Misty Mates from Walmart to try. Just wanted to share.
PS. You can buy the get wraps in visers, too. Those worked better. The gel is in the part on your forehead.
Good luck no matter what you do.

 

[dizkidz2]

They were sticky because that isn't what you are supposed to do, sorry to say. You soak them for only 3-5 minutes and then pat them dry. You oversoaked the crysals causing them to swell too much and come through the fabric and them squeezed them causing it to be worse. Try letting it dry out all of the way and try again and, unless they are ruined, you will have much better luck I'm sure.

Thanks so much! I'll try that. I put them in water and walked away and got busy doing something else (as usual) . Hopefully that will work.

 

[sammielynn]

We used ours in May and I loved them. If you just put them on and don't play with them they don't feel slimy. Purchsed them at http://www.heatreliefdepot.com. They were less than $3. My Ds16 is planning to take his to band camp next week.

 

[Suz D]

They were sticky because that isn't what you are supposed to do, sorry to say. You soak them for only 3-5 minutes and then pat them dry. You oversoaked the crysals causing them to swell too much and come through the fabric and them squeezed them causing it to be worse. Try letting it dry out all of the way and try again and, unless they are ruined, you will have much better luck I'm sure.

jjan...Thank you for this info. I had the same problem and knew that I'd done something wrong. I sent my DH out with my DD camping on Wednesday and they took them along. DH said it was like a slimy fish around his neck. I hope ours aren't ruined either. My only problem was that the directions on mine said to soak for 20 mins or so. I did that and they were already toast! ARGH!!! I e-mailed QVC to get my $$ back.

 

[tobie01]

My DD overheats very easily and faints so we do whatever we can to keep her cool. We had some we bought at Walmart and others from the State Fair. Both after 2 days started getting sticky and slimy. We ended up with rashes around our necks from the gel oozing out by the third day. Just thought I would share that. I don't know if anyone else had the same experience. We really liked like they kept us and DD cool so, we kept wearing them till the rash. This year we bought Misty Mates from Walmart to try. Just wanted to share.
PS. You can buy the get wraps in visers, too. Those worked better. The gel is in the part on your forehead.
Good luck no matter what you do.

WE used them too at WDW in June. After a couple of days they did start to smell gross. My neice and my cousins daughter used them the last day and both got a terrible rash on their foreheads. That they both wore the neck wraps around their head was the only thing that we could figure out what had caused the rash. And you just confirmed it for us. Another mystery solved! Thank you!

 

[kristielee]

I just bought 2 neck wraps, a visor and baseball cap with cooling inserts and two small hand held battery operated fans at Brookstone for our Sept trip. The gal at the counter said she'd just come back from doing the land/sea cruise and used them and they worked great. They weren't cheap (Total for everything was about $100.00) but if they keep us cool, it'll be worth every penny. I tried the fans out in the store and they were quite powerful. The other thing I really liked was that they have a neck strap and a relatively small and lightweight.

 

[TammyAlphabet]

Well, I am prone to getting a heat rash on my back and it itches like crazy!! So, a couple of years ago, for my August fairytale trip, I bought a fan from QVC that you strap around your waist and blows air up your back. My best friend laughed and laughed at me!!

But it fit right in the small of my back so i could even sit in the theaters with it still attached and it didn't bother me. it even had a place to put water and you could pump a mist into the air of the fan.

Now, the bad part, the batteries were very hard to put in (bad design) and the battery cover wouldn't stay on. I had to put a big rubber band around the whole thing to keep the cover on. It also used alot of batteries if I used it much. But it worked like a charm. I haven't used it again, but, I will on my trip in May 06.

 

[Hopetobee]

We went to the parks in July 04 and I took a misty fan I had bought at Walmart-marked down to $3-saw the same one in the stores in Orlando for $9.99!

I also put a dry washcloth in a baggy to dry my glasses if they got wet. Well, it was so hot I ran the washcloth under cold water and put it around my neck and it was instant relief. It was too short to tie in front so I just tucked the ends into the neck of my t-shirt. Every so often I would put it under cold water again.

Another thing I didn't think of before, was spraying the water from the misty fan on my legs, that helped to cool me off too.