5 Best Alternatives To Dish Drying Rack

Dish drying racks will make your kitchen cleaning work very simple by providing a space to dry your dishes or fruits once you are done with washing them.

Unlike a dish washer, a drying rack will not need electricity for the drying session, it’s provides a good solution for air drying dishes.

When buying a drying rack for your dishes, you need to put some things into consideration such as, your kitchen space, the material that’s used in making the rack, the size of the rack itself and sometimes, even the rack’s colour.

Different materials used to make dish drying racks come with different benefits and perks that you might need to be on the lookout for, while purchasing your dish drying rack of choice.

A rack that’s made of stainless steel has advantages like being resistant to rust and are very durable. Unfortunately, if this material is exposed to humidity or excessive dampness, then will still be very likely to rust. Always clean your rack and dry it after use.

Another materialthat can be used in the making of dish drying racks is vinyl-coated wire. A vinyl-coated dish drying rack helps in protecting utensils and dishes from scratches. This material is resistant to rust and easy in terms of cleaning.

Dish drying racks that have plastic compartments for storing cutlery such as spoons knives or other utensils are very common. These dish racks are lightweight, do not scratch cookware and are easy to sanitize. Plastic dish racks are also rust resistant and not easy to corrode.

Bamboo is another great material when it comes to the making of dish drying racks. These racks are rust resistant and they are also very easy in terms of maintenance. Bamboo resists odour and has properties that are anti-microbial.

When all is said and done about dish drying rack, there’s obviously someone out there who’d like to explore and try other alternatives that can be used for dish drying purposes besides the dish drying racks.

You may be asking yourself, “Is there something else that I can use to dry my dishes and utensils instead of a dish drying rack?” Well, the answer is, “yes.”

Below are several options or alternatives to go for and still end up with water-free dishes.

Read : How to wash dish drying mat Effectively

Read : Best dish drying mats reviewed

Table of Contents

5 Alternatives To Dish Drying Rack You May choose

The sanitizing cycle on dishwashers
Drying in the dishwasher
Paper towels
Dish drying towels
Dish drying mats

In this article, I’ll take you through each of the above alternatives and by the time you’re done reading it, you will have enough information to make the right decision on what to use for drying your dishes.

1. The Dishwasher Sanitizing Cycle

If your dishwasher gives you a ‘sanitizer’ option, then this is by far the best and most effective way to ensure that your utensils, cups, plates and most of your machine-washable dishes are free of germs.

The option to sanitize gives you an extended rinse with hot water that reaches up to 150 degrees Fahrenheit. This kind of water temperature would not be bearable if the dishes were to be washed by hand.

After this, you can go ahead and select the ‘heated dry’ option. This gets the dishwasher pumping hot air in, hence evaporating the moisture that’s left on your dishes, to steam.

The dishwasher sanitizing cycle is the cleanest and most sanitary method to get your dishes dry. It is advisable, however, not to use this method very continuously as it overworks the dishwasher’s air fan, leading to added strain on it.

So as to sparingly use this method, you can consider using it only when cleaning the baby’s utensils and when there’s a sick person the houseso as to ensure the dishes they used are properly sanitized to prevent infections to other people in the house.

2. Drying in the Dishwasher

In order to achieve the desired results while drying in a dishwasher, you should make sure not to overload your machine. Space out your dishes and ensure they don’t touch each other. This enables the air and water to circulate, therefore improving the drying process.

To prevent spotting on the dishes and enhance drying, you can use a rinse aid. This helps in breaking the bond that’d be between the dishes and the molecules of water, leaving your dishes dry.

Adding heat using the heat feature on your dishwasher increases the chance of quick drying for the dishes. You can add heat at the washing, rinsing and even the final stage of drying the dishes.

When the cycle ends, open your dishwasher’s door some inches to allow the moist air that could have been trapped in it to escape, leaving your dishes drier than before.

Drying your dishes in the dishwasher is the next great option if you decide not to do the dish sanitizing cycle. It’s an easy way to get your dishes both clean and dry at one go.

3. Use of Paper Towels

Paper towels can only be used once before getting disposed off. This is to ensure that bacteria is not spread from on dish to another, as compared to drying your dishes using a dish towel.

Using paper towels to dry dishes has it’s own perks however. These include the fact that they cannot be recycled or used on more than one dish before being thrown away. This means that, by the time you are done drying all your dishes, you’ll have used very many paper towels.

If not disposed off carefully, paper towels can cause blockage in drainage pipes if they find their way in there, leading to damages.

4. Using a Dish Towel

Using a dish towel to dry dishes is considered to be less effective and hygienic compared to other drying methods. This is because you’ll use one towel to dry many dishes at one go before getting to wash this towel again. By so doing, germs and bacteria that might have inhabited on the dish towel or on some of the dishes might spread to the other dishes.

This can only be prevented by washing and air drying the dish towel as often as possible. You should also ensure that the towel doesn’t stay damp for after drying the dishes. Let it dry outside in between uses if you are not able to wash it daily.

Use disinfectants on the dish towels while washing them in order to kill germs or bacteria that would otherwise spread on the dishes while drying them.

5. Using Dish Drying Mats

Dish drying mats are special types of mats that can be spread on the kitchen counter then have dishes spread on them to dry after wash.

These mats come in different sizes, designs, colours, patterns and materials. They are mostly made of absorbent materials such as microfiber and silicone.

After washing your dishes, all you need to do is spread them on your dish drying mat or mats and give them time for the water droplets to drip down the mat, leaving your dishes dry.

These mats protect the dishes from scratching on the countertop or damaging them with the water that’d otherwise drip on these countertops in the absence of the mats.

Dish drying mats should regularly be washed and air dried to avoid spread of bacteria and mould on to the dishes due to the mat’s dampness.

Final Thoughts

There are many ways to get your dishes dry, some sanitary and others not so much. The decision on what to use solely depends on your tastes and preferences or merely on what is available for use at that particular moment.

Some methods of dish drying are more sanitary than others, so it’s all upon you now to choose what works best for you.

Rita C. Donnell

Rita C. Donnell (Jennifer) has spent the last 26 years studying and practicing nutrition science. She has used a larger part of this time in improving people’s livelihoods. She has done so by coming up with unquestionable ideas on how to tackle food problems in her community. Readmore