My Best Cooling Trick Is Hiding in the Produce Aisle (It Gives Me Instant Relief!)

Early on in my gardening days, I thought it would be lovely to have a big patch of mint to fill in a bald space in one of my garden beds. But I soon learned that I’d made a grave mistake. You have to keep anything in the mint family contained — it’s like the glitter of the garden world. It was probably during my second or third summer culling the voluminous carpet of mint that was threatening to take over my whole garden when I realized I could be using it for way more than just my tea. 

It was a true scorcher the day when the light bulb went off in my head. I already used cool, damp cotton towels around my neck on hot garden days to bring down my body temperature — why not add mint, a natural cooling herb and one I had growing out of my ears, to those towels? Now, it’s one of my favorite treats to beat the heat. 

My mint towel cooling trick is simple to put into effect. First, I soak 100% cotton flour sack dish towels in an ice bath infused with peppermint oil. I wring them out and flatten them out on the counter. Then I roll them up with mint springs from my garden, place them in a food storage bag, and keep them in the freezer for easy access.

The reason mint works as a natural coolant is because of methol, which is a “natural organic compound and the primary component of mint,” according to the National Library of Medicine. This naturally occurring compound can trick your brain into thinking it’s cool by triggering your body’s microscopic cold sensor, TRPM8, the same way ice cream would. The instant relief from my minty towels definitely feels like magic.

Besides the minty cotton towels that I wear around my neck, I also keep an herbal decoction of mint on hand in my refrigerator as another instant cooling hack. To make a decoction, I bring a large pot of water to a boil on the stove and add a heaping handful of mint (or any fragrant herb you like) to the pot. I reduce the heat for a 10-minute simmer before removing the pot from the stove completely to cool and steep overnight at room temperature. Then I strain the herbs from the liquid into a glass container and refrigerate. The decoction will keep for about a week in the fridge. 

My favorite use for the decoction is a cooling face spray. Because I love giving DIY self-care gifts, I usually have a box of 1-oz glass spray bottles on hand. I add a teaspoon of witch hazel to the bottle and then fill it to about 1/4 inch from the top with the mint decoction, and keep it in the refrigerator. It’s a great pick-me-up face spray in the heat.