Mastodawn

elilla&, summer enjoyer

anyway hi Germany it's over 30° in moderately dry heat! welcome to heat!

- sip water all day even if you don't think you're thirsty
- eat salty snacks or salty food when you're sipping water all day
- wear loose, breathable clothing such as linen or sports synthetics [edit: specifically not cotton]
- when out in the sun, cover all exposed skin with either sunscreen or loose, breathable clothes
- when you go outside take: sunglasses, head covering, water bottle
- avoid being in the sunlight when the sun is high
- umbrellas are great to go out in the sun
- stop trying to not sweat. sweat is natural when it's hot and it's a very efficient cooling system (as long as you're wearing loose, breathable clothing)
- in fact things that trigger sweat will *cool you down*—counter-intuitively, this includes spicy food and hot tea
- don't work when the heat is cooking you alive in the office. in the absence of a siesta tradition, procrastinate. bullshit. kill time. surviving is enough.

do you feel lethargic and vaguely ill when it's hot like this? do you feel fatigued and unable to do anything? follow these simple measures and I guarantee you will feel better think of it as dressing up on 2+ layers plus overcoat, beanie and gloves during winter but like, the other way around. you will definitely not regret protecting your health from the heat

elilla&, summer enjoyer 5d ago

"if cotton is bad in hot days does that mean kufiyyah aren't good"

obviously that's wrong, people from kufiyyah countries know about heat survival more than me. for one thing cotton soaking up sweat doesn't matter in very dry heat. but even if you're at moderate (>50%) or higher humidity and cotton clothes block refrigeration, there's still many utilities for kufiyyah. in my experience they get too stuffy as head covering in full sun in humid places, but when draped loosely around the shoulders they're very good to protect exposed skin when you like to wear sleeveless summer dresses and tank tops, as I do. this is doubly as useful if you wear backpacks or shoulder bags, because otherwise the straps get very uncomfortable directly against sweaty sun-burned skin.

kufiyyah are also useful to wiping sweat off your face, and depending on the heat and humidity you can wet them in a tap and drape them wet for a refreshment. if you have to sit or stand somewhere with no shade sometimes you can use them to improvise a little cover (though an umbrella is best for this purpose). and if you get surprised by an unexpectedly chilly night after a toasty summer day, they work as makeshift blankets. etc. etc.

german ohio nationalist/separatist Jun 13, 2025

@elilla i dont even have a hat or sunglasses im so screwed

Mina Jun 13, 2025

Everything correct.

Having lived for a while in South America taught me a lot about dealing with sun and heat.

Yet: What I can't get used to, is sunglasses.

Having sit something in my face is a feeling I profoundly despise.

Maybe this will change, once my sight requires me to (it eventually happens to all us).

phii (local floofgirl cutie)Jun 18, 2025

@elilla is drinking saline solution instead of water plus salt snacks an option? sounds easier to dosage..

elilla&, summer enjoyer May 23

@phseiff did I ever answer this? the answer is yes! that's how they make sports drinks (gatorate etc.)! in the hot countries we call it a "hydrating serum"; it's a critical health measure especially for babies who lost water due to sickness, it hydrates faster and more safely than pure water, so everyone is taught how to do it. mix 20g of sugar and 3.5g of salt in a litre of water (usually described as "two shallow tablespoons of sugar, one coffespoon of salt"—Brazilians use actual spoons, not USA-style measuring spoons). there's also pre-mixed packets sold commercially, both with salts for medical use, or with added aromas as sports drinks.

but other than in a health situation, you don't have to be super careful with dosage. it's enough to be aware that when you sweat you lose salt, when you drink water you do not replenish the salt, and the feeling of heat lethargy/fatigue/etc. is related to the lack of salt, too, not just the lack of water. then making sure you consume some salt-heavy food during the day helps with it. this is why ramen in Japan is a typical summer-day dish (summers in Japan are as hot as India), or Mexico has those fruit vendors with rock salt/tajin, or Brazilian salt-cured ingredients in dishes like tacacá, etc. in a pinch, a simple pack of chipfrisch from an Automat will already help you if you're outside in a hot day (as long as you have water!! the water part is important!)

phii (local floofgirl cutie)May 23

@elilla not sure if you did but this is certainly useful rn !! meltign,,,,

⚪︎Jul 2, 2025

@elilla I've been living by your tips for a few years now. I would like to add a few additional heat-combatting strategies that are saving me on 38°C days like these:

