We suggest 100% cotton.

Please use tan, brown, desert-camouflage, or other neutral-colored prints that will blend well with our troops’ uniforms. These will be worn by our troops while in uniform and they can not stand out in any way.

Granules can be purchased on the web from multiple sources, or from your local home improvement store. Search the web for “Water Storing Crystals”, “Soil-Moist Granules”, “Watersorb”, or “Polymer Water Absorbing Granules.”

Yes! We offer community service hours for most of our handmade with love programs. You will receive one hours of service for every two Cool Ties you make and send to us.

For additional information please visit our community service page.

Because each premade “cooling towel” is manufactured differently, comes in a multitude of different sizes, and can potentially contain unknown chemicals used to keep the towel cool, we do not accept them.

Yes, in fact, we encourage you to include a note with every cool tie you make! Please fold your note inside of your cool tie, but do not attach it. Please do not use any type of pins, including safety pins to attach your notes to your Cool Ties!

The note can be as simple as “Handmade with Love” or a short letter about yourself and why you made your item. Include your first name and email address or “snail mail” address—so the recipient can send you a “thank you” if they have time. Please understand that we can not guarantee that you will ever receive a reply, but we do hope that you’ll give the recipient a chance to say thank you.

Please use regular paper and do not use a card or card stock for your notes. Cards do not fold very well into a cool tie and will usually end up damaged. If you are uncomfortable using your personal address, feel free to use ours (info@operationgratitude.com) but please also include your full name so if we receive a note about your item, we can be sure to forward them to you.

You will need to preshrink your fabric before making your Cool Ties. Many people are allergic to different types of laundry soap and we suggest that you use a fragrance-free hypoallergenic laundry soap to wash your fabric. DO NOT wash your Cool Ties after they have been completed or the polymer granules will absorb the soap and water making the granules unusable.

Absolutely! You can drop off your items Monday–Friday from 9 am to 3:30 pm. Please be sure to fill out our Product Donation Form and include a copy in every box/bag/envelope you drop off! 

If you are making a large donation, it is best to coordinate the drop-off with our staff.

Please begin by filling out our Product Donation Form and include a copy in every box you send! We want to know who the donation is from so we can send you a thank you letter!

Our address is:
Operation Gratitude
9409 Owensmouth
Chatsworth CA 91311

Operation Gratitude is now partnering with Give Back Box to offer discounted shipping to our donors! All boxes up to 50 pounds qualify for $20 shipping throughout the U.S. The steps are simple. Visit Give Back Box to add your label to your cart. Pay for the postage, print your label, put it on your box, and drop it off! It’s that easy!

One suggestion to save you both space in your box and on the cost of shipping is vacuum sealing your items in your shipping box. To do this, place a trash bag (you do not need to purchase special vacuum bags) in your box, neatly put your Cool Ties in the box inside the bag. Vacuum the air out by tightly wrapping the bag around your vacuum hose and turning on your vacuum. Once the air is out, keep your vacuum running and spin the bag so that you can hold the air out as you tie off the bag with a piece of twine or yarn. Be sure to use extra tape on the box!!

Please do not put each item in its own bag. Each bag will hold air and take up space in your box and in our very full Care Packages. We will remove the bags when they arrive, which can be very time-consuming, and the bag is very likely to be discarded, which is a huge waste of plastic. We hate to waste anything so please don’t use them!

Yes, we will send you a thank you letter within eight weeks of receiving your donation. If you want earlier confirmation of delivery of your shipment(s), please use the tracking system provided by your shipper.