It took me a while to add this one because I’m worried that someone will do this in a non-careful way and 1. burn themselves 2. fry the motor in their hairdryer. 3. start a fire 😬
So proceed with caution! And if you’re not sure you can manage this well, try the Tiny personal heater instead (it’s a quieter/calmer alternative, and is what I keep bedside).
But there is something super relaxing about slipping into a cool bed and lifting your knees to create a big open space and then filling that space with warm air from a hair dryer. 😌
🏨 And if you’re traveling, this might be your only option for getting toasty before bed.
I discovered this in college: my dorm didn’t have granular temperature controls and I went to school far enough from home that all my stuff needed to fit into my suitcase, so I didn’t have extra blankets or heaters or anything. But my roommate and I shared a hairdryer and on one wintery night I tested it out under the covers to warm up my frozen toes and it was blissful. So it became part of my nightly ritual.
Even now, if I’ve been working outside in the cold, instead of parking myself in front of a space heater (and continually increasing the temps on the thermostat), I’ll pop into the bathroom and blow the heat up my shirt and on my freezing toes to quickly get my body back in a good zone.
Immersing yourself in hot water, ideally in a tub, can also be great for warming your bones and is generally an option even when traveling, though it isn’t always worth the time/effort/water usage/“being wet” consequence, even though it’s a great pre-sleep ritual. I do have a quick alternative to an evening soak, which can also work in hotels as long as 1. the counter can support your weight and 2. you can safely get yourself up and down:
⚠️⚡️☠️ caution: hairdryers and water do not mix!
Hairdryers generally have multiple controls:
- heat: low, med, hot
- blowing intensity: low, med, high
(plus a button for 🆒 that temporarily cuts off the heating element entirely)
—> start with low+low
Keep in mind that the machine needs to be able to suck in cool air to work properly. So make sure the blankets don’t block the intake and make sure you don’t keep the machine completely inside your blanket fort for too long once things have heated up under there.
Use your nose and your ears to detect signs of trouble—this is not an activity you can multi-task.
(Note: I’m not sure where the intake is on a Dyson—I generally love finding one in my hotel room: they’re relatively quiet + they’ve solved the problem of accidentally sucking my long hair into the back of the machine 😣 but I haven’t tried to figure out where the air is coming from instead—maybe down by the cord connection? So I would do some checking before attempting this maneuver with a Dyson.)