1. Windows and Lights are your enemies in the summer. Radiant heat is EVERYWHERE. LED bulbs can help with the lights a bit, but it's still better to turn off every single light that you feasibly can.

For Windows, well, that's a bit harder. See, curtains and shades can help, but that stuff is INSIDE THE HOUSE. Once the heat is in your house, it's already won.

You need window shades on the EXTERIOR of your house. Even a little something like a piece of cardboard duct-taped over your window can help. It will look ugly as sin. It doesn't matter. It will lower the radiant heat getting into your house.

(If you're in a second floor apartment with no balcony, see if you can't talk your complex's maintenance guy into helping with a ladder to cover the windows. May not always be an option, unfortunately.)

2. Fans. Fans are your absolute buddy. This is a surprise to nobody. But that said... Until you cannot hear yourself talk, you will never have enough fans. Air movement is IMPORTANT. Stagnant heat is brutal.

I have a personal favorite fan that I can recommend, the Honeywell HT-900 Air Circulator.

It costs between 15 and 20 bucks at Walmart, Target, and any other store that sells fans. It's a small, powerful thing that can blow air across 25 feet of room and still be felt.

Which brings us to the next point.

3. Evaporation. This is your best possible way to get cool if you don't have AC.

It's less effective in more humid weather, but even there it can offer a touch of relief.

Can I poke in real quick about a ceiling fan tip, idk if they got 'em up there, but just in case.

(By all means, they're more expensive, but if they've got them, they're useful.)

If you got ceiling fans, make SURE that the switch on 'em is set to be spinning counterclockwise as that pulls the cool air DOWN to you. If it's set the other way, it's pushing the air UP which will just bring the hot air down.

Oddly enough people don't get taught that, which, uh. Can help.

TWO ways to use evaporation to your advantage: The first, and the easiest... Soak a wash cloth in the bathroom sink, plop in on your head, and point a fan at yourself. The evaporating water will blow all around you as it's pushed away, and offer relief.

The SECOND requires a touch more maintenance, and is a bit less reliable, but it can still work: The Poor Man's Swamp Cooler.

A fellow vegas native here, hello!! 8D

Find the fan that has the best air movement, and put an ice cube tray with frozen ice cubes in front of it. It will start to melt, and subsequently evaporate. The fan will push that cold air along its path, and it will offer some relief!

You will need to replace this semi-frequently, and the relief can often be short lived... but anything is better than nothing!

(Very good tip about the ceiling fan!)

(Hello!)

FINALLY, and this one is cheap and often plentiful.

(We got them all over here in Texas, so figured might as well share, haha.)

4. Otter pops. You had them as a kid, don't try to tell me that you didn't.

They're tubes of sweetened fruit water. Freeze 'em, and they're a delicious treat.

The important thing is... They're CHEAP. Most stores will still sell a box of 100 Otter Pops for between 4 and 5 bucks.

And they're compact. Even if your freezers is packed to the gills, you can squeeze a couple of otter pops in the nooks and crannies.

as a fellow hot-weather location native, who dealt with that snow storm earlier this year, I appreciate the sharing of weather survival tips between the climate biomes

Do not question the relief that a frozen watery treat can provide

You can also make your own frozen popsicle treats, if nothing else!

I cannot suggest getting huge gatorade powders, mixing it into the drink, and making popsicles out of them enough. It's a cooling treat and helps the dehydration.

/hi five from a former Vegas native, used to be a park ranger at Lake Mead, did outdoor field work in 115 temps.

Get a box of toothpicks, and ice cube tray, and your preferred flavor of kool-aid. Mix the kool-aid (or other brand of drink mix) into a pitcher, then pour it into the ice cube tray, and plop the tray in the freeze. A couple hours later, BAM. You have 12 bitty popsicles, ripe for the plucking.

and about to mention dehydration but was too slow!

If your window is shaped right for it, a sheet of styrofoam insulation on the outside has been my family's go-to remedy for the summer heat in the corner bedroom that gets very little of the AC and gets a lot of direct morning sun

And yes, Dehydration is a HUGE worry in the heat. always, ALWAYS be drinking. Gatorade is your best friend, you will be sweating a lot.

yup, freezies and gatorade are your friend

These are just the heat-beating tips that I can think of. If anyone else has some... PLEASE, share them for everyone who might need them!

