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“We’ll leave it now, God can do the drying.”
This was something my grandmother said to me regularly as we washed up after dinner. She always hand-washed everything, even when she was in our house, which had a dishwasher. Afterwards, she’d leave them to dry on the draining board, which worked fine as it was normally just herself and my grandfather in the house, so it was rarely more than two forks and two plates.
Nowadays though, people choose not to get a dishwasher for lots of reasons. As we rent for longer in small apartments and terraces or have too many delicate items, we either don’t have the room or the budget to invest in a dishwasher. Instead, we’ve returned to doing the washing up ourselves. But the result (if you have flatmates and share a kitchen) is a pile-up of plates, cups and cookware that inevitably sit there until they’re required again.
Rather than drying everything immediately after washing – hey, I’m not a sadist – why not invest in a good-looking dish drainer. That way, it won’t look like a five-car pileup on your lovely work surfaces and instead, you can happily walk away as they drip dry.
If your style is on the traditional side, this antique brass-finished dish drainer is simple yet beautiful. The wooden handles make it easy to move off the counter when you’re not using it but the dainty feet allows it to sit on the countertop looking pretty while holding up to 21 plates.
I like the idea of this circular shape, it frees up space around your sink and is steadier than your typical rectangular one. Small enough that it’ll fit into the most bijou of kitchens, it’s also a clever use of space in terms of our usually circular dishware.
This dish drainer is ideal if you simply don’t want to give up any countertop space to a draining board. The white-coated steel rack comes with a removable tray so you can pop your dishes anywhere you like. The handle design means you can even suspend it over the sink while you’re not using it.
Designed by American industrial designer Leon Ransmeier, the Shortwave dish drainer couples strong design with clever functionality. Ideal for drying glasses without condensation and watermarks by suspending them above the metal tray, it’ll sit pretty on its own too.
This one is an absolute steal at just over €20. Can be folded up and popped under the sink when not in use, it takes up minimal space until you’ve got some washing to do, and even then, it looks great with its rack, which is dishwasher safe if you want the best of both worlds.
Featured image: Nordic Nest dish drainer