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I've only read "short period" as a time given for how long to wear clothes you're planning on putting on during the 9 days.

Is there anything more specific than that? Is there an efficient and halachically correct way to get a lot of clothes ready in a short amount of time?

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Today's HalachaText said that clothing should be worn for at least 30 minutes. I asked them for a source and they said this number came from Rav Elyashiv Ztl.

שוב מצאתי I was looking for something else in Rabbi Simcha Bunim Cohen's Laws of the Three Weeks, and found that he quotes Rav YS Elyashiv there as saying a half an hour (page 85); in a footnote he cites Rav SZ Auerbach as saying that it needs to be worn "זמן ניכר עד שאינו נראה כמכובס" ("a significant amount of time, such that it's recognizable that the clothes are not laundered").

Footnote 140 there says that this is recorded in הליכות והנהגות (on עמוד ב? ...never saw the sefer, don't know how it works).
In that footnote, he quotes many other opinions about the length of time for wearing clothes to prepare for the nine days. שו"ת רב פעלים (chelek ד, end of סי' כ"ט) says the time period is 2 or 3 hours. קרא עלי מועד (page 26, footnote ז) quotes the above opinion of Rav Elyashiv at half an hour.

On the shorter side, דעת קדושים (YD 389:3) says that that wearing it for a minute suffices ("דאפילו לבישה לרגע מהני") [though others question this opinion strongly].

משפט צדק (responsum 46) says that wearing it "an hour" before the nine days only helps for the time in between Rosh Chodesh and שבוע שחל בו (because this is just a custom); but to wear clothes from the beginning of שבוע שחל בו wearing clothing just for an hour is not enough (because this is מדינא).

And no, DoubleAA, still no mention of climate/temperature....though I did not look up these sources myself, they are just quotes of quotes (of quotes?) from the footnote of Laws of the Three Weeks.....though they may help you find the information you want by looking into them....

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    Was it referring to places where it's 70 degrees outside or 105 with humidity?
    – Double AA ♦
    Jul 25, 2014 at 20:11
  • @DoubleAA If they respond (they usually do, but it could take some time) I'll ask them.
    – MTL
    Jul 25, 2014 at 20:12
  • I think the idea is to take out the creases of what looks like a freshly pressed shirt. I don't think that's weather dependent. I guess someone determinded that most shirts loos their look after 30 mins. Want a good way to crease your shirts? 10 minutes in a crowded bus or train will do it, and that's even if it's cold outside. Unless you live in Southern Hemisphere, in most Jewish communities during 9 Days ... it's plenty hot.
    – DanF
    Jul 25, 2014 at 20:39
  • @DanF What about clothes that aren't creased, eg. t-shirts?
    – Double AA ♦
    Jul 25, 2014 at 20:40
  • Rabbi Yosef Berger said this as well
    – Baby Seal
    Jul 27, 2014 at 16:26
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I got this in an email from a "dailyhalacha" service:

During the Nine days (beginning Rosh Chodesh Av) the custom is that one does not wear freshly laundered clothing. Therefore, one should wear all the clothing one will need during the Nine days for a short while (according to many Poskim - 20 minutes), sometime before the start of the Nine days. One may wear multiple layers of clothing to accomplish this. Shulchan Aruch w/Mishnah Berurah 551:3, Piskei Tshuvos 551:17

Some poskim permit one to lay the clothing on the floor, which also removes its freshly laundered status and permits one to wear it during the Nine days. Shulchan Aruch w/Mishnah Berurah 551:3, Piskei Tshuvos 551:17

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  • Were those poskim talking about places where it's 70 degrees outside or 105 with humidity?
    – Double AA ♦
    Jul 25, 2014 at 20:06
  • well the Piskei's author wrote from Jerusalem. I could check the range of temperatures historically for Jerusalem if you think that would add to the answer but I haven't seen that these halachos are dependent on lat and long. Why would temperature affect laying clothes on the floor?
    – rosends
    Jul 25, 2014 at 20:15
  • Presumably, the estimation of 20 minutes is weather dependent, no?
    – Double AA ♦
    Jul 25, 2014 at 20:17
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    Why presume that? I'm not saying that that couldn't be a reason, but why assume it is THE reason? Maybe it was socio-cultural based on the year in which the text was written. Maybe it was dependent on the fabric available? If a text is published with no qualification then, to assume it has value to the greater community, one has to take the statement on its face I would think.
    – rosends
    Jul 25, 2014 at 20:23
  • @Danno Indeed. I however don't assume that number has any value to the greater community, so I'm not stuck in that syllogism.
    – Double AA ♦
    Jul 25, 2014 at 20:39

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