How does evaporation make a dog cool coat work?

July 21, 2021|Dog cool coats

Dog cool coats that use evaporative cooling can be extremely effective at keeping your dog cool and safe.

Dog cool coats are intended to keep your dog cool and safe from overheating and heatstroke.  There are several varieties, many of which use evaporative cooling to keep your dog comfortable.  But why does it work?

What is evaporation?

Evaporation is the process of liquid water becoming a gas.  Basically, evaporation is what dries your wet clothes or causes puddles to disappear.  A dog cool coat that uses evaporative cooling starts working when the wet coat starts to dry. But how does this help your dog cool off?

Evaporation is a natural process that works! Soak the dog cool coat and let it dry. That's all you have to do because evaporation does the rest.

How does evaporation work?

Evaporation is a naturally occurring process, which means you don't have to do anything to make it happen.  Without going into the scientific terms too much, as energy (usually heat) is added to the water's surface, the molecules get more energetic and escape into the air, taking their energy with them. The molecules left behind have a lower average level of energy, so the temperature is cooler. Here's a post with more specific information. 

People perspire when they're too warm. As the perspiration evaporates, we feel cooler. Dogs can't perspire, however.  If you think about it, using evaporative cooling is a little like helping your dog sweat. They get to benefit from the cooling caused by evaporation even though their bodies don't produce sweat except for the pads of their paws.

What situations affect the speed of evaporation?

Evaporation happens the fastest in hot, dry conditions.  That's why you'll see a puddle dry so quickly in the desert sun. And if it's windy, molecules get carried away even more quickly, so evaporation happens even faster.  

On the other hand, humidity can slow it down because the air has less ability to take on additional water molecules.  Cooler temperatures slow it down because it takes longer for molecules to reach the point of being able to escape into the atmosphere. Another thing that slows evaporation is being in a situation with little circulation, like a plastic container with a lid.  

You can tell that your dog cool coat is working by feeling the temperature change with your hand and watching to see that your dog is feeling better.

How do you know if evaporation is actually cooling your dog?

Fortunately, you don't have to be a scientist to see the effects of evaporation. It's as simple as using your hand and observing your dog.  If you hold your hand just over a wet cool coat, you should feel a slight drop in temperature.  The dog wearing the cool coat feels that too.  As you observe your dog, you'll see that they don't pant as much and appear more relaxed. It isn't difficult to see that evaporation is working.

I make dog cool coats, so if you're looking for a way to help your dog stay cool and prevent heat stroke, take a look at my website and find out what I offer. While you're there, don't forget to sign up for the Insider Group (banner at the top of page or pop-up).  You'll get a coupon code for 20% off all orders.