Someone!! who understands!!!
But seriously this is so true. The main problems are that British homes are generally designed with capturing and holding heat as the goal rather than releasing heat, because it’s more often cold than hot; and also pretty much no one has home AC, and very few workplaces have it either. Instead I have to sit by the open window and hope for any scant breath of wind…
High five!
This might make you laugh, going the other way. Growing up and living in Texas all my life, I later moved to a place with real winter.
My first winter there was miserable because I had no idea of what a real winter coat was supposed to be (coat just means ‘more expensive and longer jacket’, right?) and even less of an idea of this thing called “layering”. I mean, why would any sane person ever wear more than one shirt at once?
Seriously, send help, we’re all melting here.
Noooo! Don’t melt! Some tips if y’all’s news hasn’t been shouting it at you already like ours likes to do during winter cold snaps…
-Drink lots of water on hot days.
-Don’t do outdoor activities in the middle of the day-late afternoon, even short ones.
-Don’t walk your dog on concrete hot enough you can’t put your bare feet on it yourself. Keep to grass or walk early in the morning/in the evening.
-If your home/apt is miserable and there is a place nearby with air conditioning (movie theater, mall, etc) go hang out there during the hottest hours of the day.
-We cheat with ceiling fans in most rooms, but anything you can do to increase circulation will help (multiple windows open, standing fans, even prop open doors if you don’t have pets that will escape and you can trust your neighborhood, etc.).
-Keep your curtains closed or blinds half shut on the side of the home the sun is coming in through (even if the window itself is open to let the breeze in). If you can rig a shade tarp outside the windows even better. Anything to stop the death laser from directly reaching the inside of your house.
If you’re really hot and Lily’s suggestions aren’t cutting it try some of these:
Wet a wash cloth and ring it out. You want it wet, not soaking. Put it in the freezer until it’s stiff. Apply it to the back of your neck to help you cool down. Refreeze and reapply as needed.
Heat pools in your joints so run cold water over wrists, elbows and your neck to cool off.
Anything dark and heavy needs to take a break. Light, breatheable fabric (linen, cotton, etc) is the way to go. (I know, I know, Kylo. You have an aesthetic but it can wait until the heatwave has passed.) “Breezy” is the keyword here.
Stick the back of your fan to the open windows of your house to pull cooler outside air (hopefully) into your own personal Sith lair.
Don’t forget that your furbabies are going to be hot and need a cool dark place and lots of water.
If you sweat buckets, like I do, a dry change of clothing can feel heavenly after a long, hot day of sweating.
Cold, chilled food (gazpacho, cold noodles, watermelon, etc) are a good way to keep yourself cool and, yes, I am encouraging you to go eat ice cream/gelato/sorbets. 😀
Also, use the oven and the range sparingly. They’ll heat up your lair and make your suffering worse.
And remember, always wear sunscreen because the only thing worse than a blistering heatwave is a going through blistering heatwave with a sunburn.
If it’s too hot outside and the air is super hot, close your windows down and put fans on.
Pots and pans of water everywhere are a good idea too because the water will evaporate and cool the air inside.
Especially near fans.
Stick pillow cases in the freezer to twenty minutes then stick em on your pillows. Same with bed sheets. You’ll thank me.
Shower in the morning and again in the later afternoon/early evening.
Ice cubes. All the ice cubes. In bowls for pets. In your water. Even if you hate them like I do. Have them.
Point the fan at the ceiling not the floor. Hot air rises, colder air doesn’t. You want to keep the warm air from getting even warmer. The fan will cool it and keep you alive.
If you have breathing problems like I do, damp clothes on your chest can be good. But not super cold and not wet. Just damp. It’ll cool the skin and the muscle.
If you get inflammation because of the heat like I do, cool showers help a lot. So does anti inflammatory gel if you can get it. Most shops have a brand of ibuprofen gel that you can use. Be careful tho, it’s sticky and you have to be careful when you apply it not to decorate your clothes with it. It feels weird too but is also very cooling and nice.
Suncream is your friend. Sunburn will make everything worse because any heat source becomes mount fucking doom incarnate. Just wear the damned suncream.
Wear a cap or a hat to limit headaches, sunstroke and heatstroke. This is how I survived on a boat with no real ventilation during the last heatwave. That cap was my best fucking friend ever. Seriously.
Close your curtains but make sure that if they’re heavy to have something keeping them from being flush against the wall etc. You need to make sure the air can get through relatively easily whilst limiting the sunlight. I usually use a small box or sth similar to push the curtain out a little.
Published
Death By Catchphrase 