It might not always feel like you're sweating, but that'll be the thing to get you in the heat. If you aren't sweating then get fluids ASAP.

but yes, on the west coast where the humidity is usually not gawdawful like the south is, drinking lots is your friend.

Yeah.

If you can't get to the outside of your windows, tape cardboard directly onto the inside of the sash/over the glass, and nail or tape fleece blankets over them/to the wall

or, do that anyway

fleece will insulate you, it'll insulate your rooms

humans can tolerate an awful lot of heat if the humidity isn't too high and if you have enough water. i used to spend about 2 hour chunks at a time outdoors in 115 degree heat wearing dark green wool trousers. and would drink about 40oz of water in those 2 hours, wouldn't notice any sweat because it would just evaporate instantly.

Drink TWICE AS MUCH WATER as you would on a normal day, at least. you might think I'm kidding. I am not.

Good to know since I've only ever lived in humid areas of the South.

also dunking your hair in water, putting on a wet t-shirt. i've sprayed my sheets with a water spray bottle when my AC went out in the summer

OH! And another important one.

I keep forgetting this one, but it really does help.

If you're having trouble getting to sleep because of heat?

Stick your pillowcase in the freezer an hour before bed.

Pop it out and on your pillow when you go to bed, and you'll have some relief as you're trying to sleep.

That, coupled with the spraying down bed sheets with a spray bottle, can offer some nice limited time relief when you need it most.

... Also, and I can't believe I nearly forgot this. Anything you do for yourself? Do for your pets.

Even the popsicles. (Though do very cheap ones for the pets.)

On the popsicles, make SURE they're either a little melted and less firm or keep an eye on them because dogs CAN break teeth on ice if not careful.

A fan at floor level with an ice cube tray in front of it can offer a LOT of relief for the kitty or puppy you love. They may drink the melting water. That's okay, they want the relief.

Yeah, what rustedpoetry said.

^ cats can't taste sweet, but you can freeze the water from a can of fish or the water from boiling chicken

Rotating ice packs in and out of the freezer is a good idea, too.

Yeah, all of these things you have to keep up on. It's a LOT of trips to the freezer for most of these tips. But it helps. Sometimes it helps a lot.

for people who have to be out in the heat - keep an eye on how much you're sweating. One of the earliest warning signs of heatstroke is that you stop sweating. If you're like me and tend not to sweat heavily or don't sweat at all normally, please be extremely careful and take frequent breaks in addition to drinking lots of water.

that'll be more enticing than a sweet pop, even a watered-down one

Very good point, KabochaKitsune

also, I have fibro. I overheat like crazy. the most helpful cheap thing for me has been buying one of those therapeutic hot/cold packs that doesn't freeze solid in the freezer and sitting on it

REMINDER NEVER TO PUT BARE SKIN ON ICE don't give yourself frostbite

Yeeeeeeeeeah, that's an important thing too... Frostbite = Bad.

if you have a couple of those kitchen hand towels that is noticeably thinner than a fluffy bath towel, that's my favorite thing to wrap around an ice pack or bag of frozen vegetables because you can adjust how much direct cold you're getting very easily

also, as something I just ran into today: If you have an outdoor breaker box, whether you're in a trailer or some other situation, that has a hinge on it - open that sucker up, ESPECIALLY if it's a top-down hinged cover. It'll not only shield your breaker from some of the heat, but it'll allow more heat to dissipate so your electronics are less likely to

trip the breaker

See, that's a tip I would never have thought of.

also, frozen vegetables are your cheapest and most malleable cold pack, and the least likely to go bad from being thawed over and over again - just a little freezer burned. peas and crinkle-cut carrots are best options ime

adding this to the sleep tips: If you have trouble even just sleeping under a thin sheet at night because it's Too Hot, tuck an ice pack or frozen washcloth in a bag under it with you and the cooler air will circulate beneath.

also spray bottles! spray bottles are glorious

catch me literally spraying my spray bottle into the fan for that glorious cool air circulation

and if you work from home/make your own hours, try to adjust your schedule so your most active during the cooler hours: early morning, late night.

