10 Cheap Ways to Keep Cool in Hot Weather

"Keeping Your Cool - 10 Simple Ways to Keep Cool in Hot Weather"

When the down-pour of the frigid winter weather has disappeared and we welcome the warm temperatures of summer with open arms and sun-ripen cheeks, we may just forget how hot the summers can become in no time at all. As the warm weather does, it quickly can turn into those hot summer days and nights that make for some quite miserable hot weeks and months. In doing so, we rightfully begin to long for those frigid winter temperatures to return. Keeping your cool in the hot weather becomes the most important summer quest very quickly! Today you will find these "10 Simple Ways to Keep Cool in Hot Weather" to be an easy respite of comfort that takes little to no money and is as simple a task as you want to find when the weather is far too hot!

To begin with here are is the list of "10 Hot Weather Tips." The pointers for each tip will be individually defined below the list. Each offers its own relief from summer heat, but using a combination of the tips can make for an intense cooling result. These are cheap, easy and effective ways to keep your cool in even the hottest of weather situations. The key is to think ahead and be prepared for the ignition of high temperature weather before it hits your neighborhood!

1. Loose clothing
2. Increase air circulation over ice
3. Eat smaller and low protein meals
4. Chill a wet blanket for sleeping
5. Combine alcohol and water in freezer for pulse point contact
6. Keep hydrated
7. No electronics or vacuuming
8. Get to the mall
9. Dehumidify your home
10. Eat spicy foods

Those tropical natives are not wearing loose clothing made of gauzlin and cotton for nothing! The principle behind wearing loose fitting clothes in hot weather is as old as the weather itself. In hot temperatures our bodies naturally sweat to cool the surface of our skin as motion-created or naturally-created breezes flow over us to cool the bodies surface. The loose clothing allows the moisture we produce to stay on the skin providing an effective cooling system as Mother Nature designed it.

Wearing light colored materials as opposed to dark colored materials will also help to keep you cooler as light colors will reflect more of the suns rays than will dark—which absorbs as much heat from the rays as it can hold on a molecular level. The type of material is as important (if not more so) than the color; man-made synthetic materials have a much more dense structure and can be dreadfully hot against the skin. These synthetics will concentrate the heat building it to an unacceptable degree of discomfort. They also tend to soak up the moisture making the body over heat more quickly. To recap the Loose Clothing tips;

• Loose Clothing made from cotton only
• Allow moisture to stay on skin until wicked away by the breeze
• Light colored materials are cooler
• Dark colored materials will absorb the heat
• No synthetic materials

Ever wonder why air conditioning feels so good on a hot summer day? It's because the wind created is first passed over the cooling radiator which then sweeps across our skin dropping our surface temperature many degrees. If your budget won't allow you to install or even flip the "on" switch to your A/C, don't get too overheated about it. Here is a cheap and effective way to make your own air conditioning unit in the blink of a eye!

Pour as many ice cubes (or a block of ice - which works even better) into a towel. Place two chairs back to back in front of your bed, couch, or wherever you intend to land. Tie or adhere the ice-filled towel between them like a hammock. Place a regular oscillating fan next to the hammock and turn it on so the air flow travels over the ice and towards the area you want to cool. As the air moves across the ice it will pick up the cool water vapor provided by the moist towel and ice and push it right over your scorching hot skin; cooling you down just like a cooler would. Things you'll need to gather from around the house;

• Oscillating fan
• Towel
• Ice (cubed or block)
• Two chairs with backs
• String or tape for creating ice hammock
• A place to plug-in the fan

When a person eats a high protein meal, the action of digesting this protein increases the body temperature quite a bit. By consuming small portions of protein you can keep your body temperature relatively low. Eating smaller portions of all foods will also assist in maintaining a cool core temperature, because your body won't have to work so hard breaking-down the food. Also, by eating more fruits and vegetables you will be adding fluids to your system which will aid in the much needed perspiration for cooling the skin. So try eating less protein, small fruit and vegetable meals several times throughout the day to help you stay cooler. A real bonus to this keeping cool tip is that you just might accidentally drop a couple of those extra pounds while staying cool; now that's cool on several different levels!

• Low protein meals
• Smaller more frequent meals
• Increased fruits and vegetables

Imagine a cool spray of a tropical waterfall dancing across your overheated brow. This is the sensation found when sleeping on top of a chilled wet blanket. To begin, fill the tub with an inch or two of cold water. Take a blanket and dip it in the cold bathwater. Put the blanket on the spin cycle in you washer until it is no longer dripping but still remains very moist and cool (ringing out the water works okay also). Put the blanket into a plastic bag and place it in your freezer for about 45 minutes. After removing the blanket from the freezer you will place it under your bed sheet. For more comfort, you can add another layer of material between the blanket and your body to insulate your skin from the now very cold blanket. Sleep on top of the cold blanket to stay cool all night long.

• Wet a blanket in cold bathwater
• Spin in washer until not dripping
• Put blanket in large plastic bag
• Place n freezer to chill
• Put under sheet in your bed

Different materials freeze at different temperatures. The molecular shape of a component (or atomic value) affects how attracted individual molecules are to each other. The more they are attracted to one another, the more they are going to "stick" to each other (freeze) at certain temperatures. The molecules that make-up alcohol have a much lower "stickiness" than do water molecules. So it will not freeze at the temperatures found in your refrigerator, or just about anywhere else found in the natural world. For this reason, when you combine water and alcohol at a certain ratio, the compound will not freeze, but does get very, very, very cold. So, if you combine 1/2 water and 1/2 regular rubbing alcohol into a plastic baggy and place it in the freezer for several hours (or days, months...) you will have an extremely cold ice pack that remains in a constantly "slushy" state. Place these bags of slushy cold alcohol on your pulse points in the very hottest part of the summer heat. You will be cooling your body significantly by cooling your physical blood supply at the skin's surface. (The more water you add to the mix, the more slushy the mixture becomes. This is because the water will freeze while the alcohol stays liquid. The water "ice-crystals" are what makes the slushy slush.)

