Why does nobody warn you that a box fan will wreck a good fort in 10 minutes
Made a fort in the living room for my 6 year old last Tuesday with two queen sheets and a box fan clipped to a chair for airflow. The fan pulled the top sheet tight against the frame rail and the whole thing came down on her snack plate in about 10 minutes. Now I weight the top corners with two hardcover books and point the fan at the wall instead. Does anyone have a fan setup that doesn't suck the ceiling down onto you?
I always figured the fan was the secret to a good fort (you know, that nice billowy look) until my kid's castle turned into a parachute in front of my eyes. Turns out moving air plus a big flat sheet equals a sail, not a wall, and the fan just turns your hard work into a kite. What fixed it for me was ditching the sheet on the wind side and using a fitted sheet over the chair back instead. Fitted sheets hold their shape and the elastic keeps the corners from getting yanked straight into the blades. If you still want air flow, put the fan on low and blow it across the opening, not into the fabric. Ten minutes of fort life is just sad, so I get why you're asking.