^ oh that reminds me: if you're worried about your gardens and aren't in a drought, WATER AT NIGHT

stay indoors during the hottest periods of the day as much as possible-- YES

more will penetrate the dirt before the sun evaporates it off and keep your plants from parching

water at night or very early in the morning, the plants will soak up the moisture better

if you're in a drought please follow your local ordinances

yeah def

Also please think of your dogs if you're going to walk them or need to walk them. If it's too hot for your bare feet, then it's too hot for their's.

^^^^

these tips are great thank

Disposable booties do exist for these kinds of conditions and are usually pretty cheap, if that's an option and you have to walk them during the hotter parts of the day.

always be careful with your pup's paws, they can get burned and they will be miserable.

We're all black tar roads out here so this is something I've had to learn pretty quickly, unfortunately.

if it's 110 out then the sidewalk and road is probably much hotter, so y e a h.

Yeaaaah.

In Vegas, almost every year, our local news stations will fry an egg on the sidewalk, just to show how hot it gets.

It always cooks.

ALWAYS.

yeah

they used to do that when I was a kid in socal

For some reason we keep doing black tar even though there's usually videos of our roads, like, melting. Texas, we're not smart sometimes.

oh right ANOTHER THING

location

so if you live in a house/apartment, something to keep in mind is that not all rooms are created equal!

the bigger a room is, the better air circulates, the harder it is for it to heat up

i have one of those super tourist-y spray fan water bottles that i keep near me during the summer. i use it to spray my legs because that's the part of me that overheats during the summer really easily.

smaller rooms like bedrooms can often be several degrees warmer than say, a living room

If you resort to using ice packs to cool yourself down, place them over your pulse points like the undersides of your wrists, the inside of your elbow, etc. Just remember to safely wrap them as needed and only do it for 20 minute intervals.

Also, the room where you have your electronics? That room WILL be hotter than the rest of the house. Don't be afraid to turn stuff off and take a break.

It can also depend on how many windows there are, but ultimately a good way to keep cool is close the doors to exterior rooms/side rooms/bathrooms/bedrooms and then chill in the living room if you can

TV, Computer, Video Games, etc? Gonna heat you up quick.

Michigander here. Our heat doesn't get as intense but it can still be pretty miserable in the summer, and we've got a few tips too: Aluminum foil shiny-side out on the windows helps deflect heat (use the heavy-duty stuff and tape it to a piece of cardboard and you can reuse it for years.)

y e a h def. don't be afraid to power down your game systems or comps

the ones that are always on are especially notorious for this, i cannot play my PS4 in the summer without Suffering

Also, stay aware of how thirsty you are. Both times I got hit by heat exhaustion at work the one of the first signs that something was wrong was that I stopped wanting to drink anything despite being outside in 100+ degree heat. The headache and dizziness set in a little while after that.

^^^^^

keep drinking, yeah

all day

it's hot. you should be thirsty

If you've got a room with an AC and there are doorways or hallways that don't have doors, put up a tension rod with a curtain to keep cool air in and hot air out. If you don't have a curtain, use pins to make a rod loop at one end of an old bedsheet.

drink drink drink drink. better to pee 10 times than to get sick.

... Thank you for reminding me about the PS4, I forgot that those fuckers are always on. I gotta go fix that.

brofists

Man, what is it about the PS4 that makes it always run hot.

i feel you man, i love gaming but it can warm my room up by like five degrees if i game

They're always on, for one

speaking of drinking, DON'T DRINK BOOZE, it will dehydrate you and make you feel hotter. go light on caffeine if it makes you pee a lot because that can dehydrate you too if you don't get thirsty enough to replenish

so they run with some degree of-- oh fuck yeah don't drink

booze, i mean

drink water

juice also works

also if you can get away with it, taking a nap during the hottest parts of the day and doing other stuff at night/when it cools is legit

If you have a PC and need to use it, change the power profile to Power Saver. Cooler for you and your machine.

drink water until you're sick of drinking water and then keep drinking water. (this is also the best advice for sore throats.)

