Review: Rywell Cooling Mats for Pets

I've done several reviews on Arc-Chill products and I love them. 

Luxear Cooling Blanket

Elegear Cooling T-shirts (no longer available)

Marchpower Cooling Comforter (currently unavailable)

They are amazing in that the Arc-Chill fabric has a lovely cooling effect that makes it perfect for hot weather! It's in the technology. By incorporating microscopic (nano) particles of jade into polyester thread, the result is passive thermal wicking. I can't tell you how much of a lifesaver our cooling blanket and comforter have been on our hot summer nights. And I love my cooling t-shirt. No, it's not like air conditioning, but these products make a real difference in heat wave comfort level. 

Anyway, when I was contacted about reviewing Rywell's cooling mats for pets, I said yes!

Now, I'm going to be honest here and tell you up front that after the mats arrived, my cats decided they were going to be Cats and not cooperate. Posing on a pretty comfy pet mat wasn't their idea! No amount of coaxing or tempting treats would make them agree to even give it a try. 

"Katy! Look at the pretty kitty mat! Don't you want to give it a try?"

"You can't make me, Mom."

Well, I thought, this is embarrassing. How can I write a review with uncooperative cats? 

My own impressions were that it's silky soft and cool to touch. It has a skid-proof backing and is machine washable. And it changes colors with the temp! It comes in different sizes (the one you see in the pics is size small) all the way up to XX-large. I'm thinking that one of these would be a lovely way to cool my own feet on a hot day, and the double extra large would make a great nap mat for human kids! There are lots of uses for outdoor, camping, and off-grid activities.

Finally, Sam (my King of Comfort Cat) agreed to test it out.

Sam giving it the touch and sniff test

Sam, making up his mind.

I held my breath. Would he stay, or run away?

Sam has officially claimed it.

Sam says "Mine"

Here's the link!

Rywell Super-Absorbent Arc-Chill Cooling Mat for Pets

You'll find coupons, size options, and lots of good information. 

Review: Rywell Cooling Mats for Pets © June 2026

by Leigh at https://www.5acresandadream.com

Product Review: Marchpower Cooling Comforter

It's May and summer temps are here. Even though it still gets comfortably cool at night, it's only a matter of time before that heats up too. And this is why I am pleased to share another product with you, one that I was happy to review and can wholeheartedly recommend, the Marchpower Gradient Cooling Comforter.

Queen size Marchpower Cooling Comforter

Is it really cooling? Yes! Through advanced textile technology (called "Arc-Chill"), jade nanoparticles are woven into the fabric. Somehow, this makes something amazing happen; heat and moisture are wicked away to produce a wonderful cooling effect. 

So, how is the comforter different from the cooling blanket and t-shirts I reviewed two years ago? The comforter is triple layer. The top and bottom are made of the same Arc-Chill cooling fabric. The inner filling layer consists of a 3-D hollow structure fiber. They're cushioned with air, which makes for a delightfully lightweight, fluffy comforter.

First Impressions

• The comforter is lightweight and deliciously soft and silky. 
• A nice sleeping weight.
• Mine is a pretty gradient blue, but it comes in gray too.
• Queen size covers both of us nicely.

Laundering

• Machine wash; cool water, gentle cycle. Laundry bag recommended.
• Line dry. I know some people think this is a deal breaker if they don't have a clothesline, but I often dry blankets and comforters by spreading them over the back of the sofa and turning once. 

Cooling Tips

• During the night, the comforter may seem to loose its effect. Simply change positions or give it a shake.
• Using a ceiling or room fan on low will crank up the cooling effect.

Who would benefit from a cooling comforter?

• Anyone who wants to lower their electric bill.
• Anyone who wants to lower their carbon footprint by not running their air conditioner so much. 
• Off grid situations like camping and backpacking.
• Backup cooling in case the electricity goes out.
• As part of an emergency kit for a summer road trip. Keep cool if the car breaks down on a hot day in the sun!

Okay, I know I sound like some sort of scripted advertiser. But honestly, I'm just so happy to have cooling products in our life. We strive to be as low energy as possible, and in my part of the country (the hot, sultry southeastern US) products like this truly help us achieve our goal in comfort. 

