The clothes-horse question.

[johnnychips]

I have just put a load of damp clothes, fresh from the washing machine, on a clothes horse in my well-insulated room and shut the door and window, at 2200.

Should I expect to feel warmer, colder or just the same during the night?

I know we have some forum members with excellent scientific knowledge, so I await your reply.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

You will not notice any temperature difference, but there will be a noticeable smell of damp by the morning. The clothese will probably dry a bit slower with no air circulation over them as well.

 

[MattA7]

I would think that humidity makes the air feel colder although it’s doubtful that the amount of moisture from the clothes would have any noticeable effect on perception of temperatures.

One thing I have wondered is why water feels colder than air. For example a room at 75F would feel comfortable, water at that temperature would feel cold. Likewise water at 105F would be comfortably warm but a room at such temperature would be uncomfortably hot.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I have just put a load of damp clothes, fresh from the washing machine, on a clothes horse in my well-insulated room and shut the door and window, at 2200.

Should I expect to feel warmer, colder or just the same during the night?

I know we have some forum members with excellent scientific knowledge, so I await your reply.

I don't know how you will feel temperature wise, but sleeping in a damp room with drying clothes is VERY unhealthy, and doing this often is likely to result in black mould everywhere. If you have no choice but to dry clothes in your bedroom, I would wash as early in the day as possible and have the windows fully open until they have dried, and consider buying a dehumidifier (though they do cost a bit to run).

If you do this long term there is a good chance of you ending up with respiratory issues like asthma.

 

[johnnychips]

Thanks. No, I don’t do this very often at all, I’m just back from holiday.

It is really a theoretical question: will the heat used to evaporate the moisture make me feel colder, or will the increased humidity make me feel warmer?

 

[Busaholic]

Thanks. No, I don’t do this very often at all, I’m just back from holiday.

It is really a theoretical question: will the heat used to evaporate the moisture make me feel colder, or will the increased humidity make me feel warmer?

Depends what you're dreaming about.

 

[yorkie]

Thanks. No, I don’t do this very often at all, I’m just back from holiday.

It is really a theoretical question: will the heat used to evaporate the moisture make me feel colder, or will the increased humidity make me feel warmer?

What temperature will the air be? And how humid would the air be before commencing?

In warm temperatures, increasing humidity will certainly increase the perceived temperature.

One thing I have wondered is why water feels colder than air. For example a room at 75F would feel comfortable, water at that temperature would feel cold. Likewise water at 105F would be comfortably warm but a room at such temperature would be uncomfortably hot.

The short answer is that heat would be lost to the water at a very much more rapid rate.

For a more detailed answer:

Why does being in cold water feel worse than being in air of the same temperature?

If you're warmer than your surroundings your body will give off heat, but why does water feel colder than air at the same temperature?

www.sciencefocus.com

Water has a very high volumetric heat capacity. Raising the temperature of a cubic centimetre of water by 1°C takes more than 3200 times as much energy than you’d need to heat the same volume of air by the same amount. This means that the layer of water surrounding your body heats up only very slowly, the temperature gradient between the water and you stays very steep, so the rate of heat loss remains high.

Worse, because water is very dense, even a slight current will penetrate through clothes and between the hairs on your skin. This displaces the water you have already warmed up. On the other hand, air is easier to trap in a stationary boundary layer that can be warmed up and this acts to reduce the steepness of the temperature gradient. Neoprene wetsuits keep you warmer in water because their pores are fine enough to hold the layer of water next to your skin fairly still.

This is also why some objects feel colder to touch than others, even if they are exactly the same temperature.

 

[MattA7]

I don't know how you will feel temperature wise, but sleeping in a damp room with drying clothes is VERY unhealthy, and doing this often is likely to result in black mould everywhere. If you have no choice but to dry clothes in your bedroom, I would wash as early in the day as possible and have the windows fully open until they have dried, and consider buying a dehumidifier (though they do cost a bit to run).

If you do this long term there is a good chance of you ending up with respiratory issues like asthma.

I tend to dry clothes on a clothes horse in the disused bedrooms and don’t notice any problems with damp or mold. However my house is quiet an very old building without modern double glazing and old unused fireplaces, therefore well ventilated. A modern home may be different.

