The following is excerpted from the monumental four-volume work, The 39 Melachos by Rabbi Dovid Ribiat, Shlita (Feldheim Publishers). This Sefer is an essential addition to everyone’s library:
1. Chazal forbade one from allowing clean garments and linens to become wet on Shabbos for fear that one is likely to forget himself and come to wring and squeeze them out (S’chitah) to help them dry more quickly. Since garments and linens are only usable in their dry state, one has an interest in causing them to dry out as quickly as possible, and may inadvertently wring them out. The restriction applies to wetting clothing and linens with a basically clear, odorless liquid. Accordingly, one may not wipe a clear water spill with a shirt, sheet, or towel.
2. Although wet clothing is ordinarily Muktza, Chazal waived this Muktza restriction in the case of clothing that one is actually wearing. Due to considerations of Kovod Habriyos (human dignity) and the excessive hardship that this would impose, they did not require a person to remove his wet clothing. One may even put on his wet clothing (e.g., that became wet from a leak, flood, etc. while he was sleeping) if he has no other suitable garments to wear.
3. Once one changes into dry clothing, the wet garments may no longer be handled because of the Muktza restriction that applies to wet clothes which then takes effect. If the garment happens to dry out during the day, it reverts back to its non-Muktza status.
4. One whose shoes and socks became soaked in the rain, etc. may continue to walk without concern for the fact that the wet socks are inevitably becoming pressed and squeezed with every step. This is because the wearer is completely oblivious to the squeezing and has no thought or need for cleansing his socks. Moreover, the moisture that becomes extracted with each step becomes instantly re-absorbed into the fabric of the sock, making this form of S’chitah Halachically irrelevant. Similarly, one may walk on a wet carpet without concern for S’chitah.
5. One whose wet shoelaces became untied may gently tie them in a somewhat loose bow-knot in order to continue walking. This is permitted because any squeezing is neither deliberate nor inevitable. However, the laces must not be tugged tightly while tying them (as is normally done when tying shoes), and the bow-knot must not be made very tight, otherwise the action would be considered a P’sik Reisha--an inevitable consequence--and forbidden. Similarly, one may gently untie the wet laces to remove the shoes. However, here too, care must be taken to avoid tugging hard at the laces or exerting other pressure that would inevitably cause moisture to be squeezed out.
Important Numbers
