Consider using the “Egyptian Method”: wet a sheet or bath towel that is large enough to cover you with cool or cold water, and wring it or run it through the spin cycle on a washing machine until the sheet is quite damp but not dripping wet. Place the dry towel or sheet on your bed underneath your body and use the wet sheet as your blanket. The damp blanket will keep you cool. A tip that I might end up using before the Summer is over. From How to Sleep Comfortably on a Hot Night
UPDATE 8/1/06: I tried this last night using a thin beach towel and it worked really well. With a fan blowing over me I was comfortably chilled. A heat index hovering around 110 is predicted for the next three days. The higher the humidity the less effective evaporative cooling is. This will be a real test for the Egyptian method. The wet towel on the neck technique, below, also works.
Place wet towel on the back of your neck and also the top of one’s head. Athletic team doctors have used this for years!
From: How to Cool Yourself Without Air Conditioning Both on WikiHow