You can see more photos and information at the Amazon link:  

Marchpower Gradient Cooling Comforter

Product Review: Marchpower Cooling Comforter  

© May 2024 by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Product Review: Luxear Cooling Blanket

I get quite a few requests to do product reviews, but I rarely do them. I think consumer reviews are a great tool, but usually the products have nothing to do with my lifestyle. However, when I was contacted about reviewing a Luxear Cooling Blanket, of course I said yes! Living without air conditioning means we are always looking for ways to stay cool in summer.

When the daytime highs get like this, it's
very difficult to cool off the house at night.

The blanket uses fiber technology developed by the Japanese. Called "Arc-Chill," it incorporates microscopic (nano) particles of jade into polyester thread to create passive thermal wicking. You can read the research paper about this technology here, the gist of it being that the amount of jade and thread twist create a range of cooling effects. According to the box, the Luxear blanket has a cooling effect (known as Q-max in the textile industry) that lowers body temperature by 3.6 - 9°F (2 - 5°C).

First impressions. The blanket is double layered with an arc-chill polyester top and arc-chill nylon bottom. It isn't at all bulky, but has just enough weight to it to feel comfortable. It's soft, smooth, silky, and cool to touch. I was very curious to try it.

Test result: IT WORKS! You can feel the cooling instantly, and unlike bamboo, this one continues its cooling magic all night long. To increase the cooling effect, a room fan can be used too.

It's easy care, just gentle wash and line dry. It comes in a choice of sizes and is affordably priced too. In fact, I was given a discount code to share with you all, to get an additional 10% off the sales price at Amazon. The page offers bamboo blankets as well, so be sure to choose the Ocean Blue pattern for the Arc-Chill fabric.

Link to purchase: Luxear Cooling Blanket

This blanket would be perfect for anyone who gets uncomfortably hot at night. Or for those of us trying to eliminate or cut back on our use of air conditioning. Anyone suffering from night sweats or hot flashes would appreciate one of these! Passive cooling makes it great for the off-gridder, for camping, or for stuffy nights when the power is out. They would make great gifts.

Can you tell I'm enthusiastic about this product? I'm genuinely pleased with ours and recommend it highly.

Product Review: Luxear Cooling Blanket © June 2022

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Pantry Cooling Project: What's Next?

Our objective with the pantry project is to improve food storage conditions. About a year ago, we started giving this a good think because after we quit air conditioning, the pantry became the warmest room in the house. Doing something about that has meant a feasibility study, analysis, researching alternatives, and formulating a plan:

1. ✔ Moving the freezer and auxiliary fridge out of the pantry.
2. ✔ Replacing the old upright auxiliary fridge with a chest fridge.
3. ✔ Putting the freezer and chest fridge on solar energy. 
4. ✔ Replacing old pantry windows with energy-efficient windows.
5. ✔ Add insulation to the pantry walls.
6. ➡ Cooling the air in the pantry without air conditioning.

Steps #1-5 of our plan checklist are completed (they're linked to take you to their respective blog posts). Already, they have made a difference! The pantry is no longer the warmest room in the house, but even stays a couple of degrees cooler than the kitchen, with the bonus that it isn't as humid!

Now, we're contemplating #6. As a baseline, I've been keeping track of temperature highs and lows in three places: our shaded outside back porch, the kitchen, and the pantry.

Baseline of daily highs and lows. O = outside, K = kitchen, P = pantry
Morning low on the left, afternoon high on the right. All in Fahrenheit.

The pattern is that the outdoor high is about 8 degrees or so higher than the kitchen, and the kitchen  is about 2 degrees higher than the pantry. So there is typically a ten degree difference between outdoors and the pantry. The question is, can we do better? Can we bring the pantry air temp down a little more? I listed quite a few ideas in this post, with some being more realistic for us than others. Dan has been researching and collecting more ideas, and he's ready to experiment with some of them. If something works, I'll let you know!

Pantry Cooling Project: What's Next? © August 2020

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com