My tie is about 1 1/2 " wide and 30 " long. The part that you put crystals in is just long enough to go around about two thirds of your next. The rest you tie with. You put crystals only in the middle part.

The crystals to use in cool ties is called "Soil Moist" and I got mine at Home Depot in the garden center. I don't know if Wal-Mart carries it or not, but you might check. It comes in a 1 lb jar (has a navy blue lid, and the label has flowers and a sun on a blue sky), or in larger quantities. Since you only use about 1 T per cool tie, you can get a lot of them out of that little jar! The stuff looks kind of like those plastic pellets that you use for weights in stuffed animals, only the crystals are smaller. You will be surprised at how much thost little crystals swell!

Cool ties are wonderful when used during all kinds of activities - tennis (first-hand knowledge), fishing, bicycling, even walking in the summertime. Would make terriffic Christmas stocking stuffers.

hi sandy! i got this stuff called "Magic Crystals for Plants and Home Decor", at one of the home/hardware stores here in nashville, but i've seen similar stuff at walmart, under different brand names. you're looking for the stuff that's made to keep water in the soil in flower pots.

My tie is about 1 1/2 " wide and 30 " long. The part that you put crystals in is just long enough to go around about two thirds of your next. The rest you tie with. You put crystals only in the middle part. These crystals you get at nurseries or florists (probably even Walmart) in lawn and garden. They are meant to expand and absorb water and keep plants moist longer. About 1 T is all it

takes for one cool tie.

The "cool ties" people mention can have several variations. I made a shorter tube out of muslin, then folded a bandana in half diagonally (like a sandwich is sliced). I sewed a single straight seam about an inch from the diagonal edge to hold the sealed muslin tube in

place with the "chill crystals" and it can be swapped into other bandanas to match what your favorite teenager, DH, etc. is wearing. I allow a little extra "grow" space and put the tube in the freezer instead of the refrigerator.

About the cool ties, after you make them, soak them in a bowl of water until they are all "plumped up" after that they will stay hydrated for a long time. After use I always tell people to stick them in a Zip lock bag and put them in the refrigerator. They should last for a long time, and if they get grimmy from wearing, I would hand wash them in a little shampoo and squezze out the extra soap and water from them and they should be ready to use again.

You soak them, allow them to swell and personally I then put mine in the refridg. to use that afternoon or next day. you may reuse them but sooner or later they will sour or otherwise become unusable. But hey, they don't take that much $ to replace.

Try this site....it should come in http://www.husqvarnaviking.com/amsew/keepcool.html

or http://www.cool-clothes.com/

It seems that there are lots of questions on cool ties lately. Here are some instructions for those interested. These instructions are for two sizes of ties...one is a closer fit to the neck (or for smaller necks or children); the second size is for larger people or if you want it to hang longer onto your chest for more cooling. Personally, I like the larger one because it cools a larger area! They are constructed the same, but the size you cut the fabric is different, as is the amount of "Soil Moist" you put in them.....OK, here goes:

For the smaller tie:

Cut a piece of firmly-woven cotton fabric in a strip 36" long and 3" wide. Use 1 tablespoon of Soil Moist.

For the larger tie: Cut a piece of firmly-woven cotton fabric in a strip 45" wide (or the width

of your fabric, may be 44") and 3-1/2" wide. Use 1-1/2 tablespoons Soil Moist.

Instructions:

After cutting your chosen size of strip, fold it right sides together lengthwise---you have a long "snake" now. Sew across one short end, and all the way down the long strip, using 1/4" seam allowance. BE SURE YOU HAVE A TIGHT STITCH! (if you want to use 1/2" seam allowances for added security, add 1/2" to the width you cut your strip) You can also serge it, but be

sure that you have a tight stitch.. I made the mistake of serging one where my stitch was a little bit loose, and the Soil Moist oozed out the stitching! You don't want that! Do NOT use more Soil Moist because you think it doesn't look like very much. For an experiment to see what it does, take 3-4 crystals and put them in a custard cup with water and watch what happens. You will see why you only need a tiny bit in the tie to do the trick. This stuff really swells a lot.

Turn the tube right side out. From the closed end, mark 9" up the tube and stitch across here. This is one end of the tie (which will not contain Soil Moist). Use a little funnel, or a piece of paper made into a funnel to put the amount of Soil Moist mentioned above for whichever size you are making into the tube.

