This may seem like a dumb question but it is really not, IMO.

Whenever you all do outside work (ie. painting or even mowing the lawn) at a vacant rental property,...what measures do you take to keep from overheating in the 90 degree plus weather?

Last Saturday, I hired a 24 year old male (cash only-day labor type) to help me with some outside landscape work. After 4 hours, we had to quit work early because he lost his stamina and I thought he was going to pass out due dehydration. I was fine since I had brought water with me but he ended up drinking my bottled water and that put an early end to that day.

Old hippie trick -- wet T shirt over a bikini top. But then I am in a low humidity area.

Add salt to your lemonade. You will not taste the salt but it will prevent the loss of stamina that comes from the electrolyte disturbances from profuse sweating.

I've been known to cut a lawn at 8 am in the summertime. Or at 8 pm if there is still light (I like the morning better to avoid bugs at night).

The ice water in a cooler for dunking forearms in is good also. I'll also leave the air on in the house if I have to take breaks (I've been known to lie down on the kitchen floor for a while if I'm really, really hot from outside).

Last week I pressure washed an empty rental house during the day. That wasn't too bad; the backsplash from doing this was quite refreshing.

I vote for Roy to try the

Find somebody used to doing hard work in the heat.

My painter complains constantly about not being able to find young people capable of working.....my arm is tired....it's too hot etc.....same with my landscaper, and fence contractor.

Our neighbors on our southern border have a great system called "siesta" where you take a break during the hottest part of the day. In my area, that is generally between 11 AM - 2 PM. Start work at the crack of dawn: 6 AM. Break for 2-3 hours in the hot part to eat, rest, recover. Come back at 2 - 3 PM and work until 6 PM. Still gives you 8-9 hours to get the work done.

Drink water frequently, but not to excess. Or use watered down Gator-aid instead of plain H2O. Mix in only half the normal amount of powder. I have read numerous times that most folks don't need all the extra sugar/salt of the full strength drink. College or Pro athletes, yes. Guys doing yard work? Nah. Too much can lead to cramping.

To really answer your question. This is what I used to do years ago when I still did most of the work.

In summer lived in bathing suits. Ones that were plain and looked like regular shorts if I needed to run for supplies.

Keep couple of clean towels in truck.

Real hot weather would just pull off shirt and shoes. Run water hose over for 5 minutes. 1 minute to towel off. And was very refreshing and allowed me to continue. Shorts would self dry in 10 minutes in the real hot weather.

Yep, 1/2 strength Gatorade. We did this hiking.

And make sure they EAT something in the morning. (I buy peanut butter crackers at the grocery and keep on hand.)

Start early, wrap early. The neck cooling towels also help.

Dunking the arms in ice water.

Work at night. Use lights. Make the workers show up and BE ON THE JOB when the sun comes up (like 5:00AM) Work till it gets real hot and then come back in the afternoon around 4 or 5 and work till dark.

Of course they will gripe! Too bad- see the tear!

Rathdrum

"Old hippie trick -- wet T shirt over a bikini top".

I can't wait to try this suggestion! Do you think Walmart has any bikini tops that measure about 48 with an A cup? ROFLMAO.

And yes, the humidity here is so thick you can cut it with a knife.

NE: I will try the forearms in an ice water cooler.

Best of all, wear long sleeve, loose fitting, breathable shirt and a big brimmed hat that completely shades all sides of your head. Keep the hat and shirt wet. Bring a big ice container full of water so you can drink it, bathe in it, and never worry about running out.

90 degrees? That would feel like winter!!

When I am working outside in 110+ weather (which I do every Saturday for the past 8 weeks), here are my "tricks":

1. Wear a hat. I do not want sun on my male pattern thinning spot!

2. Pour cold water into the hat every 30 minutes or so. And let that water flow over my shoulders, onto my chest and stomach. I do NOT wear a bikini top under the t-shirt -- no need. The wet t-shirt does help.

3. Drink lemonade, thinned with cold water 50-50. Lemonade is as good for my needs as Gatorade, and the mini-mart about half a mile from the job site sells cold lemonade for $1 for a quart/liter. At least one liter every hour, to stay hydrated.

4. Every time an ice cream truck drives by, I get popsicles -- frozen flavored sugar water!

5. I avoid the frozen slushies -- in the heat, they can cause a horrendous headache.

6. I do not eat -- all that liquid I am drinking prevents me from eating. But I do grab a bag of potato chips or Fritos -- the salt does help.

I bought a "blue ice" type of product that was shaped like ice cubes in a sheet. You could cut the sheet to shape it.

I cut one in an oval shape to fit inside my hat (which, as TA mentioned, did have the neck flap). It was not very helpful -- too cold. I next put a washcloth between it and my head, and it wasn't very comfortable and did not seem to help much.

Just pouring water into the hat seemed to help more than the Blue Ice thingee.

90 is hot? Apparently you haven't been to Arizona in July. :)

When it cools off to only 90 we get sweaters out. But when it's the usual 105-127 degrees we limit exposure outside.

But you haven't lived until you do welding when it's 120 outside!

One reason I rent my truck, during range training at our school we leave my truck running with the ac on full blast in the parking lot as a cool point. We also dunk towels in ice water.

We also ALWAYS have a cooler with water and tea or lemonade in the truck. Being without water here kills people every week.

My dear LTD,...let me tell you a bedtime story. It is getting late here.

In 1986, while driving from Santa Barbara to AL, I drove through the Mojave Desert (during August) when I heard the local radio D.J. say "it is only 110 in the Mojave Desert right now!". The humidity was only about 20% that day, which is why I left the car windows open and did not feel any need to use my car's A/C. I found that 110 degrees with low humidity was actually 'quite comfortable' for me (YMWV) when I stopped at a gas station. Yes, 110 was HOT but it did not make me uncomfortable though.

Two days later, I roll into Alabama and the temperature was now only 80 but the humidity was 95%. That is when I turned the my car's A/C for the first time during that entire 3 day (2,000 mile) trip.

Come to AL and you will experience what I am talking about. You have not lived until you have spend some time in AL on a hot and muggy day or night. Right now it is 10:30p.m. and still 85 degrees outside,.. but the air 'thick and muggy'. During the summer months, we worship our A/C units!

Every now and then, we get lucky and have a couple of very low humidity days with a cool breeze blowing. Those rare days here remind me of living in S.B. and being in Mojave Desert!

LTD's posting reminded me of the time we went river rafting through the Grand Canyon.

Guides were always pushing fluids, fluids, fluids. It was easy to get dehydrated because while the temps were high the humidity was so low it was easy for we "tourists" to not realize just hot it was.

I remember a hike into one of the side canyons to view some waterfalls. Along the way we went through a small stream. I took off my hat, filled it with water and put it back on to cool me down. By the time we got to the waterfall the hat was completely dry.

Keep your head wet. After the state of NJ stole 37K in death taxes from the business when mom passed, I had to cut all the lawns as there was no money to pay someone. I cut in 90 degree weather and just kept running the hose over my head and back and was good until I dried out again.

I don't think the weather is as hot now as when I came here in the 50s We used to install pre built garages all over the State of Connecticut,the radio stations were moaning and groaning about how hot it was,so to really find out what the fuss was about,we took our own thermometers and. laid them on the middle of the garage slab,within seconds the mercury climbed to 130*.had to pick them up because that was as high as they registered and were about to burst. We never drank too much of anything either,just get this thing finished and get out of here. Charlie...........

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Roy,

Simple: hire it. When you get overheated from watching from your air conditioned living room chair take a dip in the pool.

Problem solved.