13+ Hot Tips to Stay Cool This Summer
It’s too hot!! Month after month, year after year, Earth is getting hotter and hotter, and that has us all scrambling to find ways to cool down. Being hot can be miserable. It can also be deadly! Read on for my favorite, tried-and-true ways to stay cool in the summer heat, with or without air conditioning.
- HYDRATE! Our bodies’ first defense against overheating is perspiration (sweat), which releases water from the body onto the skin; evaporation cools us as the water on our skin is drawn into the air. **NOTE: this is why high humidity makes us so miserable – if the air is already saturated with moisture, the sweat on your skin has nowhere to go, so the cooling benefit is greatly diminished.** Because we can lose up to 10 liters of water a day through sweat, it’s crucial that we drink enough fluids to allow our bodies to function properly. Keep a water bottle with you, and drink, drink drink! (This is my favorite brand of water bottle. Affiliate link.)
- Try cooling herbs. Add a few mint leaves to your water, or drop in a peppermint tea bag. 2a. Put some of that minty water in a spray bottle, and spritz your face, wrists, and behind your knees for an instant flash-cool! Don’t worry about looking silly; everyone is hot!!
- Eat cooling/cold foods. Ice pops, shaved ice, sno-cones, watermelon, cucumbers, leafy greens, celery are all high in water content, and low in fat (zero fat, to be exact). The fat content matters because your body has to work harder to digest fatty foods, which means your body temperature actually increases a bit after you eat that delicious ice cream, or drink that milkshake. So, if you are going to have ice cream, enjoy it in the a/c.
- Wear light colored, loose clothing. Natural fibers are best. Dark colors absorb the Sun’s rays; light colors reflect them. Loose clothing allows for better air circulation. Natural fibers (cotton, linen) don’t trap body heat the way man-made fibers do. Polyester is plastic!
- Wear sandals or other open shoes whenever possible.
- Wear lightweight accessories. When it’s hot, heavy accessories can stick to your skin. Choose smaller earrings that won’t brush against your neck, thin bangles that don’t constrict, and longer, lighter necklaces that don’t lay right against your neck & chest.
- Get your hair off your neck and face. My hair is pixie-short, and just thinking about having hair stuck to my neck on a hot summer day makes me cringe. If you have longer hair, find a way to wear it up. A headband, bobby pins, or barrettes can keep your bangs off your face.
- Avoid being outside during the hottest part of the day. This can be any time between noon and about 6pm, depending on where you live. Weather.com (or your favorite weather app) can show you hourly forecasts. Whenever possible, do your outside stuff early in the morning, or later in the evening.
- Find some shade. Solar radiation (the Sun’s rays) can heat your skin by as much as 10-15 degrees, making you feel even hotter (yuck!) than the air temperature (which is always measured in the shade, by the way). So head for the shade, where it will still be 90 degrees, but you won’t have the Sun making you feel like it’s 105. 9a. Bring your own shade, in the form of a broad-brimmed loose-weave (like straw) hat, or an umbrella (“parasol” in the old days).
- Get in the water. Put your feet in a dishpan or bucket full of cold water, run through the sprinkler (ok, walk), spray yourself down with the hose, play in the fountain, go to the pool, splash park, fill a kiddie pool in your backyard & sit in it or soak your feet, take a cool shower or bath. Again, don’t worry about looking silly. Remember, everyone is hot!
- Keep your home cooler. With or without air conditioning, there are things you can do to keep your home cooler. 11a During the day, close the shades/blinds/curtains, especially for windows with southern or western exposure. Add another layer of window covering if you need to, even if that means putting up a sheet or blanket with push pins. You can pull the shades aside when the sun goes down.
11b Put a cool, smooth cotton sheet over your sofas and chairs – it feels better than any sort of man-made, textured fabric. 11c Change your sheets. Microfiber is plastic, so if you’re using microfiber bedding, you may as well be laying down to sleep covered in plastic wrap. Instead, switch to 100% cotton sheets and blankets. They come in all price points, and really nice bedding can be really expensive. BUT, most thrift stores usually have a decent selection of bedding, so check those. Sure, you may end up with a zebra-striped top sheet and a granny floral fitted sheet, but who cares? 11d Turn the lights off. Most light bulbs should be called heat bulbs, because they’re better at generating heat than light. 11e Don’t use your oven if you don’t absolutely have to. Get a toaster oven instead; they can do a lot of what a conventional oven can do, while generating only a fraction of the heat. If you have slow cooker and/or electric skillet, you can avoid the stove as well. 11f If you have a window unit that doesn’t cool your whole space, close the door to that room, or hang a blanket across the doorway. That way, you’ll have at least one room that’s cool and comfy. (See 12b, below.) Alternately, move the unit to the room where you want to spend the most time. 11g Fans are your friend. Air moving across your skin helps with evaporation (of sweat), and helps move heat away from your body. If you have a whole-house (or “attic”) fan, use it! Also, I’m a little jealous. - If you don’t have air conditioning do everything in #11, plus: 12a Open your windows late at night to let the coolest air in. If you live in a 2-storey home, opening windows on both floors will help circulate the hot air out, cool air in. Fans in the windows will help, too. Close the windows in the early morning to maintain the cooler temperature. 12b Find the coolest room in your home & spend as much time there as possible. So what if you move your mattress to the living room for the summer because it’s 20 degrees cooler than the bedroom? Again: who cares?
- Go someplace cooler. No, I’m not suggesting you move (why bother, since the whole planet is heating up?) If you’ve tried everything and it’s still just too hot to function, there are plenty of places you can go to spend a few cool hours, most free or cheap. Your local library (free), afternoon matinees at the movie theater (cheap, especially if you have a “dollar movie” theater nearby), a museum or art gallery (cheap or free some days/times), free classes at Home Depot, even the mall. TIP: You don’t have to spend a lot of money (or any) at the mall; bring water bottles and snacks for everyone, your tablets/phones/laptop, small quiet toys like Lego, Etch-a-Sketch, coloring books, then find a comfy spot to people-watch, read, work, and let the kids play on their electronics or with their toys, or play in the play area if your mall has one.
I hope these ideas help! What are your favorite tips for staying cool in the heat? Leave a comment, I’d love to hear them!!
