8

But without actually spraying water on yourself and getting wet

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  • In India, some locales ave made water sprays available for people and even animals. youtube.com/watch?v=gLPeDVjKsBo. Some areas have ice packs in ambulances, but my hunch is that most in need do not have adequate access to ambulances.
    – DrMoishe Pippik
    Jun 2, 2015 at 1:06
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    Are you asking a question, or answering? Don't do both in the same text. If asking, please provide more information as to what you already have done to try too cool off, and why you need a life hack to do this.
    – holroy
    Jun 2, 2015 at 9:48
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    As I've seen written on the meta board, you are allowed to ask questions you've had and answer them if you think it can be beneficial for people in the future, and to get feedback.
    – larry909
    Jun 2, 2015 at 21:20
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    @larry909 If you want to do that, post a question as your question, and post your answer in an answer to that question. Make sure your question works on its own, other people may want to answer it.
    – Gilles 'SO- stop being evil'
    Jun 2, 2015 at 22:17
  • @Gilles yes I remember now, I corrected it
    – larry909
    Jun 3, 2015 at 5:32

8 Answers 8

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6

I can't imagine what it must be like in the heat in India, but here in the UK, when we get one of the 5 or 6 days a year where it's too hot, I always find that I feel much more comfortable if I can keep my HEAD cool.

I fill a sink with the coolest water available and dunk my head under. For some reason it seems to be particularly effective to enter the water with the crown of the head first. Hold your face under as long as you can, the water will soon start to get too warm so the effect is lost.

I then splash some of the water on arms, neck and other places where I get sticky with sweat.

Crucially, I don't dry myself afterwards but let the water evaporate and cool me again. This works very well when your hair is wet because it takes a long time to evaporate away.

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3

You could also arrange or use some sort of fan.

Hand held fans are quite useful and effective, and doesn't require too much energy to handle.

Or go large scale and make some arrangement with a blanket/curtain attached to a rope which when pulled would move and increase the air flow in the room and create a fresh breeze.

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2

If you need to cool down but do not want to get wet - I would firstly recommend against the 'hack' of putting a cold cloth or ice on your neck. The reason is that all this is doing is cooling the blood coming through yor carotid artery that then goes directly to the brain - with the consequence of tricking your brain into thinking your body has reached a normal temperature and swwitching off the normal biological response of sweating to cool yourself down again.

To get your core body temperature back down to normal I personally would try a combination of the following:

  • Get as much airflow over the skin as possible to maximise the evaporation of sweat (fan/aircon/driving with windows open)
  • increase the water resting on the skin - as evaporation is an endothermic process which draws heat away from its surroundings (in our case - our skin/blood)
  • Drink something cold to cool the body from the stomach outwards
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1
  • Body temperature is not determined more particularly in the brain than in other locations. For example, getting out of the swimming pool can give you instant goose bumps that heat your skin because your body determined skin was too cold due to evaporation. Meanwhile, your brain remained pretty much at the same temperature...
    – Tony
    Aug 7, 2020 at 16:02
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1.) Obtain a wire small animal cage. 2.) Install an exercise wheel inside the cage. 3.) Clip or tape several standard playing cards onto the exercise wheel in a manner of which the cards will encounter resistance to air as the wheel rotates. 4.) Obtain a hamster or other similar, small, active critter. 5.) House said critter within the wire cage along with sufficient food and water.

When the critter gets bored he/she/herm/shim will jump up onto the inside of the exercise wheel and begin running. This will maintain rotational movement of the wheel, causing the playing cards to act as do the blades of a fan, producing air movement. Locate the cage in proximity to your head, close enough so that the air movements can be felt by your head. Talk to the critter while he/she/herm/shim is running so that he/she/herm/shim stays happy enough to want to keep running.

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1

Go to the washroom and turn on the shower, cold water, full blast. Close the bathroom door and window. Pull up a small chair so you're positioned not far from the running water. Depending on how strong your shower-head is, you should be cooling off in a short while from the vapor of the cold water.

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4
  • 1
    I don't live in a hot country so probably missing the point...but why not jump into the shower rather than just sitting next to it?
    – Bendy
    Jun 3, 2015 at 7:13
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    Additionally, if the heat is caused by a heat wave, there is a certain possibility that access to water is going to be limited. And then this advice doesn't conserve the water supply...
    – holroy
    Jun 3, 2015 at 11:22
  • @bendy what do you do if you want to cool off but don't want to get wet, let's say you want to read a book or just relax
    – larry909
    Jun 3, 2015 at 16:44
  • How do you use a shower with no electricity?
    – Chris Rogers
    Jul 26, 2020 at 7:34
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Jump under the shower. But for the last minutes you should shower hot, this will open your skin pores and allows your body to better control your temperature for the next hours.

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1
  • How do you use a shower with no electricity?
    – Chris Rogers
    Jul 26, 2020 at 7:34
1

I always do the following:-

  • A cotton cloth that is ready to be washed, using which you can rub off sweat from your body. This will at least give you some relief from the running sweat off your body, which tickles for some people.
  • Small hand-held fans that will not hurt your hand, and will also give quick airflow to your body.
  • Sit down or lie down for 5-10 minutes at least, keeping yourself calm, without doing any activity.

I tried going under shower to cool off, but that doesn't help you after 2-3 minutes, if your body is always doing some activity - like slowly walking or getting tensed.
So the best option is to remain calm for 5-10 minutes or more, and follow all the above-mentioned steps.

Hope it helps!

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1
  • How do you use a shower with no electricity?
    – Chris Rogers
    Jul 26, 2020 at 7:35
1

For a water conservation alternative to the answer from @Lefty I find that having a wash cloth soaked in cold water is very beneficial.

Wipe the wet wash cloth over your face to wet it and then wrap it around the front of your neck.

The cool water will cool the blood circulating around you as there is a main artery and vein in your neck.

The cloth will get warm after a while. Just go back for cold water again when needed.

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