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Uniqlo sells HEATTECH heat-generating clothing.

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Is this just a marketing gimmick or does this fabric generate heat as advertise?

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Sodium and water can generate heat, but what happens to this when you wash it? Does it get used up? Aerogel has the highest thermal insulation, but it's a solid, not fabric. Ceramic can reflect thermal radiation, but this has no ceramic. – Chloe Jan 12 at 21:07
"HEATTECH generated more warms [...] than 100% cotton" Who the heck wears cotton when they're worried about being warm? This claim doesn't tell you anything except that they weren't able to make a favorable comparison to a good cold weather fiber like wool. – dmckee Jan 13 at 0:51
@dmckee - if you ever tried to wear wool clothing with no cotton undergarment underneath to protect you from itchiness/biting of wool, you would be less cavalier about dismissing the need for a "warmer cotton". The whole marketing point (disclosure: the only thing I know of HEATTECH is what I see on their ads on NYC subways) seems to be its lightness/thinness as a single garment, as opposed to cotton layer+wool layer. – DVK Jan 13 at 16:25
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I'm skeptical about the use of a thermograph - I think "hot" colours would indicate that it's acting as a poor insulator of body heat! – Andrew Grimm Jan 14 at 8:43
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@AndrewGrimm look carefully the guy being thermographed is holding a jacket (presumably the jacket being tested) open (the light blotches on the sides are residual heat from the body) – ratchet freak Jan 14 at 22:02
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