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Homemade Towel Warmer.......


bart6453

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Okay, so I am cheap and it's not like the economy is great or anything so extra cash is very sparse. On top of that, it's getting cold up here in Minnesota....so I was trying to figure out how to keep our towels warm while we are sitting in the hot tub.

Here is what I came up with, and it works great!

I took an old heating pad, and an old cooler, I cut a hole in the bottom of the cooler Just big enough to put the cord of the heating pad through it, leaving the cord hang outside.

Then I taped up the hole on the outside and poured urethane rubber into the hole from the outside and a thin layer in the bottom of the cooler to cover the heating pad. I removed the tape from the outside of the cooler, and it looks pretty trick. I then painted the cooler a nice tan to match the siding of the house and my deckbox. I used the Krylon for plastics paint. I mounted the controls for the heating pad on the side wall of the cooler on the inside.

Now I have a weatherproof towel warmer that I can leave sitting on the patio during winter.

All we need to do is throw our towels in there before we hop in the tub, turn it on high, and they are nice and balmy warm.

Total cost, $10 for the urethane. If you needed a cooler and heating pad, you would have $30 in it.

anyways...I was impressed!

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How about some pics!!!!!!

I will post some, I just made tonight out of a better cooler and a modern heating pad with an auto shut off...that way we can turn it on and forget about it, after 60 minutes...it turns off.

Cooler, $20

Heating Pad, $13

Paint $5

I skipped the urethane, because A. I didnt have any left, B. I didnt want to buy any, C. I think it hampered the heating pads ability to heat the towels. I will post a pic shortly.

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Pretty slick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! B)

That is killer!!!

Thanks guys, try it yourselves....it works great!

I have to admit, I did not come up with exactly the idea. My mom used to make yogurt with our heating pad as a kid...I know sounds strange, but that works too(another thread for another board) but anyways that was my inspiration for making a towel warmer.

Here's an update, I am a bit of a perfectionist, it may be from a grommet from a Harley-Davidson oil tank, but it works here.

100309_203200.jpg

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Pretty slick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! B)

That is killer!!!

Thanks guys, try it yourselves....it works great!

I have to admit, I did not come up with exactly the idea. My mom used to make yogurt with our heating pad as a kid...I know sounds strange, but that works too(another thread for another board) but anyways that was my inspiration for making a towel warmer.

Here's an update, I am a bit of a perfectionist, it may be from a grommet from a Harley-Davidson oil tank, but it works here.

100309_203200.jpg

I did something similar. Instead of a heating pad I used a ceramic heater in a rubbermaid tube. It heats several towels and robes almost instanty.

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I did something similar. Instead of a heating pad I used a ceramic heater in a rubbermaid tube. It heats several towels and robes almost instanty.

That's a good idea too....a guy could take a make an air chamber type system, and have it cross ventilate, like a mini forced air furnace.

Hmmm...now you got me thinking...this is so not gonna save me any money!

I think I will make a box out of plywood, have the ceramic heater in a small separate chamber on the side(still all inside) and have it sealed to a vent from the chamber and blow through there, then put a false bottom in the box, and have run to the opposite side and vent on the bottom inside, so that it draws air from the "cold side" and blows it out of the aforementioned vent.

Hmm...maybe I could use cedar on the inside and out, that would be nice and fragrant....wow...I am over thinking this!

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  • 12 years later...

Great idea.  I am trying the same thing with an old water cooler we used when I coached my daughter's track team.  It already has a hole in the bottom that fits my old heating pad cord, so no drilling (I did have to clip the edges of the cord to fit the narrow hole.  I also used an easy stick hook to hang the cord on the inside of the cooler.  If it works, I will fill the hole with bathtub caulking.

The big win is that most of the $150 warming baskets are much smaller than my water cooler.  I just hope the heating pad produces enough heat to warm everything.  Cost for me was $0.00 if all goes well.

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