Episode 2 Continues

this is part 2. please see part 1 first.
  last time on smelly billa...

 

understanding humidity and heat fields helped one billa villager kick mr. soggy pants in the rear.

 

tired of having a soggy bum and dampened dignity, this billa villager discovered how to get his clothes dried in a couple hours (not days) using nothing more than a household fan.

back to part 1


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now

part 2: extreme seasons
(click below)

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but right after posting last week, we experienced a sudden and surprising spike in humidity following some autumn rainfall, and i noticed that my hanging laundry didn't dry nearly as quickly.

so i did what i normally do to dry my clothes during humid summer months: i use the air conditioner.

an air conditioner not only cools air, but it de-humidifies the air also. dale from lennox industries told me all about it:

you'll never get a room cool until you can get it dry.

good word dale.

so it was rainy and humid last week, but not long after turning on the A/C, the air dried out in my billa and, with the help of my ordinary household fan, my clothes were soon dry. thanks to dale over at lennox, there haven't been any soggy pants in this billa for ages.

but what about getting stuff dry in winter?

as you might remember from the science cartoon last time, evaporation is hindered in cold conditions.

and there's nothing worse than going out on the town with a soggy bum on a chilly january night.

but using your air conditioner in winter just doesn't make sense.

you might even break the external A/C unit outside your window if you tried such a thing.

so in winter, in conjunction with my ordinary household fan, i also use a small space heater which has a (little) built-in fan of it's own. this warms up the air in the laundry area.

with toasty air, my trusty household fan does the rest.

turning on your floor heat may have this same de-humidifying effect, but i can't remember. if so, just have the floor heat on, open the door to the laundry area, and click on the big fan.

this little heater was around 30,000 won.  its little built-in fan shoots the heat outward a few feet, which helps.

WARNING: don't set up electrical things like fans and heaters in potentially wet areas. you could seriously die (like the famous monk/writer thomas merton who died in a wet asian bathroom with a 220 volt [the same as korea's voltage] outlet).

the locals use their heated floors to get stuff dry overnight. they just lay their wet stuff on it like in the picture.

be careful with wool (or cotton that is not pre-shrunk). you might end up with a tiny sweater.

but if you have clothes that have gotten stretched, give this method a try and see if it snugs your t-shirt back down to size.

i've used this method in winter before, but sometimes it doesn't get things completely dry by morning.

that's all. air conditioner for humid months and space heater for cold months does the trick.

and for milder months, the A/C or heater only speeds up your drying time.

just dry out the air, and your fan will do the rest.

Smelly Billa 
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why be soggy?





Johnny Random, 경기도  평택시, 2010
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results may vary depending on anything possible in physics or biology, but it usually works fine. some things take me a little longer to get dry depending on their proximity to the fan, position on the drying rack, and composition. no risks come to mind, but i'm not a professional so i have to say, "use at your own risk".

stay tuned for more posting about washing and drying clothes in korea, how to save space when drying, and especially how to stop stretching and ruining your t-shirts, sleeved things, and delicate wears.

all images used in this post click-through to their sources.