Measure 9" up from the open end of the tube and mark; stitch across this. Turn under 1/4" of the open end and stitch that closed. Your tie is now finished.

To use the Cool Collar: place it in a pan of cold water for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Be sure to check it and don't leave it too long! I put one in water one night and forgot it until the next morning. It had swelled so much that it popped the seams and I had this ooze stuff coming out of the tie! Not a pretty sight...

After it has soaked and swelled, take it out of the water and blot off the excess water. Tie it around your neck or head and keep cool. As you wear it, depending on the heat you are in, it will begin to dehydrate and shrink, but it takes a long time. To get it going again, simply soak it again. You can also keep them in the refrigerator to keep them cool. Do not store them

damp in a closed plastic bag because they will mold. I just put mine on something that won't be damaged by moisture. If you have them in the refrigerator, a plastic bag would be ok if it is left open. They keep cool for an amazingly long time. As you wear it, you may need to "smoosh" (isn't that a good word?) the tie to re-distribute the crystals.

A while back I bought some Soil Moist to make a few cool ties, but you get this huge tub of the stuff and I've only used af few table spoons so far. I'm alwlays on the lookout for other things to use the crystals for. So a couple of weeks ago I came up with the idea of making little "moisture packets" with it (like you often find packed in with electronic equipment). I made about twenty 1" square packets. I keep a few in with my serger and a few with my sewing machine. Also one in the box where I keep my scissors and rotary cutters. The rest I gave to my DH to put in his tool boxes. The packets absorb moisture from the air and help prevent rust. When the packets become "plump" with moisture. I nuke them for 40 seconds then let them sit out for 10 minutes, and they're dry again.

To make:

Put two pieces of muslin wrongs sides together and sew a series of lines about half an inch apart. Move over an inch and sew another pair, forming several channels with a space between them. Now sew across to close off the bottoms of the channels to form long, narrow "pockets". Like this:

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Using a long-tipped funnel (or a straw) insert it into the top of a channel and drop a scant pinch of crystals in. Shake the crystals down to the bottom. Now sew a pair of lines about 1/2" apart about and inch away from the bottom line, forming the packets. Fill and sew again untill you've used up the height of the channels. Like this:

--|-------| |--------| |--------| |--------|

--|-------| |--------| |--------| |--------|

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--|-------| |--------| |--------| |--------|

--|-------| |--------| |--------| |--------|

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--|-------| |--------| |--------| |--------|

Using scissors or a rotary cutter, cut between the double lines. In the picture above you would have 8 packets.

Use cotton or some other natural fabric as synthetics don't do well in the microwave. I think something with a loosish weave is nice so the crystals can do their work. A muslin-type weave seems to work well.

I just made some of the "cool ties" and wanted to share my techniques. I cut the fabric about 34"x4", sewed one short & one long end, turned the tube, pressed,

folded in & pressed the other short end. Here's what I did so that the crystals would be evenly distributed after soaking. Measured down from the sewn short end 9" and sewed across. Put in about 1 1/2 tsp. of crystals & sew about 4" further down. Repeat 3 more times. Now you have 4 "channels" with equal amounts of crystals. Stitch the open short end & you're done!

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Well, my typing measurements aren't exactly to scale, but you get the idea. Going to test drive them down at WDW on vacation. Hope they work!

BTW, any of you teachers out there- I use these crystals in my science classes in a sandwich bag to let the kids observe seeds germinating. Just an idea for your leftovers.

So...those of you who are interestedin marketing cool ties, here's an idea. Make up a bunch of cool ties. Soak & Chill them. Place them in a zip loc bag in a cooler and on a hot day head for the golf course, the park, a local festival etc, and set up a Cool-Aid Stand.

-MOST IMPORTANT hint - on one of the ties I accidently stitched in an area where there were some crystals, that my needle would hit, didn't hurt the needle, (I'm sure dulled it a little) but that is the only tie that is now leaking crystals!!!

Hi, I had one go moldy on me too, this was one that I left in a ziplock bag in

the fridge after summer was over. The other ones I had I let them "Dry out"

and I have had no mold grow on them at all. After they are all dried and the

crystals shrink down, just stick them in water again and they will be ready to

use another time. I don't know about any special fabric to stop them from