tbh one thing I've noticed is fruit flavors are more palatable when it's hot compared to say, heavy sweet flavors, so if you don't wanna drink water constantly, cut it with some juice

jumping in here with some more from a girl who grew up going to an old farmhouse with no AC every other weekend... if your house has the proper layout for it, make a wind tunnel going through the house! the proper layout = anywhere two windows are directly across from each other, no matter how many rooms are in between. we'd put one fan in the living room

window blowing in, it'd blow air through the living room, through the kitchen, into the enclosed porch, and then a fan pointing out the other window to pull out the hot air. if you sprawl in the path of the wind tunnel it's Very Nice!

half water/half juice can be very refreshing

wind tunnels are GREAT

also cold water or wrapped ice on the inner wrists, inner elbows, draped over the back of your neck, and in between the thighs i had some friends do that on an extended car ride with no A/C and they were shivering by the end of it

avoid caffeine. like alcohol, it will dehydrate you.

Thank you for the tips, these are especially vitals for people who don't have AC in their homes

... One other thought I just remembered after experiencing it last year.

honestly, just putting whatever fan you have directly in front of yourself is good. i have a tiny 6" fan i use in the summers at outdoor camping events and as long as it's blowing directly on you, it will help

You may want to buy a USB-powered fan.

fan + spray bottle is a blessing

re: drink water until you're sick of it, still be mindful about what you can hold. you can make yourself actually ill from it because your stomach can physically only hold so much.

If the power goes out, and you have a USB brick power source, it can offer you relief when everything else is busted.

on one hand YEAH DRINK ALL THE TIME but be aware that there are limits-- you don't want to exceed 48 oz in an hour

oh, to all my fam with chub rub and/or who sweat pretty much only between the thighs: when you sleep, a pillowcase between your thighs will keep you from getting a rash.

don't forget to up your salt intake! you'll be sweating a lot of it out, and your body doesn't replenish that. if you're starting to feel headachey or faint, drink gatorade. if it tastes good, keep drinking it until it doesn't any more.

part of it is how much you can hold and part of it is that if it is straight water, you're gonna clear out all your salts and create a different problem.

' if it tastes good, keep drinking it until it doesn't any more.' this is. so accurate.

for pets, you can also put ice in their water bowls (tho see above re: dogs chewing ice, i haven't had cats try to chew but be vigilant). you can also fill up a water bottle 3/4s full and freeze it on its side--you can put it out for your pets to cozy up against to help keep them cool too

LMAO i was told that years ago and it has been my guiding force ever since

Also it's possible to make a makeshift cooler by filling a bowl with ice water and blowing a fan across the top of it.

Yep, I covered that up top! But it's still a good tip.

The Poor Man's Swamp Cooler is one of THE most useful tips for summer heat.

Sorry, read most of it but clearly not enough XD

No worries! It's worth repeating!

god A GOOD POINT, don't make yourself sick drinking water, but when you reach the point where you're like "I'm so sick of drinking water," if your mouth is dry? drink some more.

don't hurt yourself but do drink more than you think you "need"

Drinking too much water too fast will literally kill you. Also, you don't want it to be too cold, especially if it's on an empty stomach.

i think most of my other tips have been covered, but as others have said, the heat saps a lot out of you. if you can, try and nap during the hottest part of the day or otherwise conserve your energy. you will not be as productive during this heat wave, and that's okay. take care of yourselves and adjust expectations

The trick is finding your balance. People have actually been able to do the iron man run through death valley by having a support van FULL of water following them.

The trick is just to replenish what you sweat out.

And salt and electrolytes are included in that.

the cdc has a pdf that has a handy pee chart

if your pee is clear that is TOO MUCH

aim for lemonade

oh this reminds me: IF YOU TAKE CYMBALTA, IT CAN CAUSE LOW BLOOD SODIUM ALL ON ITS OWN. this can interact with other meds, with dehydration, with low blood pressure, etc. this is a NEWLY DISCOVERED SYMPTOM since I started taking it myself in 2018. GET YOUR SALT.

er, NEWLY DISCOVERED SIDE EFFECT rather

please be sure to get sodium with your hydration

you can always check current known med and food interactions at drugs dot com with disclaimers

similarly, if you're on a water pill, be extra vigilant about your salt levels

I don't know much about others, but spironolactone prevents a good bit of salt absorption, so you want to be careful not to overdo it with the salt and electrolytes too.

