Yvonne Glasgow
Covering your face in the dead of winter is cozy, but wearing a mask in the summer can be uncomfortably warm. If you’re finding it hard to stay cool while you’re wearing a mask, here’s how to cool down.
Fans
It might be old fashioned, but don’t underestimate the power of a traditional hand fan. You’d be surprised how much air you can move with a large hand fan and a minimal amount of movement of your hand and wrist.
There are lots of little handheld battery-operated “personal” fans on the market now. While most of them are pretty cheaply constructed and run on a pair of disposable AA batteries, you can get some surprisingly good ones, like this model, that are essentially a powerful little fan combined with a serious battery for strong and long-lasting cooling.
When it comes to using fans, be considerate of others: don’t use a fan when you’re in a more crowded area because you’re blowing everything towards other people.
Cooling Devices
It’s one thing to fan yourself a little here or there to cool off on a short trip, but if you’re going to be outside for an extended period of time (especially if you have a job that requires you to be out in the heat while wearing a mask) you’ll probably want to get a little more serious about staying cool.
One of the reasons fans are so great is they help cool your body by evaporative cooling. But you can’t always stand there fanning your face. If you need your hands free but still want that cool breeze-blowing feeling, this clever little personal fan clips on your waistband and blows air up the small of your back under your shirt. It also has enough juice to last all day.
Need more serious chilling? You’ll have to bring the cold to you via way of ice. If you’ve ever been to a Rennesaince festival, you may have seen a bodice chiller before. Called by many names, including bosom chiller, bodice chillers are often made of glass or metal. They’re usually about as thin as a single cigar case.
That’s great if you have a bodice to chill, but for most people, a more universal solution is in order. Flexible and freezable neck wraps like this one help give you a whole-body cooling effect by chilling your neck—it’s like the old wet-towel around the neck trick on steroids. If you need even more cooling power than a small neck wrap can offer and you don’t mind looking like you’re rocking a bullet-proof vest, you can always upgrade to this cold therapy vest to stay cool. It’s not exactly high fashion, but at least you won’t get heatstroke.
With a little proactive planning, you can avoid riding out the summer in a pool of your own sweat.
