Keep Cool

[SweetErika]

It's unseasonably hot here, and I'm pretty miserable. We have A/C in the bedroom and fans, and I spend most of my time downstairs where it's cooler, but I still feel like I'm stewing in my own juices.

Other than A/C, fans, little-no clothing, cool cloths, and the like, do you have any tricks for staying cool when the mercury climbs?

 

[sunandshadow]

Mint. Mint iced tea or ice cream especially.

If you have long hair, tie it up on top of your head or in a high ponytail, but get it up off the back of your neck. Long hair or short hair, you can also get it wet to help your body lose heat.

 

[emap]

Wet cloth on your windows. Only works well if it is breezy and dry, but it helps tons.

You can also do it with a fan pulling air through so you can do it on a doorway. You will of course have to rewet said cloth fairly often, especially if it is in daylight. It was done here in Arizona at night so you could sleep before air conditioning was an option for most.

Also a very popular thing here is a mist system, they set up outdoor dining areas and porches, put up the system then relax or eat under a soft mist of water. Generally not cool water but cool enough for it's use.

The mist system actually should work well enough no matter how humid because it's coming out cooler than the air.

 

[SweetErika]

Mint. Mint iced tea or ice cream especially.

Mmm...chocolate chip mint ice cream sounds so good right now! I wonder if I have the stuff to make some.

I wouldn't turn down a good mojito, either, but I know I don't have the stuff for that.

Wet cloth on your windows. Only works well if it is breezy and dry, but it helps tons.

You can also do it with a fan pulling air through so you can do it on a doorway. You will of course have to rewet said cloth fairly often, especially if it is in daylight. It was done here in Arizona at night so you could sleep before air conditioning was an option for most.

Also a very popular thing here is a mist system, they set up outdoor dining areas and porches, put up the system then relax or eat under a soft mist of water. Generally not cool water but cool enough for it's use.

The mist system actually should work well enough no matter how humid because it's coming out cooler than the air.

Those sound like good ideas. Maybe I'll try the towel on the box fan thing later tonight, when it cools down enough to open the windows upstairs. It's still 93 here, and about 88 upstairs, even though I shut all of the windows and blinds early this morning. It only got down to 80 in the house last night. Stupid global warming! I remember when it was rare for it to get above 85 all summer here, and now we've had many days of 95+ in the past 5 years. Our saving grace is we're only home for a few days every two weeks until mid-August; it's hotter where we spend most of our time, but then just about every place has A/C over there.

 

[Ardeche]

I go through freezer pops by the dozen during the summer heat. Helps me keep cool, .

 

[johnnieblue44]

I go through freezer pops by the dozen during the summer heat. Helps me keep cool, .

its also good oral practice..

just sayin..

(yeah, like the thought didn't cross every guy's mind..)

 

[Ardeche]

its also good oral practice..

just sayin..

(yeah, like the thought didn't cross every guy's mind..)

Actually they melt really quickly, so not all that good practice.

 

[burkina]

It's unseasonably hot here, and I'm pretty miserable. We have A/C in the bedroom and fans, and I spend most of my time downstairs where it's cooler, but I still feel like I'm stewing in my own juices.

Other than A/C, fans, little-no clothing, cool cloths, and the like, do you have any tricks for staying cool when the mercury climbs?

take some ice and some cold water, put it in a bowl and put your heels (or your whole feet if its tolerable) in the bowl. sounds odd but it cools all of you down, not just your feet, circulation and whatnot...

hope this helps! im in the same boat! we are neighbors!

 

[AgonySceneGirl]

i suggest putting your hair up, and putting an ice cold wet washcloth on the back of your neck. and repeat as it warms up. I have extremely long hair, its what i do when i get too hot. Also running your wrists under really cold water for a few seconds every 30 minutes or so helps.


Or - do what we all love and go swimming!
I'd join ya but your a quite a ways away and thats to much of a drive Would be fun hanging out with you tho.

 

[Noira]

Throw your clothes in the fridge.

I'm honestly not kidding.

I'm Canadian and it's already too hot for me and I do anything humanly possible to survive the heat. It mostly involves a ton of iced water, but when it gets worse, I've been known to spray teeshirts with water, throw them in the fridge, and put them on. Oh man, it's so nice... damp, cold clothing... my hair's also quite long, so I frequently get my hair wet and leave that down too... I have to keep my hair up in the WINTER or I get too hot. It's seriously a problem for me, I overheat in the weirdest weather...