 

[johnnychips]

Now I think @yorkie and @Bletchleyite may be right. The room certainly feels more oppressive. I usually sleep in a T-shirt and shorts but now I think I’ll have to lose the T-shirt.

Of course normally I’d just open the window.

But a daft query has now become an anecdotal scientific study.

 

[GusB]

As long as the clothes have been removed from the machine before they start to smell damp, I do not foresee a problem. Close thread

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Well played on reviving the term "clothes horse" which I haven't heard used by anyone other than me for years. A much better name for it than "airer".

 

[Peter Mugridge]

We tend to use "airer" for our ceiling mounted thingy and "clothes horse" for the thing we set up on the floor.

 

[Bletchleyite]

We tend to use "airer" for our ceiling mounted thingy and "clothes horse" for the thing we set up on the floor.

I've always called it a drying rack, because its purpose is to dry clothes and it's a rack.

I find "airer" odd as nobody uses one just to air already-dry clothes (do they?)

 

[Purple Train]

I must say, having not come across the term "clothes horse" before, I clicked on this thread thinking it would contain some story about clothes and a horse, with the "question" being how to bring it to a conclusion.
My mind works in a mysterious way.

 

[Busaholic]

I must say, having not come across the term "clothes horse" before, I clicked on this thread thinking it would contain some story about clothes and a horse, with the "question" being how to bring it to a conclusion.
My mind works in a mysterious way.

I like it!

 

[Bletchleyite]

FWIW I find calling the tall "lattice" ones a clothes horse a bit odd as they look nothing like a horse. The flat ones are much more that shape, with legs and the "head" and "tail" on either side.

 

[DelayRepay]

I've always called it a drying rack, because its purpose is to dry clothes and it's a rack.

I find "airer" odd as nobody uses one just to air already-dry clothes (do they?)

In this house, the drying rack is the thing that sits next to the sink to hold crockery that's just been washed.

My mother calls the clothes horse an airing rack. I call it a clothes horse, my airing rack is a small version that clips to the radiator.

Now, those things with a hook and lots of clothes pegs that are mainly used for drying socks - what are they called?

 

[Bletchleyite]

In this house, the drying rack is the thing that sits next to the sink to hold crockery that's just been washed.

I'd call that a draining rack, sitting as it does on the drainboard (or draining board if preferred).

Now, those things with a hook and lots of clothes pegs that are mainly used for drying socks - what are they called?

Dunno, never had one, I just put socks on the line or rack individually.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Now, those things with a hook and lots of clothes pegs that are mainly used for drying socks - what are they called?

You mean these?

They're marketed as sock dryers.

 

[DelayRepay]

You mean these?

They're marketed as sock dryers.

View attachment 120052

That's the thing. What an unimaginative name. If they had eight pegs they could be called a Socktapus.

 

[Bletchleyite]

That's the thing. What an unimaginative name. If they had eight pegs they could be called a Socktapus.

Get on it and get that made...if I can't buy a "Socktapus" from Amazon in 6 months I'm going to be disappointed!

 

[dgl]

Get on it and get that made...if I can't buy a "Socktapus" from Amazon in 6 months I'm going to be disappointed!

The IKEA ones do resemble an octopus!

PRESSA turquoise, Hanging dryer 16 clothes pegs - IKEA

PRESSA turquoise, Hanging dryer 16 clothes pegs. Suitable for both indoor and outdoor use. Simple to fold up and put away. UV-light protected, which helps the plastic last longer.

www.ikea.com

 

[61653 HTAFC]

We tend to use "airer" for our ceiling mounted thingy and "clothes horse" for the thing we set up on the floor.

Isn't the "proper" name for those wooden ceiling-mounted ones a "kreel" (I'm guessing at the spelling, I've only ever heard it spoken)?

Or as an old uni friend with a particularly sick sense of humour called them, a "Curtis Rack" after the late Joy Division frontman.

 

[hexagon789]

Isn't the "proper" name for those wooden ceiling-mounted ones a "kreel" (I'm guessing at the spelling, I've only ever heard it spoken)?

In the North of England - a "creel"
In Scotland - a "pulley"

 

[xotGD]

I usually sleep in a T-shirt and shorts but now I think I’ll have to lose the T-shirt.

If you wear one of the damp T-shirts straight from the wash you will definitely feel cooler!