Australian here: if you HAVE to leave the house for an errand, the earlier in the day the better

also: seconding trying to sleep during the hottest part of the day

in general, getting electrolytes from food is a better option than gatorade. you get a better balance of electrolytes that way. like, gatorade is fine if that's what's on hand, but salted nuts, bananas, sweet potatoes, potato chips are great for it. but in general, unless you're on a low-salt diet or are doing some serious exertion, it's generally hard to

fuck up your electrolytes too badly if you just eat as normal, drink plenty of water.

drinking liquid is more important than it being specifically gatorade.

if you like brined pickles, those are also a solid snack option, especially if they're refrigerated since it cools and provides electrolytes

also, there's an OSHA Heat Index Safety app that uses both temperature and humidity to calculate the level of risk, has lists of symptoms of various heat-related issues, and lists first-aid actions for all of them

if you have GPS turned on it'll automatically use that you calculate the risk in your particular area

I didn't know they had an app like that! That's DEFINITELY worth downloading with the weather this bad.

OKAY so some of these have been mentioned in general but to get a little more specific:

if you have a pet, if you cannot put your bare hand on the street or sidewalk and hold it there for 30 seconds it is too hot for pet paws too

if you are in a house that has multiple stories, then downstairs will almost certainly be hotter than upstairs

this is kind of common sense, but try to avoid eating foods that would require you to, say, turn on the oven

or keep something simmering for like an hour

if you turn on the oven at all then that heat will spread right out through the rest of the house and it lives there now, even if it's only for a few minutes

^ oh ALSO DO NOT RUN YOUR DISHWASHER OR DRYER DURING THE DAY, even energy efficient ones put out heat

stovetop, microwave, an outdoor form of cooking like a grill, or best of all just something that can be eaten cold like cereal or a sandwich are what you're gonna want to stick with if at all possible

if it gets cooler outside the house than it is inside the house during the night (likely, especially if you don't have ac) then open ever window that you can and, if possible, stick a fan in at least one of them to pull as much cool air into the house as you can

where possible keep doors open, to allow the air to keep circulating

people take being too cold as more medically serious than being too hot! this is not always the case. dont be a fuckin' tough guy, if you're nauseous or feel sleepy dont try to power through it, i dont care if you're in the prime of your fuckin life and have never had a cold

the sun is r a d i o a c t i v e

the sun is a deadly laser

One Caveat to opening doors and windows

Remember, BUGS are super active in summer, so... exercise caution if you don't want buggies to take the invitation to come inside.

one of those little squirt bottles with an attached fan is honestly legendary, but if you can't get one then honestly if you can get any kind of spray bottle that's got a misting function and has not had any kind of chemicals that would be unsafe to put on your skin in it, fill it with water and mist yourself

In Vegas ESPECIALLY, we don't open doors, because roaches can and will take the immediate opportunity to come inside if there's an open door.

works best in conjunction with a fan of any kind but its still cooling even without, especially if you put cold water, and ice cubes if you have em, in the bottle

Hydration: If you can't tell if you're thirsty, check if your tongue is lighter in color or drier and if your lips are dry. That shit should be plump and moist, fam.

sufficient heat can cause power outages! if possible get a styrofoam cooler with a solid block of ice from the grocery store if you are concerned - ice is very good at cooling things down, including itself, which is why you want a solid block

one of those big ol like 10 pound blocks will stay frozen much longer than the crushed or smaller chunks of ice

AND FINALLY

arguably the most efficient way to cool down is to put preferably cool water anywhere you've got blood close to the surface of the skin

so wrists and the inside of your forearms are great, with all those veins

armpits are great, necks are great, the insides of your thighs - if there's veins close to the surface then putting cool water there can wick the heat away very efficiently

Yes. If there's one piece of advice I want people to bear in mind above all else... PREPARE FOR A POWER OUTAGE. Texas especially right now, but summer brownouts happen EVERYWHERE.

but also putting just a little bit of cool water in the tub and splashing your feet a bit can cool both them and you down a lot

Be gentle to your fridge, especially if it's low end or older. It's working extra hard. Don't stuff it to the brim, let the cool air circulate within it, or you may be looking at spoiled food.

