Stay cool... by wrapping up in some cling film!

CLOTHES based on cling film could help keep us cool in hot weather.

Scientists have created a hi-tech textile version of the popular food wrap that acts as a personal air conditioning system.

T-shirts, dresses and suits made from the cooling material should keep the body some 3C cooler than conventional fabrics.

While this might not seem like much, it would cut air conditioning bills in half.

The Californian researchers said textiles have traditionally been made from materials with weave that retains heat in the form of infrared radiation from the body.

Kitchen wrap, which is made of a type of plastic called polyethylene, allows heat to pass through it – but is transparent. But an opaque form is used in making batteries and the Stanford University researchers adapted it to make it breathable.

In lab tests, cotton boosted the temperature of fake skin by 3.5C. In contrast, the polyethylene material raised the mercury by just 0.8C, the journal Science reports.

The researchers said: ‘Forty to 60 per cent of our body heat is dissipated as infrared radiation when we sit in an office but there has been little research on designing the thermal radiation properties of textiles.

‘Wearing anything traps heat and makes the skin warmer. If dissipating thermal radiation were our only concern, then it would be best to wear nothing.’

The team say the fabric should be cheap to make. However, fashion may be an issue with texture and colour yet to be perfected.