FAQs - Kool Fingers

Where do I buy fidget ice packs?

Go to our Kool Fingers Amazon store to get your fidget ice packs.

They are available in 3 variations at this moment: Blue Gel 2-pack, Green Gel 2-pack, and Blue/Green 2-pack. See this page for more info.

The ice pack I received leaks from the cap

Ice Gourds are shipped in a sealed vacuum bag. In rare cases, you may see a tiny amount of gel sucked out from the cap by the vacuum. In such case, simply rinse the gel off, and tighten the cap. There is no need to add more water.

If there is more than a few drops of gel outside the bottle, check for other causes. If the bottle leaks from the body, or is broken, please contact us for replacement – see Support. If the bottle body is not cracked, consult the Refilling section. The thickener used in a gel is a mere sprinkle, and most of lost gel is just water. You can simply add a bit of water up to the fill-line. But do not overfill. Check out these sections: Cooling Gel, Blue Gel, Green Gel, and Refilling.

The ice pack bulges when frozen

All ice packs bulge when frozen. Water expands when it turns into ice. Usually the entire pack expands evenly, such that there are no visible bulges. However, if you freeze Ice Gourd standing upright, it may bulge slightly in the designated bulging area, on the side where shallow grooves are found. This is normal, especially with the Blue Gel. Consult the Bulges section for details.

Bulges can be minimized or eliminated altogether, if you freeze the ice pack with the deep grooves facing up. Consult the Refilling section for details. If you top off a bottle past the fill-line, and freeze it, the ice core will bulge excessively past what the bottle is designed to accommodate. Do not overfill.

What’s the best way to freeze Ice Gourd?

Put your fidget ice packs in the freezer with deep grooves facing up. This produces the best ice core. See pictures in the Refilling section for details.

How is blue gel different from green gel?

Blue Gel is best for treating sore fingertips to forestall blister formation. It has a solid ice core that thumps, when you shake a fidget ice pack to chill finger grooves.

Green Gel is best for providing an initial cold shock for fast but shorter cooling actions. The frozen gel cannot be shaken at first. But when it eventually melts, it turns into a slush, with no satisfactory thumps when shaken.

Technically, Blue Gel has chunky bits in free-flowing liquid. These chunks create an ice core which leaves air gaps between it and the bottle shell. This keeps a stable temperature on finger grooves while the ice pack is in use. On the other hand, Green Gel is a uniformly viscous liquid. It produces an ice core that hugs the shell with no air gaps, thus the initial cold shock, and a less stable groove temperature. Green Gel is less susceptible to bulging, however.

For the nerds, Blue Gel is water plus a sprinkle of nontoxic superabsorbent polymer (SAP). We use plain sodium polyacrylate. Green Gel is water plus food thickener methyl cellulose dissolved in food-grade glycerin. For details check out Cooling Gel, Blue Gel, and Green Gel.

What’s in the pink gel?

Pink gel is a mixture of blue and green ingredients. It is a 3:1 mixture of SAP-based Blue Gel, and MC-based Green Gel, providing advantages from both Blue Gel and Green Gel. The result is a solid ice core like Blue Gel with satisfactory thumps when shaken, but without air gaps thus affording an initial cold shock like Green Gel. It is slightly less susceptible to bulging compared to Blue Gel. And lasts almost as long as Blue Gel.

What is a fidget ice pack?

The Ice Gourd model exemplifies fidget ice packs. It is a hand-sized ice pack that can be easily gripped and fidgeted by a human hand. It is a small bottle with finger indentations, or grooves. These grooves are designed to treat finger skins with soothing cold, to ease discomfort caused by repeated pressure or friction from playing instruments or working in a shop.

A quick cold treatment to fingertips can ease finger pain, and prevent formation of blisters. Head to Introducing Fidget Ice Packs for further details. Or check out this summary brochure. Fidget ice pack is a patent pending concept from Kool Fingers as of November 2022. We invented it.

How do fidget ice packs ease finger pain?

Many crafts abuses your fingers and especially fingertips. They impose friction, compression or heat on your sensitive skin. Prolonged practice of string instruments, for instance, will cause pain on fingertips which eventually result in blisters.

When you feel painful swelling and inflammation on your fingers, simply grab a fidget ice pack to bring instant and soothing cold. It will ease the pain immediately. Grip the pack with fingers that require comforting.

How do fidget ice packs prevent finger blisters?

Blisters are a result of plasma fluid pooling under the skin, when the body decides that it has sustained enough injuries from friction, compression or heat. Many crafts thus abuses your fingers and especially fingertips, leaving you, the craftsperson, to deal with the consequences.

And it turns out that holding a fidget ice pack can bring immediate relief to the pain, and preempt blister formation altogether. When you feel painful swelling and inflammation on your fingers, simply grab a fidget ice pack. Grip the pack with fingers that require comforting. Fidget it to apply dynamic cold therapy – a brief cold shock followed by a warm-up break, and repeat. You will build hardened skin instead of blisters.

How do fidget ice packs reduce finger blisters?

