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Jul. 27th, 2009 09:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
coraaFor 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 ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
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.)
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.)
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Date: 2009-07-28 03:31 pm (UTC)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.
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Date: 2009-07-28 05:49 pm (UTC)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.....
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Date: 2009-07-29 04:26 am (UTC)