Keeping Cool in the Summer Heat

It’s July in London. It’s already 28 degrees and it’s only 10:30am. You rush down the steps of Oxford Circus tube, swipe your Oyster Card and rush down to the Victoria Line. It’s busy and it’s hot. You feel hot. You’ve already felt the river of sweat beginning to develop on your back, so you keep arching your back in order to keep the shirt fabric away from your skin. But at the same time you look like you’re stuck in a permanent thrust position.

Source: Penciljack.com

The tube train arrives, wafting a wave of heat down the tunnel. Someone standing with a flame thrower at the end of the platform wouldn’t look out of place. The tube is busy. All the seats are taken, and you end up sandwiched between two men (steady girls) who are holding on to the rail above their heads. Both men have also been rushing this morning. You can see the beads of sweat of their foreheads. And, sadly, you’re also a few inches from the 360 degree, odour-emitting sweat patches under their arms. “Why would you attract that type of attention to your armpits?” you think to yourself. Maybe they don’t realise they’re sweating. Or maybe they can’t put their armpits in a permanent thrust position.

20 minutes later, you jump off the tube, rush up the stairs and meet your colleague outside the client offices. You’re running a couple of minutes late so you rush inside, introduce yourself at reception, and head up to the meeting room.

The meeting is going brilliantly, and towards the end you relax, sit back, and during questions, you cross your fingers behind your head.

Outside, you discuss how the meeting went with your colleague. There’s lots of positivity…except when your colleague tells you a little too honestly that you ‘released the 360’s’. Your face immediately changes from a confident smile to one of complete dismay. “Why would you attract that type of attention to your armpits?” you think to yourself. You walk back to the tube in a permanent thrust position, looking aggressively at anyone who stares for too long.

Tips for Keeping Cool in the Summer Heat

If you work in a hot city during the summer, and you have to wear suits or at least a shirt and jeans, it’s very difficult to keep cool, especially when air conditioning isn’t available, for there are a few things you can do to keep those sweat patches at bay;

• Choose the right antiperspirant – throw out your deodorant. Deodorants simply cover up an odour, antiperspirants prevent you from sweating in the first place. For men, give Sure or Dove MEN+CARE a try.
• Keep your shower temperature cool – cooler showers means you reduce post-shower sweating. The last thing you want is to put on a shirt and it’s soaked in sweat before you’ve even stepped outside.
• Drink lots of water – sweating is your body’s way of cooling down. Drinking water helps to keep you cool on the inside, and replaces lost water
• Wear white shirts – white shirts are good for two reasons. Firstly, there are light coloured, so when you’re in the sun, your shirt will absorb less heat. Secondly, white shirts don’t show up sweat patches as easily as other coloured shirts. Black shirts also hide sweat patches, but you absorb more heat in the sun, which defeats the object of keeping cool, so stick to white if possible
• Bring a spare shirt – there’s no harm in packing a spare shirt for the day. If you know you’re going to be outside or in the heat, this is definitely a good idea. You can also feel smug and laugh at those who haven’t brought a spare shirt
• Wear cotton or linen – DO NOT wear synthetic shirts. Synthetic shirts are not very breathable. Sweating is meant to cool you down by allowing moisture to evaporate. But the moisture doesn’t escape, so you can’t cool down, which means you sweat even more. Linen is the ideal shirt material for hot weather, but cotton is also a good alternative

If all else fails, just remember not to put your arms behind your head, and assume a permanent thrust position.