# "Freezy Freakies" (sic?) gloves **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 23, 2001, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freezy-freakies-sic-gloves/59101 "2001-03-23T04:25:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![YTMezoan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/eada6e/32.png) [@YTMezoan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YTMezoan)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2001, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freezy-freakies-sic-gloves/59101/1 "2001-03-23T04:25:00Z")
When I was a young child (time frame here is the late 80s), I recall owning a pair of gloves called “Freezy Freakies”. Portions of these gloves, when exposed to temperatures below a certain point, would change color, creating a picture of something. A) Are these gloves still around? B) What is the chemical reason behind this color change? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![pezwookiee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9d8465/32.png) [@pezwookiee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pezwookiee)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2001, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freezy-freakies-sic-gloves/59101/2 "2001-03-23T07:48:51Z")
Between my sisters and myself, we had a pair of Frezzy Freakies with “I Love Snow” written on them, one with lizard-like scales, one with penguins I believe… Oh I can’t remember any others right now. Don’t know how they work, but thanks for bringing back this great memory! My WAG is that they work in a similar way to the coffee mugs that change color with heat. Or the Hypercolor T-shirts. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2001, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freezy-freakies-sic-gloves/59101/3 "2001-03-23T07:55:52Z")
Yep, I had a pair of freezy freakies too! They were pretty cool, but I dunno how they work. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2001, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freezy-freakies-sic-gloves/59101/4 "2001-03-23T14:56:58Z")
Good God, I actually remember the damn commercial for those things. How scary is that? I don’t know exactly how they work, either, but I strongly suspect it’s along the same lines as a Ken doll that belongs to the Tzeroling’s friend. The legs turn a dark purple in warm water (to simulate a skin-diving suit) and fade in cold water back to a normal plastic flesh tone. **WAG** A chemical that forms bonds when given sufficient heat energy and thus changes its light-reflecting properties? ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2001, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freezy-freakies-sic-gloves/59101/5 "2001-03-23T16:13:14Z")
No, what’s scary is that I’m having an adult conversation with people whose childhood memories are from the 80’s. Simple arithmetic says it’s possible, but still … Anyway, there are, of course, a lot of products that change color with temperature: mood rings, those mugs that get a picture on them when you pour something hot in them, etc. Materials that change color with temperature are called “thermochromic”. There are two basic technologies - liquid crystals and leuco dyes. “How stuff works” has some good background on this, but doesn’t actually say how they chemically work: > **[HowStuffWorks - Learn How Everything Works!](https://www.howstuffworks.com?parent=question423.htm&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.colorchange.com%2Ftech-ld.htm)** > > HowStuffWorks explains thousands of topics, ranging from the flu to black holes to conspiracy theories, with video and illustrations so you can learn how everything works. > **[HowStuffWorks - Learn How Everything Works!](https://www.howstuffworks.com?parent=question423.htm&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.colorchange.com%2Ftech-ld.htm)** > > HowStuffWorks explains thousands of topics, ranging from the flu to black holes to conspiracy theories, with video and illustrations so you can learn how everything works. I didn’t know builtin battery testers were thermally activated - makes sense, though. Leucodyes actually apparently go colorless when they heat up - the various color effects in commercial products are probably achieved with suspensions of other pigments which come into play when the leucodyes go transparent. This link has a demonstration that a builtin battery tester is actually a thermochromic device, and mentions a specific thermochromic substance, copper mercury iodide: [http://bradley.edu/~campbell/demopix2.html](http://bradley.edu/~campbell/demopix2.html) ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2001, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freezy-freakies-sic-gloves/59101/6 "2001-03-23T16:25:25Z")
Damn. [HERE](http://www.howstuffworks.com/framed.htm?parent=question423.htm&url=http://www.colorchange.com/tech-ld.htm) AND [HERE](http://www.howstuffworks.com/question423.htm)(follow the link “Color changing inks” at the bottom).