Would wearing white clothing on the outside and black on the inside be cooler than wearing black?

Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports
1

I just finished reading: “Does black clothing keep you cooler?”.

In summary: It is well known that white objects absorb less heat than other objects due to its increased reflection. However, for humans, it also reflects back their own body heat. Loose fitting black clothing will, on the other hand, absorb more heat both from your body and from the sun. If there is enough wind, then it can dissipate enough heat so that the cooling effect from absorbing heat from your body outweighs the extra heat it absorbs from the sun.

So, can’t we wear black clothing on the inside and white on the outside and get the best of both worlds?

2

If white clothing reflects body heat, wouldn’t the outer white clothing prevent the inner black clothing from dissipating the heat it has absorbed from the skin?

3

That was my first thought. Also, any cooling benefits from the proposed idea would probably be overwhelmed by the insulation provided by two layers of clothing.

4

@Axe: We could make the layers thinner to compensate for having two. The purpose of the black layer is to absorb heat, so it probably needs a decent thickness, but the white layer just has to reflect it, so it probably doesn’t need to be thick at all.

@Fear: Good point. I should consider the effect of adding a white layer to the outside. The white layer would reflect some heat back to the black layer, but it would also be preventing some outside heat from arriving at the black layer by reflecting it. Adding a white layer is better so long as the outside heat dissipated is greater than the heat reflected back. In a hot desert sun, I’d think that the outside heat reflected would prove to be much more than the heat that this layer reflects back.