Find out from your electric provider when peak hours are and try to avoid using any electrical device or applicane you don't need during that time to reduce the load on the grid.

if you do open your windows and let the air circulate at night, as soon as you wake up you want to go around and close everything up, draw the curtains, put up any sunguards for your windows, and then huddle in the dark

(Around here that's like 2-7 pm on weekdays.)

the more cool air you can stuff into the shade of your house and the longer you can keep it cool the better off you'll be

AmbularD: I'd say the same for water, hi from California, we drought regularly

misosoupaddict: o/ Hey from Michigan. Also good advice.

lol I'm here from Utah, which is both cold and hot and also is a desert. why do i live here again?

If you are still using old-fashioned incandescent lighbulbs for anything except, like, reptile cage warmers, replace them with LEDs or CFLs ASAP.

anyway one last, deeply important tip:

^^^^^

those who have cars, you want a sunshade for your car

^^^

THIS

Also, and this is a VERY important thing to bear in mind...

two, really

If you see an animal or child in a locked car.

which you can order online and which are only a couple bucks but if you just cannot afford it then if you can get like, a large piece of cardboard or anything even that you can stick in the front window of your car whenever you need to drive anywhere, please do so

You are LEGALLY PROTECTED if you break the windows then immediately call 911.

and yes, anyone who has pets or kids:

cars in the sun in the heat are straight up a hotbox

Literally everywhere has problem with people locking living beings in cars. If you have to save a life, so long as you notify the authorities immediately, YOU WILL NOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DAMAGE.

you cannot "leave the window cracked" and leave your dog in the car

temps can get well, well over 100 f

Kids and pets are most important, but there are a number of other things you really don't want to leave in a hot car

yeah, if you leave something in there that can melt and go shopping for an hour, expect to find it melted

and have one single solid gummy mass rather than a bag of gummy bears or whatever

but the temps in cars can and do kill

on the evaporation with towels to cool, there are some Designed For That. a Google of "evaporation towel" shows me some stuff that looks like what I have, for like 6-12$ at target

And it's a bad death too. If you ask emergency services, they will tell you, they're one of the worst things to respond to.

one thing I often do when my car has been out for any length of time, especially when i don't have a sunshade but honestly even if I do, is throw all 4 doors open and chill outside for a minute or two and watch the heat literally ripple up and away

I forget what the age cutoff is for kids, but presumably a teen can just unlock the door and walk out. Check your state/province's local laws. It'll be in their written driving test.

In Vegas, I know there's no limit. If you see someone in distress in a car, break the damn window.

also be careful with seatbelt buckles and be careful with steering wheels, especially black ones

they can burn after sitting out in the sun

We had an elderly person die in a van from the living community a few years back. The chief of police specifically said "I don't care how old they are. Break the window and help them out. We won't prosecute."

ofc if they're in distress, you go ham on that shit.

i've actually seen someone put forward a hack of keeping oven mitts in the car and using them to hold the steering wheel

if at all possible park in the shade but either way sunshade and be mindful of burns

a great info graphic was already posted about heat exhaustion, so here's one from the CDC that also covers heat stroke, rash, cramps & ofc sunburn

yeah, my mother accidentally branded herself with a seatbelt buckle when i was a child. seriously branded. left a scar.

question regarding the water w/fan for cooling: is it more effective to start that with just ice or with ice water?

and shade, or like I said whether the window is open or not, is not gonna keep things at a safe temperature for a living thing to be left in a car

Ice Water will last longer, but won't cool as quickly. Ice Cubes will be cold almost immediately, but will run out faster.

Something I've found that helps me deal with Texas heat when I am at home and sitting in one place for an extended period of time is to get a pan or bowl and fill it with cool water and just sit there with my feet in it. Seems to help draw heat from the rest of my body.

