Boot/Glove Dryer From Exhaust Fan

I really wanted a boot/glove dryer but was unwilling to pay the $30-100+ price tag.

Lucky for me I had an exhaust fan from a bathroom renovation project.

I spent $11 on a bilge hose at the local big box home improvement store.

I searched everywhere for a wooden box/old drawer/plastic storage bin/etc.

Then I saw an empty kitty litter bucket in the garage.

I cut out a hole to fit the fan.

Drilled holes for hoses (1 1/2") 4 on top for gloves, 6 around the outside for boots or extra gloves.

Drilled a hole for the plug and cord.

Then I worried about the open holes when I wasn't drying 10 items, the neighbor (who is in 5th grade!) recommended that I use flaps.  This turned out to be ingenious.  I cut flaps of packing tape to overlap leaving one edge of sticky to stick to the inside of the bucket.  when the fan is on the air pressure almost totally seals the "flaps"

I have yet to try this out on wet boots, but I am pretty confident that it will work well based on the airflow and my past experience with a smaller boot dryer (which was more expensive and REALLY effective).

Comments

[porklips]

love this idea! have tons of empty kitty buckets, now to find an exaust fan. . .

[brianadkison]

if you have a Habitat for Humanity Reuse or Restore near by that would be a great bet. garage sales would be the next option. Even a new one can be had for $12-$20 if you shop around. I wanted to use an old vacuum cleaner hose but they were nearly impossible to find!

[Stavros!]

Vacuum repair stores, some second hand stores have old hoses...

[mhendricks3]

Great Idea! I've been looking for a way to dry some of my equipment. I nearly lost a pair of gloves last year because they didn't dry out properly! Can't wait to build one!

[pat42586]

I thought there would still be some kitty litter in there to make it also a deodorizer, could help with some boots!

[brianadkison]

Where were you when I wrote the Instructable?! That is GENIUS!

[CaseyCase]

Clever!

[brianadkison]

Thanks!

[Dominic Bender]

Interresting design, and I think it will be nice to have when winter comes, especially for the boots of the young ones.

Is the flap anywhere to be seen in the images?

[brianadkison]

Thanks! I dried a pair of sneakers using 2 hoses in each and it was really fast.

In the very last picture you can see the tape on the underside of the lid. I tried taking pictures of the clear packaging tape but you can imagine how well they came out. The flap is simply a 3 inch strip of 2" wide packaging tape with a 2 inch strip stuck to it (sticky side to sticky side), leaving a 1" strip of stickyness to adhere it to the inside of the bucket. The best part about the flaps is the hose opens them up as soon as you put it in the hole.

[brianadkison]

Oh and BTW the bucket is large enough to store all the tubing in for easy storage/transport!