Schita – Squeezing Liquid From Fabrics on Shabbos

Introduction

Part of the Torah prohibition of kibus, cleaning a garment, includes squeezing or shaking out (‘schita’) of the liquid from a wet fabric made from an absorbent material, as this is part of the normal cleaning process. When making use of a liquid squeezed out of the fabric, it is also a problem of squeezing, ‘schita,’ under the melacha of ‘dash,’ threshing – as we have previously explored, this prohibition forbids the juicing of fruits amongst its other applications (MB 302:39, 320:44, SSK 15:10).
In the treatment below we will consider cases which are problematic in terms of ‘schita’ as a part of the melacha of ‘libbun’ and ‘schita’ as a part of the melacha of ‘dash’, without highlighting which melacha is relevant in each case.

There is no prohibition to squeeze a cloth made from a sheet of a non-absorbent, synthetic material.
However, if it is made up of threads of such a material, then it is forbidden to squeeze it (even according to the opinion above that there is no prohibition to wet such a garment, as the water gets trapped between the threads so needs squeezing out) (SSK 15:7, 32 fn 159).

Significantly Wetting a Fabric: In addition to the Torah prohibition of squeezing out a wet fabric on Shabbos, Chazal decreed that fabrics that one does not normally want to be wet, such as a tablecloth, may not be used to absorb a lot of water, even in a manner which is considered to be ‘dirtying it,’ lest one come to squeeze them out.

If such a fabric has absorbed a lot of water (eg if water inadvertently spills on it), it becomes muktza. More precisely, it becomes muktza if a significant area of the fabric is wet to the point that if one touches them with one’s hand and then touches another surface, that surface will become moist (R 301:46, MB 171, SSK 15:17).

However, fabrics that are often wet, such as kitchen towels, may be made significantly wet in a manner which dirties them (to avoid the prohibition of laundering; as mentioned above, if the liquid is coloured it may cause a problem of ‘tzoveia’, dying, which we will consider in the coming days iyH). They will also not become muktza having done so – as one does not mind them being wet, Chazal were not concerned that one will come to squeeze them out.
- It is clear from this halacha that the act of holding or moving such a wet fabric does not lead to one applying sufficient pressure to it for it to be considered squeezing. (R 301:46, MB 171 – 172, R 302:9, MB 302:59, SSK 14:24, 15:17, 15fn50, OS 13:48).

If a fabric that one does not normally want to be wet has only absorbed a little bit of water (such that only a small part of it is wet enough that if one touches it and then touches another surface, that surface will become moist), Chazal were not concerned that one may come to squeeze it out on Shabbos so it is not muktza. One may also actively make such a fabric a little wet with water, in a manner which dirties it, without concern (MB 301:171, 302:52).

The above restrictions (of actively making a fabric very wet on Shabbos and such a fabric being muktza) only apply to fabrics absorbing water; Chazal were not concerned one would come to squeeze out a fabric if it absorbed another liquid such as wine, as squeezing alone wouldn’t be sufficient to clean the fabric of the colour and smell left behind by other liquids (though as above, there may be a concern of tzoveia) (MB 319:39, SSK 12:41).