(no subject)

[coraa]

For those of you who, like me, are in an area that's ungodly hot right now, I have a tip for keeping cool that I got -- I believe -- from ozarque, who if I recall correctly recommended it as a way to keep cool used in her youth in pre-air-conditioning Missouri.

It only works if you're at home (or otherwise in private), but since most public places are now adequately air conditioned, home is where I wind up needing it anyway.

You need a garment you don't mind getting wet (a big t-shirt or nightshirt works well), and optionally a nice thick towel or two. Get the garment wet, either by wearing it into the shower or by damping it in the sink, wring it out a little so that it's damp but not dripping wet, then put it on. And... that's it. The towels are in case you want to use this trick while sitting/lying on a surface that you don't want to get wet -- lay them down under you. The trick works best if you can get some kind of breeze going, either from a fan (either a standing fan or a ceiling fan) or by opening a couple of windows.

Basically, it works like this: sweat cools you down as it evaporates, but it doesn't stay on your skin long enough to do much good long-term. Damp fabric approximates the advantages of sweat, but fabric dries out much less quickly, so it lasts longer and cools you down for longer. You can also re-damp the fabric as needed.

This works brilliantly for me, and has succeeded in getting me to sleep on days I'd otherwise have spent lying awake in the heat. (Ceiling fan + damp nightshirt = blessed sleep.) It does require you to be able to tolerate damp against your skin, but nice cool water is vastly preferable to me than boiling heat.

(I actually like heat -- I'd take a hot day over a cold one any time, as I dislike the cold profoundly -- but past 90 even I start to wilt, and, like many Seattle homes, we have no AC.)

Comments

[vom_marlowe]

Hey! I do that!

Heee! I live in Missouri and grew up in Kansas and this was how we'd get to sleep at night. I find that thin, very large tee shirts work especially well.

[coraa]

Hee! Excellent.

It's getting up to the mid-90s here, and with no AC (and a home office with a bunch of heat-radiating equipment running that can't really be turned off), it's been such a lifesaver. But especially it's awesome for letting me fall asleep at night.

[vom_marlowe]

The other thing we used to do, in case this is helpful, is stick our wrists in ice water or put a big ice cube on the big wrist veins. Sounds weird, but it does work to cool the body down, I think. Maybe Placebo, but if it works.... ;)

[coraa]

Oooooh, good to know. I will definitely try that.

[morganlf.livejournal.com]

We have AC -- let me know if you want to work from here any day this week. I'll be in my office, so you'll have the dining room/table to yourself. :-D

[coraa.livejournal.com]

If it gets unbearable, will keep that in mind. :)

[jmpava.livejournal.com]

Seeing that it's supposed to get even worse later in the week, we may, very well, take you up on this.

[coraa.livejournal.com]

Given that the forecast is for 96 and 97 the next couple of days, we might VERY WELL take you up on it. :P

[morganlf.livejournal.com]

It's honestly not a problem at all! Just let me know!

[tedeisenstein.livejournal.com]

And a weird-sounding tip for cars: take a spray bottle, one of those plant-shpritzer things, with you whenever you go shopping and have to leave the car out in the sun.

Fill the bottle; take it with you on your expedition inside the mall/store/office/whatever. When you return, open a car door and shpritz the inside with water. Not on the seats or dashboard or anything, just a couple-three shpritzes in the car's interior. The fine mist will go a ways toward cooling down the air.

....or so I am told. I keep forgetting to try it.

[yagathai.livejournal.com]

Of course, that only works if you have relatively low humidity in your house, and a way to move air. If you have damp, still air, it only makes things much, much worse.

[coraa.livejournal.com]

Hence the 'breeze' comment, yes.

Although I don't think it requires low humidity entirely -- my understanding is that Missouri is not exactly a bone-dry state, and Seattle is pretty wet, too. :)

[tedeisenstein.livejournal.com]

No, Missouri certainly isn't, except during some very cold winters, and Prohibition when they shut down Anheuser-Busch...

[donaithnen.livejournal.com]

I was just gonna say that, mainly about the humidity since fans are relatively cheap and easy to get :)

[coraa.livejournal.com]

I think air movement is the really important one -- it worked for me in a swealtering, sticky-humid Washington DC hotel room, but only 'cause there was a fan.

[zalena.livejournal.com]

I do this in a swimsuit, which holds enough moisture to stay damp, but not so much to be chafing or uncomfortable.

