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Ok amigos I'm wondering if there has been any work done hacking a standard kitchen appliance in attempts to create a hot towel cabinet. Sorry Pals I'm not interested in microwaves. :D though that may be the simplest approach. I'm not a barber, not a masseur so I have no desire for a large expensive cabinet. However I think it'd be xtra cool to make something similar that will be energy and space efficient and not cause fire.
How about a folded towel inserted into the steamer insert of a rice cooker? If you put in just a small amount of water, it won't take much energy to boil it and then it will switch over to the warm mode. Of course, it's going to have to be either a small towel or a large rice cooker.
Another option would be to stick it into a coffee pot of a standard coffee-maker. The base would keep it warm but this would be a greater fire risk if all of the water evaporates.
Another option would be to soak the towel in hot water in your sink. :w
I keep the hot water heater a touch on the cool side. It's hot enough I suppose. At one time I had a small instant hot water heater, though I believe it was tossed when I moved once. I wonder if a crock pot would work.
How about a wicker Chinese-style steam basket over a hot pot? Or you could place the hot pot inside a cooler. Any sort of steam generating heat source and something to contain the steam.
I saw some guys that made a margarita machine by cutting a hole in the bottom of a cooler and marrying it to an in sink disposal unit...
I hear slow cookers (or crock pots) on low provide a great hot towel, with little to no risk of fire. I know others have tried with sucess.
Just a thought?
Mark
I'm going with option 4. I just use some hot water out of the tap, wring out a fair amount, and put the hot, damp towel on my face. I'm already running hot water for my scuttle so it's no extra work, and this gets my face nice and damp in addition to heating it up. A cabinet would be a little classier, but my method works just fine for me.
I like the bamboo steamer idea for the look, crock pot sounds easily doable. I'd like it to be quick, efficient.
The sink is simple enough; that's what I do now as well. I tried a new barber this week who pulled a hot towel from his cabinet before shaving the back of my neck. Saturday I'm going in for a shave. It just felt a lot nicer than the old wrung out wash rag I use at home. heh, maybe it was the towel
One of my favorite things in japan was the hot towels before a meal. You could get one of these: hot towel, Health Beauty, Home Garden items on eBay.com
And tell the wide that it is for when guests come for dinner.
Option 4: Pan full of water heated on stove at the desired temp. I assume you have cooking pans, so it's easy enough. If you wanted to make the missus happy you could buy her a steamer insert for her larger pot and use that.
I really can't see myself shaving and cooking from the same pot, even though it's only towels- this appliance hack needs to stay in the bathroom without being bulky or clutter.
I like the wash cloths in Japanese restaurants as well only I believe they should arrive at intervals throughout the meal
The downside of a crockpot is two-fold. One, it will take a long time heat up. Two, a crock pot would be energy inefficient for heating a towel as you would be heating the entire crock, which also happens to be the reason it takes a long for it to heat up.
Hmm. I think I'll have to try it first. Though it's really not the shape I want.
Time to shop a couple thrift stores to see what's out there.
It seems like many of the options have a possibility for overheating and possible burns.
What you want is something that will hold it at the desired temp and not heat it any further. You can get some annoying steam burns just cooking and a towel heated up to say 208 degrees Fahrenheit would seem likely to burn.
So the other question is how much are you willing to risk overheating, and how convenient do you want it?
I would think that hot coals would have both problems with taking a long time setting up and serious problems with overheating.
Hi
Hot coals is a joke of course. Not because it couldn't work, just too much trouble for a daily regime. The best would be ultra convenient, heat up quickly and hold temp - not scalding hot naturally. Just a nice comfortably hot towel that's ready at at hand
I just thought the towel cabinet would be a cool item in the bath, but when I saw how costly they were I was less excited. + they seem to be too large for my use.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kevint
Honestly a microwave would be about the fastest way to heat a towel up. If you got used to the microwave you could avoid to much over heating.
I would also use a low setting to more evenly heat the towel, and maybe put it into a plastic bag.
Yeah I went down this road some time ago, the smallest microwave I could find, tucked into a cabinet, was my best option... Even the professional type towel warmer is not really conducive to what we do, they are more for a shop or as some of you have said a Japanese resturant... They turn then on in the morning and turn them off at closing time, keeping the towels warm all day long..... Same problem with the crock pot idea, which does work by the way just takes forever to warm up... I didn't think of using the steamer idea which we actually have a nice large one, but I do know for a fact the it takes about 22 min to cook rice so if you had the time that might be an option....
If you go with a Microwave make sure you get the rotating type, it gets the towel way more evenly heated.. I never even use my high setting either, have had not one problem since I put one in, other than the wife thinking I have gone slightly over the top with the "Shave Den" :w
well it looks like fiery death and option 4 are currently neck and neck.:hmmm: where's your imaginations??
maybe an electric skillet and wire rack- though that's not much of a hack job.
I had an other idea. Get a couple of hot pads put them on an outlet timer and put the towel between them. They will not heat the towel up to quickly, but they will hold it at a hot temperature, but not so hot that you might burn youself.
This would not be fast, but if you knew when you where going to shave or at least have some idea you could have the towels ready for you when you start.