*Drying Clothes In A Hotel Room*
By: Roto
15 April 2011

Conditions requiring using this method: No dry clothes at all and stuck in a hotel room.

Requirements: HVAC unit in a hotel room. Preferable one with working heat.

There are quite a few methods for drying your clothes in this situation; however I found that this one is the quickest. This is also the time to wash the clothes in the bathtub or sink if that is required. In my case it was. After you have done washing the clothes (if you had to) you need to twist dry them. Now this can ruin some materials so just be prepared to buy a new shirt if you have to do this. Doesn’t ruin jeans or anything synthetic that I tried this on (YMMV), but it did stretch one of my t-shirts. Also some materials may shrink. The same t-shirt that stretches sideways when twist drying also shrunk length wise, so I ended up with a shirt that’s too wide and too short. Just be aware that this can happen.

If you are drying socks – don’t do it if you wore them until you have washed them even if you think they’re clean. You’re in a confined space and you’re blowing hot air through socks you’ve worn – that’s a no-no.

Once you twist dried the clothing it’s time to dry them. Now the typical hotel hvac unit is putting out a very narrow stream of air, so trying to hang them up in a chair in front of the unit is actually hurting the effect. What you need to do is put it right over the air outlet. (THEY ARE ELECTRIC, MAKE SURE MULTIPLE TIMES THAT YOU’VE TWIST DRIED AS HARD AS POSSIBLE AND IT DOESN’T DRIP) Most likely the outlet is too small for the piece you’re trying to dry so you will be doing it in 20 minute stages. Set the temperature to 76-80 degrees and fan to medium. High will probably blow what you’re drying off of the unit and low won’t have the desired effect. Start with the area that is hardest to dry. On jeans, that’s the top part and the only part that requires doing both sides. Once the first part is dry simply pull the next part over the outlet and continue until completely dry. This had my fully soaked jeans, t-shirt, socks, and underwear clean and dry in less than 3 hours. YMMV, since for me it was the first time doing this sort of thing and I wasn’t very motivated to complete quickly.

Cold air will dry the clothes as well, but not as quickly as hot air. I did try drying my undershirt with A/C set on lowest on one part and then with just the fan. Cold A/C makes it dry quicker, but still took about twice as much as with heat.
Roto



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