EffervescentEmperor: if you are sticking ice in front of a fan then start with pure ice. if you are planning to mist yourself at all then you'll need at least a bit of water, but the closer you can get to pure ice the better in my experience

Like, you'll get tepid water, cool water, tepid water.

it does depend partially on how much ice and how much water

omg thank you to the person that mentioned ceiling fans. i forgot i even had one in my room until now

but pure ice will turn into icemelt will turn into normal water

I PERSONALLY prefer the ice cube method, but it varies from person to person.

also, just for a tip that i doubt many people will think of:

wash your sheets

like, wash em more often then you probably normally would

if possible use cotton, not something like poly and esp not like, flannel or whatever

appreciate! I'll see if we can't start with just ice in the morning while it's... just slightly above average highs

LINEN

but you sweat a lot when you sleep, and cleaner sheets will be more moisture wicking and cooling

Pardon the humor, this is a JOKE... But if you're using flannel sheets in this weather, you're beyond helping.

yes, cotton is breathable, and linen

whoops, forgot that i had caps lock on but FRANKLY CAPS LOCK WARRANTED linen is absolutely the best fabric to wear in the heat; if you have linen, wear it

XD i figure there is probably at least one poor unfortunate soul out there who's not used to anything above like 70 degrees and this is their only set of sheets

cotton is a very close second but linen is absolutely the best thing i've worn in the heat and i'm singing its praises to everyone

but yeah to wear you ideally want light colored loose fitting linen or cotton

sports apparel, especially any kind of moisture wicking designs, tend to be good at keeping you cool too

If you're required to wear long pants for work, ask and see if they will make an exception for the heat. Mine did!

for people with breasts, sports bras can substitute for shirts pretty well

or at least for any situation that doesn't require business-type formality anyway

for people with breasts, spots bras are also excellent for tucking a ziplock bag of ice into. This is legit the way I deal with heat when I am wearing one of my cosplay costumes that has Way Too Many Layers for Texas heat.

(preferably with something wrapped around the ice pack to avoid direct ice-to-skin contact)

Sometimes a hat isn't enough, so use umbrellas for what they were originally invented for: the sun!

umbrellas make very good sun shades, and if you have any sort of humidity you'll notice it being cooler Quickly
Part of how we survived walking around Beijing when we were there in August years ago,,,

also keep in mind

areas that are less paved are gonna be cooler

especially places near water

like, areas that have lots of cement and asphalt are gonna be noticibly warmer than areas with lots of grass

even bare dirt is gonna be cooler, but not by as much

Yeah, Radiant Heat is a BITCH... Anything that can absorb heat will do so. Gleefully.

not sure if it was mentioned yet but definitely be very careful if you have to be out between 10am and 2pm. The sun is the strongest at this time and you can sunburn fast along with have issues with dehydration. If you need to do errands involving walking or being outside, set them for the evening or early morning.

in fact it's actually good to go outside after maybe about 5pm because by then indoor locations will be at their hottest. At night, take advantage of it getting cooler and open your windows if the weather is good and it's not really humid. This will save you some need for AC and also help get the warm air out.

Don't know if it's been mentioned yet, but good places to dab with wetness if you're feeling overheated is the back of the neck, where your hairline kinda ends. When I lived in FL I would either slap a wet napkin/rag there, or if my hair was long enough (since mine is curly and thick) tuck an ice cube in my loose ponytail and let it melt on my skin

That Ponytail trick sounds REALLY helpful for people with long hair.

Also, be careful of leather car seats and bare skin.

Oh, I am not looking forward to people in the northwest learning that lesson...

In the southwest, we know that leather seats in the summer are a death sentence. In the Northwest, I don't think that lesson has been taught for a while..

It was the worst 😔😔

Hair on your head in heat means all that heat is trapped on your head. It Unpleasant

even more so if your hair is dark colored and/or thick

But yeah! Ice cube right between where your hair tie is near the back of your head, but with hair between your skin and the ice cube is Best Place

like this kinda but all the way tucked in

Forgive my terrible camera angles I tried

that is a tip I had never heard, genius

another important tip for pet owners: if it's hot inside, so is your pet's wet food

it will spoil REAL QUICK

feed your baby smaller meals if they don't usually eat it all at once

er, that is, smaller meals more often

freezing a wet cloth and then laying it over a fan works well too. Also useful when driving a car without ac in the heat. Just lay cold, damp towels over the vents or a cracked window

thank you for all of these tips! I'll definitely be using some of them. Got myself some nuts, and I've been drinking water... but I'm certainly going to try that pillowcase-in-the-freezer trick!