Mint is an EXCELLENT idea. Mint iced tea. Make mint tea and ice it. Mmm, mint.

Now I want mint. Dangit, I have no mint tea.

Also, things containing ginger and things. Chai tea. It makes you hot and sweat more, but the sweating can help. The mint helps you feel cooler, but things like ginger make you sweat and that can help too.

I perpetually keep my hair up, and ice water with me if possible. And hide in my basement bedroom. We have no air conditioning. Everyone else suffers.

 

[fire_breeze]

I'm an odd one, and absolutely adore the heat, although I could probably do without the humidity. I definitely live in the wrong country .

I have long hair, and I often wet it, letting it air dry. And besides, I like the cool water trickling over my neck, collarbone and down my back .

What I've seen and seems to work are indoor fountains. They don't have to big, even small Japanese water features that cost 10 - 15 $ will do. You add cool water, plug it in, and sit next to it. At one place I've been at had several small ones on shelves in the living area with a fan. While it wasn't cold, it was pleasant (not to mention calming, with the sound of the water trickling) and very comfortable. The water feature cooled the air and the fan moved it around.

Also, as odd as it sounds, but occasionally drinking hot tea cools you down. When I was in Jordan (where temperatures reach 45 C regularly), they offered hot tea. You have to drink it in tiny sip (it took about an hour to drink a cup of tea), and it take a while to get use to it, but it cools the body down. Likewise, in Japan, India, and other "hot" countries, custom is to offer hot beverages as opposed to cold ones.

If all fails, then you can always do what half the world does on a hot afternoon - take a siesta and sleep the heat away .

Good luck.

 

[SweetErika]

Apparently, it's only supposed to get up to 83 here today. If that's true, that's manageable, and I can save all of your great suggestions for our next heatwave.

We had a big thunderstorm last night, and that must have cooled things down a good bit. I opened all of the windows as soon as it got dark, put fans in some of them, and the upstairs is actually tolerable this morning. Maybe I'll even get a chance to make the cookies I promised Hubby today!

 

[NHPictureguy]

Snowcones

 

[silverwhisper]

erika, i heard that you guys were having a gruesome heat wave out there. i'll second what burkina said re: soaking the feet in some cold water: it works like a charm!

another technique i've been known to use is to get a small spray bottle filled with cold water and spray periodically while sitting in front of a fan. that's good but not quite as satisfying. perhaps oddly, i find that spraying the soles of one's feet is pretty effective.

 

[SweetErika]

erika, i heard that you guys were having a gruesome heat wave out there.

Anything over 85 is "gruesome" to most Western Washingtonians. Likewise for anything below freezing. And snow.

But, yeah, close to 100 is a little much. I had sun poisoning as a kid, and haven't been able to handle long-term heat or a lot of sun ever since.

i'll second what burkina said re: soaking the feet in some cold water: it works like a charm!

another technique i've been known to use is to get a small spray bottle filled with cold water and spray periodically while sitting in front of a fan. that's good but not quite as satisfying. perhaps oddly, i find that spraying the soles of one's feet is pretty effective.

I'm totally going to try this cold foot thing. I have a slight self-foot fetish, so anything involving the feet must be pretty good.

I wonder if that's where "go cool your heels" came from.

 

[silverwhisper]

the mrs and i discovered the joys of foot-soaking on a visit to DC, actually.

she's a big planner and she mapped out this big agenda for us that involved a lot of walking. DC's not exactly a small town, and even though the metro is pretty darned good, there's still a lot of walking. i made the mistake of wearing not the most comfortable shoes, and it was both hot & humid.

[note: visiting DC during august is a bad idea]

we got back to our hotel room and even though the room's air conditioner was cranked to 11, it just wasn't doing it. i went to the bathroom to splash some cold water on my face when i noticed that the cold tile of the bathroom floor felt good. i flipped the faucet on until there was a good a few inches of water in the tub and put my feet in it.

i felt as if i'd discovered uranium! i called my wife over and she and i spent the next hour sitting on the edge of the tub, chatting about what we'd seen that day. :>

o, one other method i've heard of but to which i can't attest: if you watched mad about you, you may be familiar with this one.

evidently, putting one's undies in the freezer for a few minutes is a good method, too. a bit shocking at first, but quite nice after a while, i've been informed. :>

interesting question re: the etymology of that expression. now i'm really curious!

ed

 

[SweetErika]

o, one other method i've heard of but to which i can't attest: if you watched mad about you, you may be familiar with this one.

evidently, putting one's undies in the freezer for a few minutes is a good method, too. a bit shocking at first, but quite nice after a while, i've been informed. :>

Yep, I've done that with lingerie and even t-shirts before, when it was really hot and we didn't have any A/C. It works, but can be a little too much.

