I was in Athens today on a termite case inspection and after the exterior, attic and crawlspace investigations I was hot, sweaty, tired and filthy. I was with an entomologist from south Louisiana and he told me to bring a towel or rag because he had a great way to get cooled off called "Florida water". He had a water cooler full of aromatic water...soak the towel and wipe your head, neck arms and whatever else you want to wet down. Yes, that sounds kinda perchjerker gay, but this wasn't thataway.

So the water smelled like lemon, mint and some other soothing fragrance. Kind of like Seabreeze stuff at barbershops. Water was super cold,
more than expected. I wet down a towel in the ice water solution and proceeded clean up and I instantly cooled off in a way far superior to using just ice water. The water on my skin tingled and evaporated pretty quickly so I cooled off fast. Instantly refreshing...helped in part by the fragrance. He wouldn't tell me what was in the water, only that it cost $1.98 at Walgreens. Finally he shared his secret ingredient.

Florida Water cologne...cheap plastic bottle of mostly distilled water, alcohol and fragrances. It was the alcohol in the mix that made the water 22 degrees but not frozen and allowed for the instant evaporative cooling...plus bonus of a cover scent.

Fill jug with ice.
Add water.
Put about 2 ounces of Florida Water cologne in the water jug.
Throw in a hand towel and close it up.

I'm going to start using this. Figured I'd share.

Well now. I started wearing long sleeves this summer and it made a big difference. Also drank cool water instead of ice water. Wait, that says NEW YORK!

Very cool. Pun fully intended. I’ve seen similar setup at a few golf courses, where the beverage cart also has a cooler full of good smelling ice cold towels .... the alcohol is genius.

Don't shoot the messenger

Florida water from New Yawk?

Yes it works, kids used it during summer baseball for a few years.

I was watching some Mexicans building houses today and most of them had jackets, some quilted nylon, on. If they happy I happy, I just kept the windows up and the air blowing.

There have been different studies done. I watched a documentary where military was trying out gloves with water tubes in them. They sat a soldier in a very heated room. He wore the gloves and had sensors all over. They heated the room gradually. They pumped ice water through the gloves and he never broke a sweat when they turned up the heat.

They reversed the process. Hot water through gloves and placed him in a freezer. Never shivered and thermal imaging showed core temps were stable. All from the circulation in the hands.

I stick my arms in a bucket of ice water for as long as I can tolerate it. Seems to rapidly cool me off and increase my tolerance for extreme temps. I'm gonna try your method soon.

We had vests in the fire service that worked like what I mentioned above. They were legit for working a fire. I was able to cool off and go back to work much faster and for longer.

NASCAR drivers use the watertube-cooled suits, don't they?

As for the rag-in-ice deal, can't you do the same thing with ice water and witch hazel or rubbing alcohol, both of which evaporate and help cool your skin?

I have one kinda like that around here. Picked it up in Iraq or Afghanistan. The kind you soak in the water mixture then wear. It’s great until it heats up. Then it’s hot water weight until dipped again.
The alcohol mixture is legit though.

Where do they sell this in Walgreens?

alcohol does the same thing....add bottle of alcohol to ice water...wash arms and face , neck....

Yep, they wear long pants , long sleeves, and big hats, the young guys wear hoodies with the hoods up, no matter how hot it is. Ask one why , he'll say " sun is bad for you."

Probably right next to the tampons

Ice water, witch hazel and ammonia.

Is Bud Lite ok?

no no no...isopropyl alcohol

Well...I was expecting to see a plane ticket to Wyoming, but I suppose that will do

Had no idea.

THAT STUFFS MADE IN NEW YORK CITY!!