How to Dry Dishes Without a Dish Rack
The dish drying rack has long been a part of the American sink. It is such a fixture in our lives that we don’t even think twice about the design itself. It has evolved little since its inception, and indeed its form seems to be dictated by its function: it must be able to hold many dishes, so it must have many slots.
The dish rack is one of the dumbest things in the kitchen. It’s a giant, clunky, ugly piece of plastic, and it takes up half your sink. You can’t use the sink when the dish rack is there, and you can’t use the dish rack when it isn’t. And after all that, it doesn’t even work! The dishes still drip on your counter.
So… are there any alternative ways to dry your dishes. Let’s find out…
11 Ways to Dry Dishes Without a
Do you know what’s worse than doing the dishes? Putting them away. But you can’t put your dishes away in a cabinet until they’re dry, so you need a dish rack. And that means you need counter space! But what if we told you there was an easier way?
Here are ten ways to dry your dishes without taking up any precious counter space.
1. The Hand Method
Hand drying is a low-tech way to dry dishes on the fly. If you don’t have a dish rack, put your freshly washed dishes directly in the cabinets. If you have a dishwasher, empty it right away and start stacking the clean dishes in the cabinet. You can use a cloth or paper towel to dry off the extra water from plates and bowls before putting them away.
2. The Potholder Method
Another handy way to dry dishes without a dish rack is by using potholders. When you’re done washing your dishes, place them on a potholder to air dry. You can use potholders from your kitchen drawer or even sew new ones yourself. Make sure that each dish has its own potholder so that they don’t bang against each other as they dry.
3. The Paper Bag Method
If you don’t have any potholders nearby, use paper bags instead! Paper bags are great because they’re soft and absorbent, so they can soak up excess water while drying your dishes at the same time. Put each plate in its own bag and stack them somewhere in your kitchen until they’re dry.
4. Towel
- Use a towel. Use a towel to dry your dishes after washing them to get them as dry as possible before putting them away. Fold the towel so that it is thick and will absorb a lot of water, then place it on the counter near your dish rack or drying area. This way you can still dry your dishes with a towel and keep the countertop free of wet dishes.
- Roll up a towel, then lay it flat on the counter and arrange the wet dishes on top of it. This is a good solution for people with tiles or linoleum countertops that don’t warp easily with water.
- Drape a towel over the edge of the sink and let your dishes drip-dry directly into it. Place another towel below it to catch runoff water. This is great if you have stainless steel or other types of sink that can handle getting wet once in a while.
5. Air drying
The most obvious alternative to using a dish rack is just leaving your dishes out on the counter or table after you wash them. This method works best with small loads of dishes because it’s much harder to find space for all your dishes if you have a large collection of plates, bowls, and other utensils.
Also, while this method might seem easy enough at first glance, it does require a certain level of organization and discipline on your part so that everything dries efficiently and doesn’t get in the way while you’re trying to cook later on in the day!
6. Dry with a drying mat
Use a silicone drying mat, which is designed to be placed on a counter and has ridges for water to run away from your dishes.
7. Dry with microfiber cloths
Layout a few clean microfiber cloths on the counter. They will absorb water as well as lint, leaving your surfaces spotless!
8. Using a Paper Towel
A paper towel is designed to absorb water, so it is an effective way to remove water from your dishes. This method is quite simple; all you have to do is place a paper towel on top of your counter and put the wet dish on top of it. This will soak up most of the excess water, and you’ll be able to put it away with ease.
9. Use the dishwasher’s drying cycle
If you have a dishwasher, run it through its drying cycle to take advantage of that heat to dry your dishes. Even if you don’t have a dishwasher, you can use this method by running your oven at about 200 degrees Fahrenheit for an hour or so to create some hot air to help evaporate moisture from the dishes on the rack.
10. Use the microwave
You can use your microwave’s turntable to turn off all the moisture in your wet dishes in seconds, so they are fully dry before putting them away in cabinets or drawers where they might otherwise grow mold and mildew if they aren’t properly dried first. This is also a great way to dry glassware and utensils because they won’t scratch up while they’re spinning around inside your microwave.
11. The Lazy Susan Method
The most effective method is to put all your plates on a lazy susan, and then rotate it whenever you need a clean plate. For example, if you want to make yourself some toast for breakfast, rotate the lazy susan until a plate appears. Dry it with a towel, and then use it to eat your toast.
This works best if both your dishes and the lazy susan are circular, but I’ve found that even when the dishes are square or rectangular, this method can work surprisingly well.
In summary, in the end, the tools you use really come down to what works best for you. And that might not always be a dish rack. But hopefully, you now have some useful ideas for how you can keep your dishes dry without having to break out the dish rack too often.
You may also be interested in… Can You Put Fiesta Dinnerware in the Oven?
Allan Wilson who in the offline world has an extensive background working in research, analyzing statistics, improving work processes, team leading, and implementing training to improve results and now thanks to more than 3 years dedicated to this site is now also a highly regarded researcher of brands.
Allan has a long history of developing brands online way back before blogging existed creating websites using HTML code in Notepad. Allan established brands in the Info Product Marketing arena such as infoproductmarketing, ebookresellerkit, reprintrightsmarketing, along with many other successful websites (and a few failures along the way). Allan has also authored numerous ebooks, owned and operated membership sites, created eLearning courses, and more.