Your story made me think of something else. Last week, we were at dinner with some of Hubby's Chinese clients and his bosses. The Mexican restaurant was hot. The client closest to the window kept putting his hand flat on the glass throughout dinner. I thought it was really bizarre, so I tried it when we got in the car to see what he might have been getting out of it, and sure enough, it cooled me down a bit!

Now I'm not going to go around making hand prints on windows, but it might work in a pinch.

 

[silverwhisper]

OK, now that's pretty interesting. hm...i know that glass is a very effective conductor of heat, so that does make sense--although i'd be anxious about the resulting handprints too! :>

ed

 

[Mr.G]

I've spent quite a bit of time in the Phoenix area and have done yard work in 114ºF
It was 6% humidity though and you actually get goosebumps as the sweat evaporates off your skin. You can feel the heat but for me it is not uncomfortable.

Energy costs are another SIGNIFICANT factor these days.

A central Air Conditioner for a 2,000sq ft home is using 8,000 to 12,000 WATTS!!

A DEHUMIDIFIER and a FAN will drop same house down to about 40% humidity which is very pleasant (6% is desert extreme - after a while your skin starts feeling lizard-like) and you're using maybe 150 watts only if the unit is a modern energy saver.

The AC will keep you cool during the worst of the heat but then ya MELT when you get the fu¢king bill. This way it is pleasant - warm but you don't feel the yuckie hummuggy feeling of high humidity. It doesn't feel like you're breathing through somebody else's dirty underwear. And the electric bill is a pleasant surprise compared with neighbors who are running their AC like the sun just exploded.

TRY it.


To VERY effectively cool your entire bod down - sort of an emergency when you start feeling sick it's so hot and you can't sweat cause of the high humidity - run cold water over the inside of your forearms ... over those wrist arteries that work so well for folk who have chosen to move on. That cooled blood goes right back to your heart and within a minute of so you feel better. Do this every few minutes if needed. Ice packs between the thighs (femoral arteries) is what EMS folk do for some heat stroke. Really works.

 

[FamilyTherapist]

How to beat the heat, a minority view

Sweet Erica,

You've been so kind and helpful to me, so I'll let you in on a little secret. People might tell you this is crazy, but here it is. And I might be wrong.

Forcing your body to get cold can backfire.

The body has an efficient cooling system, but it's based on the principal of the thermostat, and it's powered by water. We did not evolve to experience extremes of hot and cold in the space of an hour. When the body senses extreme cold, it heats up to compensate. Take note: the drink of choice, for thousands of years, in hot climates? Hot Coffee. What do they wear? Flowing robes.

I take a hot shower before it starts to heat up, and I drink a lot of NON-cold water. Lots of it, and expect to sweat, dear.

Haven't you ever noticed, people with their feet (or ass!) on a block of ice, still feel uncomfortable in super hot weather. Why? Because the internal thermostat is heating them up inside, even as they make their extremities (and behind, lol) frigid.

Obviously, this is not for heat exhaustion and emergencies, or fever.

I have no expertise, but I do read a lot, and I think this is right.

Let me know, dear

Ted

 

[emap]

Oh my yes hot coffee, it is one of the best ways to feel better in the heat. Brings back memories of working in restaurants and the cooks all drinking hot coffee. Us waitresses all thought they were nuts though we weren't back there among the stoves and burners.

I actually had call to try it here in Phoenix and it really does work, if your cooking have a cup of coffee, you will feel better. Not because it cools you down but because it warms you up and you are more comfortable in the heat. It does of course require it be actually hot coffee, if it is lukewarm coffee it's just a lukewarm drink, hot coffee you feel cooler. Strange but true, it is not a commonly known thing, even here in Phoenix.

