Review: Dish Drying Mat

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When my husband and I got married, I made sure he knew that I had one major requirement in the household appliance department: a dishwasher! I could not would not live in a home without a dishwasher.

I think that stems back to my teenage years when our dishwasher went out and, whether to save money or teach us kids a lesson, my stepdad did not replace it for a long time. My brother and I had to wash and dry the dishes every night. Of course, my younger sister was “too young” to help and my brother, well, he was much more a nuisance than a help.

All that to say, I have never, in all my adult years, felt the need to own a dish drain. Why bother when the only dishes I wash are pots and pans (and I’ll even stick them in the dishwasher if they aren’t too nasty and there’s room for them) and a handful of items that aren’t dishwasher safe, though I usually avoid using or buying those kind of dishes?

So, usually, when I wash pots and pans, one side of my sink looks like this:

dish drying mat review

And, seriously, that’s on a good day. Often they’re piled much higher than that and there have been times where I’ve had to dry and put away the first big batch before I could finish.

The thing I’ve always hated about that is having one side of my sink out of commission. (Unless, of course, I immediately dry the dishes and put them away…like that’s ever going to happen. Didn’t you read what I said about hating to wash and dry dishes?). That means any newly dirty dishes that won’t fit in the dishwasher get piled on the counter or, if I’m washing fruits and veggies in the other side, there’s nowhere free for hand-washing in the kitchen.

I got three of the 16X18 inch mats – one each in sage, gray and cream. They are so thick and soft and the colors are beautiful! They’re made of microfiber weave, so they’re super-absorbent, and they dry much more quickly than a dish towel, but the thickness allows dishes to kind of sink down into the drying mat, protecting your glassware and casserole dishes.

dish drying mat

Key features include:

  • Unique weave channels water away from dishes
  • Foam thickness allows glasses to dry without tipping over
  • Breathable microfiber enables air to flow around the drying items
  • Faster drying than a tradition kitchen towel
  • Two-sided use (if you’re not OCD like me and it really bugs you to see the tag sticking up)
  • Machine washable and dryable
  • Folds for simple and easy storage (You can’t say that about a plastic dish rack!)

The dish drying mat features a unique patented process for securing the layers of the dish mat together – two microfiber sides with an inner layer of foam, which are flame laminated together. This process enables the dish mat to be machine washed and dried repeatedly without the layers separating.

In addition to taking my sink from this (remember: this is on a good day):

benefits of dish drying mats

to this:

why to use dish drying mats

I’ve found another near daily use for my dish drying mat that I love. Now that I’m eating healthier, I wash fruits and veggies nearly every day. Have you seen those studies that have shown that your kitchen sink is one of the dirtiest, most germ-filled places in your house?

Who wants to put clean, freshly-washed food back into a germ-filled sink? Not me, so I was wasting lots of paper towels since dumping the fruits and veggies onto the counter wasn’t really something I wanted to do either and kitchen towels can seem kind of gross, too – you never know how well the kids really washed their hands before they dried them on that towel.

This makes a much better solution:

other uses for dish drying mats

The dish drying mats are available from Amazon for $8.99.

I received monetary compensation for my time and free use of this product for the purpose of this review. This post contains affiliate links. The opinions expressed are my personal, honest opinions. Your experience may vary. Please read my full disclosure policy for more details.

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Kris Bales is a newly-retired homeschool mom and the quirky, Christ-following, painfully honest founder (and former owner) of Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers. She has a pretty serious addiction to sweet tea and Words with Friends. Kris and her husband of over 30 years are parents to three amazing homeschool grads. They share their home with three dogs, two cats, a ball python, a bearded dragon, and seven birds.

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118 Comments

  1. We live in an apartment on seminary campus so we have a very, very, very small kitchen.  We do not have a mechnical dishwasher, but we do have three girls with two hands each that do a great job as dishwashers. However, we often have dishes drying in the drainer and on dish towels along the counter. We would use it to actually DRY the dishes 🙂

  2. I am just like you…I just leave pots and pans lying around until they are air dried. I'd love to have a place for those to dry!

  3. I do not have a functioning dishwasher.  We do ALL of our dishes EVERYDAY by hand.  I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the dish mat!

  4. Oh how I would love one of these… we have no dish washer, and the conventional plastic dish drainer is never enough– i always have overflow when it comes to air-drying dishes!  (now.. if I have a couple more hands, perhaps I wouldn't mind drying dishes half-way– )

  5. We have added additional fruits and veggies at our house,  I am thinking they would be a great drying mat.

  6. I would definitely be interested in winning this!  When we do a lot of cooking, our sink looks pretty cluttered too, with all of the pots and pans, so it would be a blessing to have that to lay them on after washing.  The veggie idea is also a great one.  We eat a lot of fruits and veggies here.  🙂

    Have a good weekend.
    Many blessings,
    Lisa

  7. I have had to throw away not one but two really pretty hand embroidered dishcloths because they kept getting soaked from being used as drying mats and couldn't dry fast enough.  These look great! So does your website!  Thanks, Kelly

  8. I'd use it as a plain old dish drying mat and also as a place to put  freshly washed fruits ~ great idea! 

  9. I would so love to win one of these! They look like they work great and I would love to get rid of the drainers. Thanks!
    bonnie.l.adams at gmail dot com

  10. I would use it for drying dishes, has to be better than my current attempts with 3 soaking towels.  Although, the veggie idea is pretty neat too. Thanks for the chance to win!

