I've noticed a lot of people are complaining about clothes not drying properly. There appears to be a lot of confusion about how drying works, and people may think it's bugged. I've noticed a pattern with the community: people complain about an incredibly detailed and realistic mechanic, the developers cave in and remove it, and the game becomes less realistic and deep as a result. This occurred with Camouflage/Awareness, with Driving/Motorcycle skill, and I'm afraid it may happen again with this.

I tested this thoroughly, and found that while there is an occasional bug and unexpected behaviour, drying does seem to work as you would expect it to. The main criticism I have is there is a lack of understanding on this subject due to its complexity, and perhaps it needs to be tuned down a little bit.

Here are my results, and forgive me for spelling out some really obvious things when I need to.

• Drying near a fire increases the rate of drying.
  
• Clothes will dry faster during the day than at night, especially in direct sunlight.
  
• Regional temperature affects drying - see Scum Temperature Map on scum-map.com for sector specific temperatures.
  
• Clothes will dry when placed on the ground near a fire, while worn, and when stored inside of other clothing that is then placed near a fire.
  
• Different clothes hold different amounts of water. The amount of water an item currently holds is displayed in the Inventory Tab while wearing it, next to Warmth rating. A Hiking Backpack will hold 2kg, an Armor Tactical Vest will hold 3.2kg, and a Biker Leather Jacket holds none therefore it dries (almost) instantly.
  
• Fire source will affect drying speed. Bonfires dry clothing the fastest, while Improvised Fire Place dries less quickly, and Fire Ring dries the slowest. The Bonfire dries about 3x as quickly as the Fire Ring. Portable Gas and Electric Stove will both dry as quickly each other and as quickly as Imp. Fire Place. Torches work, but they're hard to place clothing close to the flame and dry at about the same rate as the Imp. Fire Place.
  
• Clothes usually dry much more quickly when placed inside of other clothing (eg. backpack) and then place the backpack in the fire. Worn clothing dries faster in the sun, however.
  
• Outer clothing that does not have any layers above it will dry more quickly than the layers below it. Ie. if you're wearing a shirt and jacket, the jacket will dry faster because its on the outside.
  
• Clothing does not dry while placed inside storage.
  
• Raincoat prevents your tops from getting wet from rain. They will not prevent your tops from absorbing water from other clothing or from your body.

• Placement/positioning matters. The closer you are to the flame, the quicker it will dry. Normally, it needs to be directly on the flame. However, it can be tricky to place it close enough to the flame to get maximum heat, and its not always realistic - just one inch can mean the difference between drying and not drying. You can place some clothing inside the bonfire, inside the branches, and its usually more consistent and quicker.
  
• Grill Grid may allow you to place clothes closer to the fire with the Fire Place and Fire Ring. It does not increase drying rate.
  
• Placing multiple bonfires together will not increase drying rate, but does help with consistency so placement matters less.
  
• Placing clothes higher, above the flame, sometimes provided better results with the Improvised Fire Place and Fire Ring. Using basebuilding elements I tried to place clothing directly above the flame on the Bonfire, but it was tricky getting it close enough to provide better results than just placing it on the ashes.
  
• Bonfires will dry at a consistent rate as long as the weather is set to 0.7 or below (0.9 or above is rain?), but this possibly depends on the region, TBD.
  
• If your body is wet, dry clothing will soak it back up. At least 50g of water. Unaffected by time of day speed or body simulation speed.
  
• Moving seems to slightly increase drying rate while in the sun.
  
• Clothing will not dry faster in a bonfire during the day compared to during night, nor while in sunlight compared to in the shade. There is a cap to how fast you can dry and it depends on the "best" heat source only.
  
• Occasionally, clothing will stop drying when placed near a fire due to a bug, usually happens after a few minutes. Equip it to fix, then place it back on the fire. Equipping a backpack full of clothing will also fix it for all items contained inside.
  
• Drying with a Bonfire while inside an enclosed 1x1 modular base dries at the same rate, but will dry a bit slower if its raining, regardless of upgrades.
  
• Having wet clothes inside other clothing, like backpacks, doesn't seem to affect the drying rate of the backpack or any of the other clothing stored inside that backpack.
  
  
• Clothes will accumulate water faster (from rain) if they are the outermost layer. Clothes accumulate even faster when they are stored inside other clothing. Similarly, most clothes get wet slower if they are beneath other clothing. Helmets are an exception; they accumulate water slowly when worn, but quickly when stored in other clothing.
  
  
  
  Moisture Diffusion:
  
  
• Clothes will absorb water from other clothing on the same part of the body until they are both at the same wetness %, ie. moisture equilibrium. This of course does not happen between, for example, masks and boots.
  
  
• Moisture diffusion only works for clothing that is worn. Your pants won't absorb water from a wet backpack if the pants are stored inside that backpack.
  
  
• Clothes will absorb moisture much quicker from clothing layers beneath it, rather than above it.
  
  
• There are two Tops that absorb water from other clothing faster than anything else; the Sweater, specifically the red one (Sweater_01), and Pajama Shirt. They're very good for drying armored vests and jackets.
  
  
• Sweat will only be directly absorbed by clothing that is touching your skin.

Here is a very rough spreadsheet I made that I used to track drying speed for some things, I did this early on in my testing and stopped adding to it.

I created a video demonstration where I dried a full set of gear in just 13 minutes, using the tricks mentioned here in this guide. Only the hiking backpack was left with 25% wetness.

Video: https://streamable.com/iq4b0m

The associated post, which adds some context: https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/app/513710/discussions/0/603036969475349918/

Besides being an immersive, realistic mechanic that adds a lot of depth to a survival game, Wetness affects your gear weight significantly, and prevents you from moving as quickly. The Strength attribute affects your maximum gear weight, and STR is difficult to level. Being wet can also lead to conditions, such as Trench Foot. It is unclear (to me) whether it affects wound contamination, which is affected by Dirtiness. When you wash your clothes, which you should do to prevent infections and especially important when getting burns, they get wet. When you're wet you can't carry as much loot. There is a positive side effect; you gain STR faster with more weight.

I think improvements could be made. There should be a dedicated drying rack that can be placed near heat sources and provide consistent drying, and not rely on having to waste time trying to get the positioning just right. Just "Install" it to the fire and place items into it like you would in storage. Clothing will not be scattered around the ground and you won't have to worry about forgetting where it is or despawning.

Body wetness is also an issue. Water on the body will transfer to clothing, and vice versa, causing a wetness loop that may prevent players from drying fast enough especially if they're not doing it properly, which, as this guide illustrates, is not immediately obvious.

I also think drying should be quicker overall. Lets not turn this into a laundry simulator.

I don't think electric driers should exist. The game is already shifting away from the survival atmosphere.

I watched most of the videos for drying on Youtube. They're mostly outdated and aren't very detailed.

I was continually finding more and more variables that affected wetness and drying rate. There's probably a bunch that I missed, and my results may not always be accurate. Feel free to test it yourself and come to different conclusions!