1993, The Arizona Republic
Phoenix, Arizona 

Just in time for the blazing summer a cool neck scarf.

Kool Tie not only looks attractive, but when you wear one outdoors, you’ll feel as if you're wearing an evaporative cooler.

The tie, invented by a Phoenix couple very familiar with desert heat, is a cotton scarf with some polymer crystals sewn inside. Soak the tie in water for 45 minutes to an hour, and the crystals swell until the middle part the scarf resembles a squishy tube.

Then put it around your neck while you’re outside bicycling, jogging or mowing the lawn, and you'll feel as if there were a breeze in the air.

Cooling the main blood supply to the brain makes you feel cool all over, says Pam Kafka. She and her husband, Steve, created the tie.

"It's not a brand-new idea," she said. "People have been putting wet towels and ice cubes in towels around their necks for a long time." There are also commercial products with plastic tubes that you cool in the freezer or refrigerator. But Kafka. says Kool Tie is more comfortable to wear than scarves with plastic inserts.

After several hours or days, the polymer will revert to crystals. You just soak the scarf again. You can refrigerate it to prolong the hydration.

Kool Tie will even keep you cool when the humidity is high, as long as there is air movement, Pam Kafka said. In other words, keep moving.

The scarves are already available at some stores, selling for $10 to $14. To find the location nearest you, call the Kafkas at (602)-943-8119.

Compiled by Betty Beard of The Arizona Republic.