 

[Weird Harold]

A DEHUMIDIFIER and a FAN will drop same house down to about 40% humidity which is very pleasant (6% is desert extreme - after a while your skin starts feeling lizard-like) and you're using maybe 150 watts only if the unit is a modern energy saver.
...
To VERY effectively cool your entire bod down - sort of an emergency when you start feeling sick it's so hot and you can't sweat cause of the high humidity - run cold water over the inside of your forearms ... over those wrist arteries that work so well for folk who have chosen to move on. That cooled blood goes right back to your heart and within a minute of so you feel better. Do this every few minutes if needed. Ice packs between the thighs (femoral arteries) is what EMS folk do for some heat stroke. Really works.

Seattle-ish has high humidity almost all the time, so 80+ temperatures can be deadly, while we desert dwellers don't even bother to turn the AC 'til it hits 90. The claim "but it's a dry heat" isn't just propaganda -- Google up a "Heat Index table" and you can see what 50-60% humidity feels like at 80-85F. Anything you can do to reduce the humidity will do far more to make you comfortable than reducing the temperature by the same proportion.

The exception to reducing the humidity is to soak in a tub of tepid water or take a cool -- NOT cold -- shower. A water temperature of 75-80F will regulate your core temperature without pushing you into hypothermia.

...I drink a lot of NON-cold water. Lots of it, and expect to sweat, dear.

I concur most whole-heartedly with this point! Cold beverages and cold interiors make the Heat outside seem much worse and can even cause you to cramp up when moving from indoors to outdoors or vice versa.

You need to sweat to stay cool so you MUST stay ahead of the water loss -- take a drink (mouthful or two) every five minutes or so whether you're thirsty or not; if you're thirsty, its a sign that your body finally noticed you're getting dehydrated.

Finally, the arterial cooling trick is a good one. It's easier to cool key points with cool rags or cool-packs than it is to cool the whole body -- short of immersion in a pool or tub. Mr. G missed the most important cooling points though -- the the head and neck. Your core can withstand higher temperatures than your brain can, so keeping your head cool is more important than keeping the rest of you cool.

You can wrap cold towels around your neck or hold them at the base of the skull -- cooled with cold water or a gel-pack like Blue Ice wrapped in a towel to avoid over-cooling will help keep your brain cool.

The ears are an important part of the body's cooling system, so cold cloths or cold-packs held to the ears cool more blood than cooling a pulse point.

The same for the top of your head -- the warning about wearing a hat in the winter because most of the body's heat loss is through the head works in reverse when it's hot -- cooling your scalp helps more than cooling your feet because the blood warms up again by the time it gets to the head.

It is worth repeating that cool and moist is good, cold or frozen is bad and Relative Humidity is the biggest culprit in being uncomfortable. A tepid bath -- 70-80F -- will do far more to cool you down than a cold bath -- 50-60F because the colder temperatures close down the blood vessels in the skin so the internal heat isn't carried to the surface to be readiated away.

 

[PertPerth]

I'm probably not much help because I love hot weather! In fact, I'd say that a 30C day (about 86F) is perfect - any cooler and I'd need a jumper.

Fans and damp cloths on your skin (neck for example - esp when going to sleep) work surprisingly well.

Sucking ice cubes

Shutting the house during the day - making sure that all windows have thick curtains with "sun blockout" backing. This is your best defence against the sun warming the house as most of the heat (assuming you have good insulation in your roof) will enter in through the windows.
Allow windows to open during the night to get any breeze through the house.

Quick cool showers to freshen up

Alternatly, you could always try heading to an air conditioned shopping mall.

 

[Username_In_Use]

As a roofer that works in 95-110 degree weather(and its 5-10 degrees hotter up there actually) in burning sunlight, I can say that alcohol does not work other than to actually slow down your body's cooling process. Just keep well-hydrated with drink of your choice, wear light-colored loose fitting cotton clothes, and try turning off appliances and lights that you don't need since they generate heat.

Also if your hubby or anyone you know is moderately handy, try making a shade for the air conditioning compressor if its in the sun, or caulking and weatherstripping to maximize the amount of cool air your house can hold.

 

[PowerLifter84]

I just go outside and enjoy the weather.

I started mowing yards at the age of 12 to earn money for my first car and have always been used to the heat. One day back in '96 or '97, I believe, the heat index was close to 120° and I was outside mowing yards and then playing basketball with my friends. Drink a lot of water, eat some food.

The only real advice that I can apply here is to not think of it. Find something to keep you busy and you will not get too hot.