[coraa.livejournal.com]

Oooh, that's a good idea.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

I soak my shirt, and my hair, about ten times a day.

[coraa.livejournal.com]

I keep being surprised by how much it helps, for a solution that's effectively free.

[dancambull.livejournal.com]

My mother, who works outside with horses in the desert all day, wears a vest that absorbs cold water and oozes it out all day, keeping her damp and cool. Obviously this involves a lot of moisture, but if it is really bad...

Also, the buckwheat pillows and inserts that you can microwave to heat them up can be kept in the freezer, and they hold the cold for awhile without the added moisture.

[coraa.livejournal.com]

The buckwheat pillows are a great idea.

(I used to stick my clean pillowcases in the freezer before bed, so they were icy-cold when I was ready to go to sleep.)

[green-knight.livejournal.com]

The main advice I've had for dealing with heat is *do not use airconditioning.* Most aircon is set way too low, and the body has a lot of problems adjusting from 23 to 35 degrees and back (and yes, I've had that kind of spread). If you need to use airconditioning, set it high so it just takes the edge of unbearable heat. It will make it much easier to go out into the day. I had a truly miserable few days adjusting to Australia without airconditioning... and then I was fine. As in, fine to walk and cycle in 30-35 degrees in the shade (without the shade), and I've retained the ability to adjust ever since - it needs to get *very* hot before I feel miserable.

In a public place, hold your forearms under water and wear a damp towel rolled up around your neck.

And please send some warmer weather to Britain - we were promised a hot summer and had about ten days of it.

[coraa.livejournal.com]

I agree with this. I spent my first year of college in Los Angeles with no AC, and I haven't had AC since I graduated, either, and have been fine without it -- until the thermometer hits the equivalent of 35-37C, which is where we are now, and I start to wilt again. Sigh. But yeah, I'm generally able to adapt to heat, which is why I prefer it to cold, which I do not adapt to well at all. (Despite ten years in North Idaho where people assured me I would. If I didn't adapt after ten years, I'm pretty sure I never was going to. ;) )

(The other advantage to cool water, as opposed to AC, is that cool water is effectively free.)

I'd love to send you some heat! It's been a really hot, dry summer; usually Seattle is more in the 18-27C range.

[coraa.livejournal.com]

Also, I love your icon. That's a gorgeous bird. (Eagle, hawk? I should be able to tell, but I can't.)

[green-knight.livejournal.com]

Eagle. Spotted in Japan after Worldcon. I was in the right spot at the right time (because my hotel had closed for lunch, so I was hanging out on a street corner). Best afternoon ever.

[rowr.livejournal.com]

this post made me think of swamp coolers.

[coraa.livejournal.com]

We're thinking of setting one of those up, too, actually.

[faithhopetricks.livejournal.com]

THANK you -- I thought ozarque had written a heat-coping post ages ago, but couldn't find it.

[coraa.livejournal.com]

Quite welcome! I've been either damping my shirt or putting a wet washcloth on the back of my neck/on my wrists and elbows/down my cleavage all day, just to make it marginally bearable.

[faithhopetricks.livejournal.com]

I just threw a wet towel in the freezer and then on the back of my neck shortly afterwards, and OMFG SO much better.

(T went to sleep, somehow -- I don't know how! -- but I am grateful he is getting rest.)

[clairebaxter.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I have been getting my hair wet several times a day, and left on my wet swimsuit and shirt yesterday from the wading pool excursion. Very nice to be damp, in the shade outside, with a breeze. I may need to get a fan, if I can find one that little girls can't stick their fingers into.

Thanks for the idea of getting a shirt wet -- I hadn't thought of doing it while I am at home, on purpose. I think that'll feel really nice today. Though I predict more wading pool today, now that the one near our house has opened.

[coraa.livejournal.com]

Wading pool! How fun. (Green Lake has a swimming/wading area, and if the heat is still bad by the weekend, I may go stick my feet in it.)

The damp shirt thing does remind me a lot of when I was a kid and would run through the sprinkler and then just leave my wet swim-suit on until it dried out.....

[clairebaxter.livejournal.com]

It worked really well, putting my dress in the sink, wringing it out, and wearing it. E didn't like sitting on me damp, but that wasn't all bad in the heat either. She didn't want to go to the wading pool today, so we just hunkered down inside. Only up to 84 in here today. Bleh. If you come up to Kevin's, you could go to the wading pool with us, it's about half a mile. Let me know (do you have my number?)