what i do to keep my bed cool is freeze a bottle of water over the day and sleep with it under the blankets at night - plus, I take sips through the night to assist with hydration

https://www.amazon.com/.... this usb handheld fan is a life saver. you can fill it with water and it mists you while runs. there's a button on the side to turn off the mist and just run the fan part

i use it when I'm in the street or any room in my apt that doesn't have ac

there's also a few other models of misting fans so pick your poison

i see other people mentions popsicles for the cats but another suggestion: inaba churu tubes for cats? freeze em until slushy. my cats go crazy for them

for dogs

i also read earlier that add/adhd and ssri/snri meds can reduce your heart tolerance so keep and eye out for that

and if you are diabetic or have hbp, be super extra careful with this heat. it can wreck your insulin response, glucose levels and hbp is just a bad time run heat.

anyway these are my tips i hope are helpful from nasty humid nyc

try to cut down on the amount of times you are opening your fridge and freezer - they will be struggling in the heat and not becas useful

Yes, this. I put everything I think I’ll need for the day in a cooler and use that, including a thermos full of ice water.

I’ve found it’s also important to eat, I had no appetite yesterday and didn’t eat anything and felt terrible. Today I was more attentive to eating and that worked out better

And whoever mentioned mist fans: YES

In the generally low humidity of the west, they work amazingly well. We set up a patio mister ($30 on Amazon), and I swear it made 100F feel like 75.

if you are doing the swamp cooler thing, consider getting a gallon jug or water bottles and freezing them, then placing those un front of the fan. longer lasting ice and cool water on hand if power goes out

holy hell I cannot believe I survived 112 degrees... I got real worried about the cats towards the end but they're better now that the sun is down. still annoyingly hot in the apartment but it's becoming bearable

good luck tomorrow, Washington ;; stay safe and as cool as possible

maybe some stuff useful to Hundreds !!!

i think you know most of these ... but also just a useful resource to direct people too

Yeah. As another Vegas native (now living in the UK), that shit is nasty and the more you can do to keep the heat out, the better.

I forgot what a behemoth this is but as I'm now doing so, another tip - if you're struggling with sleeping under a sheet and you have a desk fan (like that Honeywell), you can try draping one end of the sheet over the top of the fan. it'll keep that air circulation in with you and help disperse body heat inside the sheet faster

if you're like me you can then make jokes about sleeping in a cave bc the sheet will puff way up

don't know if this has been suggested, but cold showers can help a lot too. if you can, don't fully dry yourself off after and let a fan do it for you in your room or somewhere else private

(maybe not ice cold but lowering the heat until it's about swimming pool level of cool can be refreshing(

be careful popping stuff in the freezer - water bottles, juice containers, soda cans, etc. liquid expands like a motherfucker and last thing you want is another mess to clean up.

but also if you have any plastic bottles - water, seltzer, juice, whatever - partially filling them and putting them in your freezer if you have space means you can keep refilling one bottle instead of having to swap out a fresh one every time. it's basically the DIY method behind

plus it doubles as an ice pack so

one more tip, for driving: as we all know, getting into hot cars is awful. before you get into the car proper, roll down one window. go to the door on the opposite side of the car (so if you roll down the driver's window, go to the passenger side) and open and close the door a few times. the closing of the door will force hot air out the open window

it'll still be hot when you get in, but it can take it down to a more bearable level!

How to instantly cool down car temperature during th... this video shows it; it takes the temp for them from 41.6C (106.8F) to 33.5C (92.3F).

^ we do this every summer and it works super well

if you're short on time or spoons and have automatic windows or multiple people in the car to work the manual ones, you can get a partial version of this by rolling down all your windows and getting up to at least 20mph

it won't force all the hot air straight out in wind tunnel fashion like the open window/flapping door does, but it will pull some of the heat out of the sides of the car

Good advice! I'm sharing this one far and wide. Good luck and stay cool, friends.

It's even more effective if you can open the doors wholesale

cat cooling station: fill a pot with water and ice, set it on a soaked rag on top of a cookie sheet

I saw it on a library Facebook page, my cats seem to like it