Hi,
If, on Shabbos, a person accidentally hung up his wet clothing (after the rain) in a place where it is forbidden to do so due to maris ayin (i.e., people will think that he laundered his clothing on Shabbos c”v), should he remove it from there immediately, or should he not do so since wet clothing is muktzah?
Or, what if he hung up the wet clothing on the radiator, which is a sin from the Torah? Should he remove them despite the fact that he is violating the prohibition of moving muktzah on Shabbos? (Maybe try removing with a shinui, if possible – but if not, then lechora he should remove them even by hand.)
Answer:
Since wet clothing is muktzeh, it is not permitted to remove the clothing once it is Shabbos.
However, where a prohibition (a Torah prohibition) is taking place (drying clothes from a source of heat is considered a Torah prohibition according to the Mordechai, and this is cited by the Shulchan Aruch), the Gemara (Shabbos 4) states that it is permitted to transgress a rabbinic prohibition to prevent the transgression, and this will be true here, too (see Aruch HaShulchan 318:7).
Best wishes.