- eat light and more often, heavy meals heat you up more
- pre-cool yourself, e.g. with a cold shower if you need to head out
- carry a small spray bottle filled with water so you can mist yourself and increase evaporative cooling
- carry an umbrella -> personal portable shade if you need to pass through the deadly laser rays
- invest in a wearable cooling device like the sony reon pocket (has recently become available in the EU) or a coolify neck cooler. these will not cool your body significantly but the sensation of cold makes the heat more bearable

@elilla thanks but i'll still die i think :3

@elilla damn, is there ever a reason to wear cotton, aside from other fabrics beingore difficult and expensive to source?

Yes! Cotton is GREAT when you want evaporative cooling assistance in dry windy places, as well as protection while working with hot items. My go to example is cotton coveralls and gloves. Instead of melting when sparks and slag drop on you, if it sticks to the fabric it smoulders and goes out instead of melting to your skin. The fine knit really helps to prevent that happening though, cotton is GREAT for that.

Mi Delivery. Transeuropean delivery of Mi.May 23

why not cotton? i just don’t can’t make a web search cause there will be so much clutter from “natural textiles are bad” crowds and also likely not yours original reasons

Seconded, cotton is what linen is made of isn't it?

Edit: Nah, it's made of flax!

sarcoptus scabium May 23

@mi @elilla i absolutely knew there were the ‘synthetic textiles are bad’ cranks, i am excited to learn about the ‘natural fibres are bad’ cranks

@thegarbagebird @mi @elilla

Oh geez. Of course there are, I guess. Screw nuance and using different fabrics for different jobs.

Cotton coveralls and gloves are amazing, they are perfect for protection while welding, for example.

elilla&, summer enjoyer 4d ago

@TeflonTrout @thegarbagebird @mi

natural textiles are great, but cotton will overheat in summer and give you hypothermia in winter (the single exception being dry heat, where the sogginess of cotton doesn't cause problems). it holds 25× its own weight in water, preventing your sweat from evaporating, which is what cools you down in heat. cotton is great when you *want* to absorb tons of water, e.g. for towels; for everything else, there's a reason why the mountain climber saying is "cotton kills".

literally any other plant (linen, hemp, ramie, nettles etc.) will dry better than cotton and allow evaporative cooling from your sweat to happen. that's why there's such a big difference when you wear linen clothes of the type used in India or Japan, it's not (as many think) due to linen being woven in thin or breezy textiles, thick linen will be a better undercloth due to quick evaporation, too.

there's also issues with current agricultural practices of the cotton industry being highly damaging for the environment, water-intensive etc., with most cotton in the world being of unclear provenance and a lot of it mixed with products of Uyghur/prisoner slave labour, and with the textile industry specialising on cotton due to cost-cutting and rendering their machines suboptimal for other fibres. but these aren't the fault of cotton, they're the fault of the industry.

I live in Europe where linen, unlike cotton, is a native plant, and it's what everyone wore up until a couple centuries ago; not only it's much more functional for the climate, but also the agricultural process is much more restorative—linen grows spontaneously on my balcony and the flowers, though short-lived, are pollinator flowers. if you live anywhere that has a local tradition of linen, hemp or ramie textiles, it makes a lot of sense to save money, buy less clothing with higher quality made from native fibres, and support your local producers.

sarcoptus scabium 4d ago

@elilla i reference this thread more than i thought i would @TeflonTrout @mi

🏳️‍⚧️🐇May 23

@elilla same procedure as last year miss Elilla? (same procedure as every summer...)

LilaHexe May 23

@elilla slip slop slap seek slide

slip on a shirt
slop on some sunscreen
slap on a hat
seek shade
slide on sunglasses

www.cancer.org.au/cancer-information/causes-and-prevention/sun-safety/campaigns-and-events/slip-slop-slap-seek-slide

Slip, Slop, Slap, Seek, Slide | Cancer Council Australia

One of the most successful health campaigns in Australia's history, Sid the seagull, reminded us of 3 easy ways we can protect ourselves from skin cancer

Cancer Council Australia

elilla&, summer enjoyer May 23

@LilaHexe lol were they *trying* to make it sound as sleazy sexual as possible

@elilla
Since it seems that we committed ourselves to crossing the +3°C border in heating the climate is fine (here in germany), we should definately work on cultural change to adopt more to heat.