  11. I would love a dishmat to use to keep water off the floor…and prevent glasses from breaking as little helpers quickly slam them down onto the thin towel over the hard countertop.

  12. Unfortunately, I don't have a dishwasher, so I need my ugly dish drainer.  But i'm thinking I could replace that plastic tray with this instead!  Thanks for the chance to win!!

  13. I would use my mat to help with drying my canning jars and everyday dishes.  Iwould also enjoy using it in projects with my seven little homeschoolers. Thanks for the chance to get the free mat.  Kathy

  14. I have a large family and often have to do some of the dishes by hand in the evening.  They are placed on a towel that quickly becomes sopping.  It would be great to have something that didn't end up getting everything soaked as well as allowed things to dry easier.

  15. We have a lot of produce from our garden. I love the idea of laying the veggies on this mat to dry. Oh, I would probably use it to dry dishes on, too. lol

  16. My Daughter-in-Law bought a black metal dish drain because she likes the way it looks on the counter,  but if I got a this cool Drying Mat and she saw how convenient it is I know she would love it!  I would not only use the Drying Mat for dishes, but for a place to put my produce after washing it.    Thank You for your great offer!

  17. I like the idea of using it for the veggies. It never fails that when I get a lot of vegetables washed, I turn away and someone will come and wash their hands in the same sink. Drives me crazy!

  18. Since I have tried every home organization method out there today (and last year and the year before) to get help with the dishes to no avail, I am resigned to realizing I am the  dishfairy (shhh… I claim to my brood she does not exist).  The dishmat would be used for the overflow from the dishdrying rack that never truly sees the light of day.  Maybe that scaly, slimy stuff on the bottom of my "clean" rack will get some attention once I locate the source… with the help of a dishmat to share the duties!

  19. Would be used to dry those dishes on that can't go into the dishwasher and also for the fruit and veggies we wash for prepping.

  20. Wow this would be so helpful.  I have so many dishes that are hand wash only and very little space on the counter for a big ol' strainer.  Thanks! 

  21. Thanks for the giveaway!! I'd mostly use mine for sishes, but it looks so versatile I'm sure I could come up with other uses!

  22. I also sufferred a childhood of having to be the dish dryer.  All our wet pots and pans get stacked on the stove to dry because I hate drying them.  This mat would be great, I think I would actually hand wash more with something useful like this.

  23. I would love to win this and use it for dishes and for fruit/veggie drying!  Thanks for the opportunity!
    Terri S
    ponyxpress9 at yahoo dot com

  24. I like the black ones.  I would most certainly use it to dry my dishes.  Our dishwasher quit working months ago.  It is a giant drying rack now, but we are a fairly large family and I am always in need of more space to dry more dishes, especially with the holidays approaching.

  25. I milk goats. I wash milking equipment. I don't have a dishwasher. The combination of these facts means I often have breakfast dishes to wash while milking stuff is air drying in the dish drainer. Do i leave the breakfast dishes 'til later? (NO!!! I can't STAND sinks filled with dirty dishes!! My one nod to OCD.) Do I put away the milking stuff before it is fully dried? A FAR from ideal plan… Do I wash my milking things onto a drying mat, leaving them to sit undisturbed until fully dry? Sounds like an EXCELLENT plan! If only I had a drying mat….

  26. We use a plastic dish drainer and prop it up to let the water run into the sink. It works pretty well, but often becomes unbalanced and will tip into the sink, necessitating another wash! Would LOVE to win this. Thanks!!!

  27. I could totally use one of these! I would use it for dishes that don't fit in the strainer, as a holding place for washed fruits and veggies, and I could really use one in our camper since we don't even have a strainer.

  28. I want this so bad! I was so close to buying it on amazon before even entering the contest cause I so want get rid of my big metal drying rack! I would use it for dishes and baby cups…

  29. I have been laying my dishes on a towel on the counter to air dry and would LOVE to replace the towel, which gets soaking wet, with one of these mats.

  30. I love, love the idea of these mats!  We have milk goats, and the sanitzed utensils have to air dry, but I really hate the dish drainer sitting out on the counter all the time.  What a pleasure it would be to have one of these instead.  Please enter me for the drawing!

  31. I'd use this instead of the towel I currently use. I don't like racks, and I don't like the dishes in the sink…so it's onto the counter on a towel right now!

  32. I have travel mugs that are not dishwasher safe. I wash them by hand daily and this would be perfect for them once washed. Also fruit as it is washed.

