A 'keeping cool in this heat at night' top tip

[PercyPigandMe]

I know that the overwhelming majority of you will be fully aware of this tip but I mentioned it to a friend the other day and she was astonished. Had never heard of it so it made me wonder if she was the only one not in the know

Anyway, fill a hot water bottle and freeze it. Pop in bed at night and it stays ice cold all night long. Another tip is to soak a towel of whatever size you fancy in cold water and wring out. Use as a sheet at night

Any other tips?

Who said you have to bother with clothes or covers in bed?

Ah that makes a bit more sense. If I ever get to travel to Australia or Fiji I will give it a go too!

@memberofthewedding

Who said you have to bother with clothes or covers in bed?

^^ gosh, I thought naked & no covers was obvious. don't people start there?

I'm still under my duvet.

It's as hot as hell out there but that's what the monsters under the bed wait for so I won't be sticking any legs out tonight thank you very much.

Can I recommend a ceiling fan? It might not help for right now but extreme weather is only going to get worse. I live in Australia and barely have to turn the air con on because I have a decent ceiling fan. When I lived in a stupid hot house without one I went with the fan/wet towel combo. I tried sleeping in the bath once but it was tricky.
(was desperate)

Buy an electric fan. They're like 20 quid. I couldn't be with out mine. So worth the small cost.

Yeah you need something otherwise monsters.

I don't know where some weirdos were drug up. They probably dangle their naked leg over the side

@OytheBumbler

I'm still under my duvet.

It's as hot as hell out there but that's what the monsters under the bed wait for so I won't be sticking any legs out tonight thank you very much.

Take the duvet out and just sleep under the cover!

Seriously though, a damp sheet and fan is cooler than nothing on.

I got told recently about a thing cyclists do after hard races to bring their core temperature down so they really cool down fast, and since I tried it I have never slept so well even on the hottest nights (I live in a hot country with high humidity... usually is around 26/28 degrees at night here and my DH doesn't like the noise of air con). About 10 minutes before going to bed I get a washing up bowl put some ice in it and fill with water, deep enough that it comes up to my ankles when I stand in it. I put that in front of the kitchen sink, then fill the sink with water and ice and put my forearms in so hands and arms up to my elbows are submerged. The two lots of cooling really takes your core temp down and it only takes about 5 minutes or so until I feel really refreshed. Then I go to bed while I still feel really cool and usually fall asleep really quickly. Hope it might work for some of you too

Does anyone else find it hard to sleep naked with no covers?

It makes me feel….naked?! Can’t do it. Need some sort of cover, even a sheet. I tend to just have my duvet with one leg / arm / side of body out and the other side under!

@harverina yep. No sheet and naked is just an open invitation to the bogey man. Need the stellar protection of a sheet!

I have to have a sheet over me too. It's in case anyone is watching ...

Having barely survived the recent Western Canada heat dome, my suggestions follow.

Take a shower right before bed. Start with just warm water and gradually turn it down. Make sure you wet your head and hold it under the cool water for a bit. Also make sure the cool water reaches the warmer crevices if you get my meaning. Stay in the shower until you are feeling really cool.

Use a fan blowing directly on you. If the noise bothers you use earplugs. I had one earplug and one ear bud to listen to audio books.

A spray bottle can really help. Mist yourself when you feel really hot.

I get the monster under the bed thing. I like something over me. I bought a cooling blanket on Amazon last year and it helps a bit.

My tips:

Pajamas kept in the fridge.

Air con - you soon get used to the noise.

Sleep on top of the duvet.

We have a desk type fan too. There are nutters outside over in the car park who come out at night and go mental when it gets stupid hot. So we have to keep the windows shut and the fan on.
It's 27 degrees in here right now. The window has just been opened before we suffocate!

In Australia, and in our last place one bedroom got the afternoon sun. I used car windscreen sun reflectors cut to shape and glued/taped together to fit the window. I would put it up in the window before the afternoon sun hit it and it kept the room much cooler in general.

Buy a fan with a filter & water tank, I have the JML one, it was on offer at £25, had it on full blast all day in my bedroom, has gone through 1.5 litres of water but it works, you can also freeze the filter after soaking it in water.

Leave the curtains closed all day helps me.

I just open windows front and back of the house to create a through-draft and strip the bed down to sheets only. Works for me and added benefit of going to sleep listening to owls hooting.

Ive moved a bed downstairs, bit extreme but its being given away to a friends so needed to drag it downstairs anyway.

I had an early one last night and slept really well, no duvet just a blanket and fan on my feet.

I invested in a really good and quiet table top cooling fan
It's been an absolute life saver in the hot nights as I absolutely thrash all night when it's like this.

It wasn't cheap and I did wonder what the hell I was doing paying that much, but it has a remote control, diff speed settings and timer function so you don't need to get out of bed to change or turn it off

@PercyPigandMe

I know that the overwhelming majority of you will be fully aware of this tip but I mentioned it to a friend the other day and she was astonished. Had never heard of it so it made me wonder if she was the only one not in the know

Anyway, fill a hot water bottle and freeze it. Pop in bed at night and it stays ice cold all night long. Another tip is to soak a towel of whatever size you fancy in cold water and wring out. Use as a sheet at night

Any other tips?

I do similar with an ice pack wrapped in a towel, but I'm not sure I'd use a hot water bottle - they're not designed to go in the freezer and I'd be worried about the material becoming brittle/damaged while frozen, and the hot water bottle leaking - potentially the next time it's full of hot water.

Just had a google to see if that's something that actually happens, and got a mixed result of people saying they freeze hot water bottles all the time, and tabloid sob stories of the "Mum of seven SCALDED after DANGEROUS 'LIFE HACK'" variety. Think I'll stick to my ice pack, anyway.

Keep the curtains closed all day in bedroom.

Have a fan with a shallow bowl (I use a baking tray) of ice or cold water in front of it, creates a cool breeze.

Take duvet out of cover and just sleep under the cover bit, or a flat sheet.

Couldn't imagine using a damp towel!

I do the same with the hot water bottles. I sleep on top of the duvet with a sheet over me. I have 2 of the frozen hot water bottles and 2 fans to keep the air cooler. Hoping for a break in the weather as I am finding the heat combined with menopausal flushes a bit too much.