Even if you apply a fidget ice pack too late, after you notice plasma starting to pool under finger skin, a dynamic cold therapy will still help. It will not make the blister go away completely. But it can reduce the size of a blister, and speed up absorption of plasma fluid by your body afterwards.

How do I fidget an ice pack?

Grip an Ice Gourd to bring soothing chill to sore fingers. Fidget it to move melting gel to where cooling is needed. Shake the bottle like a cocktail shaker to rechill melted gel. But you should avoid holding an ice pack still for more than 10 seconds. Instead, shift the bottle in your hand to avoid frostbites. Watch this demonstration video. After use, simply wipe the pack down, and refreeze with the deep grooves facing up, for your next soothing cooling session.

A fidget ice pack is not a toy, and should not be used by children. Do not hold frozen ice packs with an unchanging grip for prolonged periods. Move fingers intermittently. You must continuously fidget an ice pack to avoid frostbites. Hold a pack by raised ridges when not seeking cooling effects. Put a fidget ice pack down when desired cooling is attained.

How big is a fidget ice pack?

The Ice Gourd model measures 4.5″ x 1.4″ x 1.2″, and weighs 2.82oz. The cooling gel is only filled up to a prescribed fill-line. Consult this section on the physical bottle for details.

Is the ice pack and its gel safe?

The bottle shell of an Ice Gourd is made of 100% BPA-free, food-grade HDPE. Blue Gel is water plus a sprinkle of nontoxic superabsorbent polymer (SAP). We use plain sodium polyacrylate. Green Gel is water plus food thickener methyl cellulose dissolved in food-grade glycerin. In case of a leak or a spill, simply wipe gel off. If you need to refill, consult the Refilling section for details.

How do I refill a fidget ice pack?

Ice Gourd is shipped pre-filled to the right level. You should not need to top off a fidget ice pack under normal usage. If there is a minor leak, you can simply wipe off the leak without worrying about refill. See this FAQ on minor leaks.

There are times when you need to refill a fidget ice pack. Perhaps a cap came loose during use, and you lost some gel. Perhaps you want to experiment with your own cooling solutions. Consult the Refilling section for details. As noted in the refilling section, you must not fill a bottle past the fill-line.

What is the ball in a deep groove for?

Four finger grooves with deep indentations line one side of an Ice Gourd. We call these bell jar grooves. There is a marble ball embedded at the bottom of each groove. Bell jar grooves provide curves and edges so that fingers can firmly grip the bottle. Balls in bell jar grooves further enhance tactile grips. Consult this section on the physical bottle for details.

What are those wavy ridges for?

Four finger grooves with shallow indentations line one side of an Ice Gourd. We call these spade grooves. These grooves provide curves and edges so that fingers can firmly grip the bottle. Raised wavy ridges in between spade grooves further enhance tactile grips. These wavy ridges also provide semi-insulated patches for fingers to hold a fidget ice pack, when a user is not seeking cooling effects. Consult this section on the physical bottle for details.

Spade grooves and wavy ridges also serve a tertiary purpose. They provide a safe space to accommodate natural bulging behavior of ice. We recommend that Ice Gourd be frozen with deep (bell jar) grooves facing up, for even ice expansion. But the bottle can be frozen in any orientation safely. In case the bottle is frozen upright, the face where wavy ridges are located can safely bulge outward as a last resort, to accommodate occasional bulges. Some people may even prefer raised spade grooves for finger treatments.

Condensation on bottle surface

As you fidget a frozen Ice Gourd in room temperature, water will condense on its bottle surface. Simply wipe condensation off as necessary. Also wipe condensation off before replacing the bottle back in the freezer.

In practice, condensation on fidget ice packs does not happen at room temperature, when relative humidity is below 35%. There is noticeable condensation at 50% and above.

Warranty

Ice Gourd is warranted to be free of defects in material and workmanship for 6 months from date of original purchase. Warranty does not cover bulging which is a normal behavior. Warranty is voided if a pack is refilled with liquid not endorsed by the manufacturer, or overfilled beyond intended 66ml target volume.

Legal disclaimer

Are fidget ice packs patented?

As of October 2022, fidget ice packs are a patent-pending invention in the US. More patent applications will be filed elsewhere shortly as well. See Patents Page.

Is Kool Fingers a registered trademark?

Kool Fingers® is a registered trademark. The mark was submitted to USPTO, the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, with the “standard character” drawing, meaning that it is claimed without limits to a specific font, style, size, or color. The application has been approved and registered by USPTO.

Where did you get those cartoon drawings?

Some of our illustrations use cute cartoon drawings authored by and found on https://all-free-download.com/. We think they are awesome. Per instructions on the site, we link back to them to give them their well-deserved credit.

Some of our illustrations include free pictures from https://pixabay.com/. They are awesome, and are doing a great service to the world. Consider contributing to the Pixabay platform.

Some of our illustrations modified forms of free vector images from https://www.vecteezy.com/. They are great.

Where can I ask further questions?

Discuss fidget ice packs and Ice Gourd at the Kool Fingers subreddit.