You should place a towel or cloth between the chilled alcohol baggy and your skin to prevent the skin surface from becoming too cold, and leaving an annoying freezer burn.

• Combine water and rubbing alcohol in a baggy
• Place baggy in freezer to chill
• Protect your skin by putting a towel between the bag and your skin
• Put the baggy on pulse points all over your body

The more the body heats up because of hot summer heat, the more moisture is delivered to the surface of the skin to cool the body. This is a natural and involuntary action the brain instigates when we start to over heat. As effective as this process is in keeping the human body cool in hot temperatures, it can deplete the body of much needed fluids to run all of the other systems required for life. This being the case, it is never more important to stay hydrated then when the weather heats up in the summer. Sports drinks, water, fruit juices, or any fluid will help keep the body's cooling system running accurately and healthy, leaving enough moisture in the body to continue running all of the other important functions the human brains manages to supervise.

• Drink fluids
• Drink fluids
• Drink fluids
• Oh, and drink fluids

This one is really a no-brainer. If it gets just way too hot, make a trip to the mall and enjoy the air- conditioned environment they provide. A day of simply people watching and enjoying an Orange Julius can bring great relief from the summer heat. Bring a deck of cards and sit in the food court or browse the shops for a cheap and simple cure for summer heat.

• Go to Mall
• Acquire cool refreshing beverage

Whenever you use electricity, you are generating heat of some kind. Something as simple as turning on a light causes the temperature in the room to rise to some degree. During the hot summer heat, you can really help keep cool by not using electricity as much as possible. With the heat come some good news; you wouldn't think so, but the simple task of running your vacuum cleaner can increase the temperature in any room by as many as 5 degrees. Vacuums shoot out the heated air from the motor directly to the room being cleaned, making things heat-up enough to "just say no" to vacuuming in the daytime. Save this task for the evening after the hot sun has gone down.

Take advantage of the sunny weather and cook outdoors. Turning on the oven or even a burner can make for a miserable meal. The heat generated from either one can turn your dining room into a "screaming hot" dining room in no time at all! So break out the BBQ and toss the corn on the cob on the grates, just don't flip the switch in the kitchen during the crazy hot hours. If you use a dishwasher, only run this at night after everyone has gone to bed, this rascal heats up the place when in action. If possible, pass on the heated drying portion of the dishwasher sequence, as a lot of heat is generated by the heating element!

• Avoid using too much electricity
• Save the vacuuming for after dark
• Cook outdoors - get the BBQ ready
• Only use dishwasher after bedtime

In some area's of the world humidity can make the heat seem hotter, heavy, and hard to breathe. This is because of the humidity, or the water vapor found in the air around you. If you can manage to decrease the water vapor, this can help make the air feel cooler and lighter. This is the only tip that can cost you a few bucks. For this you need to buy a dehumidifier, providing you don't already have one in your home. But in case you can't swing the purchase, some free or very cheap methods to dehumidify your home are as follows:

A. Open windows to create air circulation.

B. Turn on fans, overhead and otherwise.

C. Place a bag of salt on a baking sheet, poke small holes on the side facing up, place in the room to reduce humidity.

D. You can simply put salt in a bowl near an open window.

Of all of the suggestions for reducing humidity in your home, the only one that is really going to completely get the job done is the dehumidifier unit. You can get them pretty cheap on eBay or at a local Big Box store like Walmart, Kmart, or Target. You can usually find a mini-model for around $60 or a good sized model for under $200. Try combining all of the tips for dehumidifying your home along with a mini-unit for an economical as well as efficient result.

• Buy a Dehumidifier
• Open windows and turn on fans
• Use a bag of salt with holes punched in the side
• For smaller rooms, a large bowl of salt
• Buy a mini-Dehumidifier and combine with methods above

Is it a myth that eating spicy foods can keep you cool in hot weather? Millions of people who live in the hottest places on earth loudly say, "NO!" Spicy foods can stimulate the heat receptors found in the mouth, increase circulation, and cause the body to sweat, which as we have already learned helps to keep us cool. So when the summer heat gets too much to bear, break out the spicy Indian curries, Szechuan soups, and super spicy Jamaican Jerks for a cool-down session guaranteed to be the hottest gig in town!

It has been suggested that keeping your blood thin can help reduce the " friction" or "drag" as your blood circulates through your body, reducing any internal heating that might occur. A few spicy (but yummy) natural blood thinners are cinnamon, vinegars, cayenne pepper, and ginger. So go-ahead and spice up the menu this summer and make this the coolest hot season ever!

• Add spicy ingredients to your recipes
• Eat natural foods that thin the blood

♥♥♥If you have any health issues you should check with your doctor before adding blood thining foods or changing your diet in any way♥♥♥

No matter which methods suit your needs, any or a combination of all of these keeping cool tips can help you find greater comfort in the sweltering heat this summer, or any hot time of the year. Slow your pace, eat cooling foods, keep the air dry, moisten the skins surface, and try any other helpful trick to stay cool. If all else fails, a fun romp through the sprinklers never fails!