Or... I know, it's a crazy idea, but MAYBE we should extremely limit our CO2 emissions and NOT cross the +3°C line, and possibly not the +2,5°C line, too... yeah, crazy, I know.

@elilla
(I know, none of those here have impact in the klimate change, most of us do their part to minimize anyway, this is just me being zynic, because the world... 😩😭)

elilla&, summer enjoyer 5d ago

@momo Germany should have thought of that before sending the BRD's entire police force to violently kick us out of Lützerath :) thanks for siding with coal miners, Die Grüne :) Lützi alone is estimated to already cross 1.5°C, the country of law and order strikes again :) now we all burn, and it hurts Germans more than me :)

@elilla
The thing is: Stopping the emissions is is keeping us where we are a few years after we stopped (because emitted CO2 needs a few years before its climate impact manifests). And that only if we don't trigger switching points that start self-inducing chain reactions (and I'm certain we already triggered a few of those).

If we want to to revert this, we need to get CO2 out of the atmosphere faster than we are currently emitting it, and store it somehow. Maybe use energy to split it into carbon and oxygen and store the carbon (WITHOUT BURNING IT AGAIN, my dear eFuels-bubble!).

And all I see is rich people fantasizing Technologieoffenheit and Hocheffizienter Verbrenner while watching the world burn.

@elilla a relevant reboost as the UK is forecasted to peak at 30 next week

Dee Lux Fiat May 23

@elilla Remember potassium as well!

Luna, 🌙 for short. 🇺🇦May 23

@elilla seeing this after waking up from hearing someone work in peak sun at 12:00, in 30C weather

I bet if I look outside I see him shirt less and Red like a lobster

solastalgia kris ☀️🧘🚲May 23

@elilla I'm curious though, when it's hot I can only stand cotton clothing, synthetic fabrics make me feel like my skin is on fire, especially under direct sunlight, I must be doing something wrong or maybe I'm sensitive 🤔

elilla&, summer enjoyer May 23

@iyashikei_kris

it can be several things:

- the synthetics you tried were bad-quality synthetics (not sportswear / breathable performance clothing), there's a lot of trash plastic clothing around

- the synthetics you tried maybe are breathable but don't provide good "air cushion" (being loose-fitting and with good covering), or are bad at actually reflecting heat/UV

- you have a soft allergy to plastic clothing, and it comes out more with sweat (I have this too, it makes synthetic panties impossible for me to wear)

- you just don't like how synthetics feel in the sun ( #relatable )

my advice is to wear linen or hemp

tranarchy_a_genderqueer

@elilla I wish it would be dry heat here it's 45% and if I remember correctly dry is 30% and below. Yesterday was 88% and that wasn't funny.

I hate humid heat these days also hate humid cold.

elilla&, summer enjoyer 5d ago

@TheOneDoc oh "dry" for my standards. it's currently 67%, I count that as dry heat. where I come from it's usually over 90%, that makes summer a little bit more of a challenge

elilla&, summer enjoyer 5d ago

@TheOneDoc like all of my tips about sweating and loose, breathable clothing get a debuff the higher the humidity is

elilla&, summer enjoyer 5d ago

@TheOneDoc at desert climates you can just wear cotton, it doesn't matter, it's never going to stay wet anyway :3 so desert folk like the Bedouin and Touareg etc. wear full-body cotton robes and they work perfectly fine.

the more you climb on the humid end the more you need breathability, which is why linen or ramie are so popular in Japan, India, Philippines etc.

personally I hate desert-dry heat (or cold) and much prefer these moderate levels of humidity in Germany, but objectively humid heat is more dangerous, and beyond 90% it's just really hard to cool down your body at all, you have to take every possible measure combined and it's still not enough so you simply reduce activity out in the sun, and all activity in general, as much as you can. my daughter who lived half her life in India said that in over 90% over 40° no one could do anything from 12 to 17h, you just lay there and wait for it to improve.

tranarchy_a_genderqueer

@elilla I like dry heat and cold as long as I can stay outside of direct sunlight.
I don't like the skin in my face cracking and bleeding.

humid cold is just annoying as the coldgets anywhere the heat is just annoying es every little bit you do you sweat buckets.

tranarchy_a_genderqueer

When it's above 30 and above 75% it always reminds me of the time I spent in Malaysia :-)