  33. I have travel mugs that are not dishwasher safe. I wash them by hand daily and this would be perfect for them once washed. Also fruit as it is washed.

  34. I love it! I have to have one of  these.  We do a complete load in our dishwasher every day, but there are still plenty of things to handwash.  I never use a drainer, and I *used* to use a towel, but I often just let things sit right on the counter.  What a wet mess!  I need a drying mat!

  35. We finally get a place with a mechanical dishwasher…but it doesn't work.  I'm not too stoked about it though, because the washer and dryer DO (and I've N-E-V-E-R had those in-house before).  I've been using plain old towels for dish drains, and would absolutely love to have something made for the job.

    Oh, found you from a link on "mama hall: making the best of it"

  36. I currently utilize dish towels to dry my pots and other dishes on. Interesting drying cloths…I would probably use them for just that…to lay my pots and other dishes out to dry on. *love* that these can simply be folded and put away in a drawer when not in use 🙂

  37. I would mostly use it for baby bottles and my wonderful knives that are dishwasher forbidden (per the hubby's edict).  But I am interested in using for fruits and veggies after seeing the suggestion for that.  

  38. I don't have a dishwasher and I don't have room in my tiny kitchen to get one. I would set my dishes on this to dry instead of using towels.
    clowens9144 at yahoo dot com

  39. I would love this, I would get rid of my dish drainer, and use this so it could be put away after the dishes are done. I have limited counter, and cupboard space so this would help alot!

    amandaruth_mor(at)yahoo(dot)com

  40. I would love to win this and use it as a dish dryer ~ and get rid of the old beat up drying rack that takes up so much space on the counter!

  41. I hate those plastic dish-drying racks with the nasty pan at the bottom to catch water.  This would be great for drying dishes!

  42. Wow! A towel that actually drys the dishes!!! We live in a small apartment and part of our day is usually taken up by my daughter and I doing dishes. Because of how small our apartment is, we have to do dishes two to three times a day (depending on how many dishes each meal takes). And usually they're left in the drain and on the stove (due to lack of space) to dry. I would LOVE to be able to dry them by hand so that we can open up the space that the dish drain is taking up. I'd also use it for veggies,  because right now we're stuck using paper towels (which drives me nuts…the thought of how much we contribute to the landfill).

  43. I would definitely use my mats to dry dishes, as we are one of the unlucky non-dishwasher having families.  I also love the idea of drying vegetables on them!

  44. I would use them for, well, drying dishes.  🙂  It's much less space-consuming than a big ol' drying rack.

  45. I'd use these as … a dish drainer. How is that for creative? Also, for veggies and not have so many dish towels to wash and dry since my washing machine is broken and we can't replace it right now. Great give away.

  46. Funny!  You're giving a way a dish drain right as I'm getting ready to give up washing my dishes by hand and using my dishwasher (it's a cabinet right now. :p)

    If I ever find a place for the serving dishes so I can use the dishwasher, I'd use the drain for my fruits and vegies. I hate the little puddles they leave on the counter when they are drip drying.

  47. I never dry the dishes that need to be hand washed. Instead they get piled on a dish towel to air dry (why create more work when they will dry on their own, right?). However the towel underneath gets pretty wet. A dish drying mat would suit my laziness perfectly. 🙂

  48. I had no idea something like this even existed! I love it! I would use it a lot for my vegetables to dry before storing them in the fridge! Love it! 

  49. I would love to win one of these.  Our dishwasher is mostly unusable due to hard water, so I have to handwash dishes for our family of eight.  We have several worn out bath towels that are set aside to use for dishwashing.  They are thin and worn due to use and don't always soak up all the water from the foot high stack of dishes drying on them.  

  50. with a family of 8 we have lots of dishes! I would also use it for canning, veggies, fruits, tubtoys, ect. also water activities and tea parties

  51. we wash all of our dishes by hand, we meaning the kids, but none the less they are washed and dried by hand every night. I just reciently recieved one of these mats for my birthday and love it, i would love to have another one!

  52. So neat. Drying on a towel never works for me.  I love the idea of using it for vegetables! I'd use it for both.

  53.    We've never had a dishwasher – except 2 of the eat-everything-in-the-house kind… =D  My dish drainer is 20 years old, because they no longer make the kind that open on the end, which is the kind I need to to space limitations. Therefore, it constantly gets grungy, and I would LOVE to get rid of it! Thank you for the opportunity to possibly win a dish mat.

  54. I actually found your site through this giveaway and am SOOOO glad that i did…..
    I would use mine to air dry dishes. The rental we are living in has a huge marble island and the hard water dripping off our dishes is staining it 🙁

  55. The little one … to dry dishes – every night our table is piled high with what didn't fit into the dishwasher – which often runs twice in a day.  

    But I would love a big one for the bathroom where my drippy kids can never find their towel after a bath.

  56. I think I'd use it to replace my old dishcloths underneath non-dishwasher items.  Thanks so much for the chance!

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