Thisis what I’m talking about, but you see them everywhere for a lot less than $16. I ask: why? How is this better than just laying your dishes on top of a dish towel? To me, the fact that it absorbs water just means that it will take a while to dry. And where will you dry it? If your dishes are that wet, or that delicate, use **two **dish towels and then you can hang them to dry wherever you hang your dishtowels.
This seems to belong in the same category as the paper towel holders that stand on the counter. If you’re going to stand the holder on the counter with the roll of paper towels on it, why not just stand the roll of paper towels on the counter? It doesn’t save space.
These are the kinds of things that I ponder in my quiet life.
It protects the paper roll from damp patches on the counter, stops the roll falling over and makes it easier to pull towels off the roll (especially if you’re in a hurry to clear up a spill!)
what a bizarre product. What’s wrong with a standard dish rack and tray that drains the water into the sink? Why on earth would someone want a pad to soak up the water? That’s just odd.
There’s not that much water dripping off dishes anyhow. Let it go into the sink and don’t worry about it.
I also have one of those pads that go under the dish drain. Actually, I have three so I can rotate them. Why? Because my dish drain doesn’t sit on a counter, it sits on an extension of our stainless steel sink, and water spots can actually ruin it. I’ve found that using towels (which I did before I discovered these wonderful bad boys) didn’t solve the problem of keeping water off the stainless steel, they just got saturated and therefore didn’t protect it from water at all, whereas these do the job quite nicely. To each their own, I guess.
I’ve always thought those mats were silly, too. When we have items that are hand-washed rather than put in the dishwasher, I’ll lay out a towel, either under the rack if there are a lot of things, or just on the counter for one or two items. In my studio, I put my washed tools into a dish rack that has a drain board under it. I don’t need a thick, soggy mat to deal with, thankyouverymuch!
It’s for counter tops that are not next to the sink. the product has to absorb the water draining off. If you have a party and want to wash a lot of dishes then you need more places to set them down.
Plus the honeycomb-style padding allows air up into your glasses so they don’t “dry” with a lot of moisture left up inside the glass (like happens with dish towels) and pads them nicely so you don’t have to worry about delicate glassware.
#1 I’ve never heard of. #2 is fine, but often you have to use a second hand to hold it steady, so I get why it’s not necessary. I have a hanging one.
Do most people, who don’t have fancy granite countertops, have a sink that lies flush with the counter? I have a stainless steel sink and it’s about 8mm above the tile counter. The dish rack here (looks like) it slopes down and doesn’t have a rim on that side. That’s worthless for me. I suppose I could raise it, but it’s not big enough to care. I put a couple paper towels folded to soak up drippage, and change it when needed (not too often).
Not us. I have limited counter and cabinet space and don’t want to give it up to using and storing a dish rack. The thick pad absorbs water and actually dries very quickly. Most of my pots and pans are hand wash only, so I’d go through a lot of soaking wet dish towels to dry them on. One pad is much larger and absorbs more water, so the counter stays drier. After I use it it folds neatly away. Plus, I can make it fit the space I have on my counter by scrunching it or folding up a corner. Dish racks can’t do that.
Got mine at costco and love it. So much better than using dish towels.
Doesn’t take long to dry at all. Wash up the dishes after dinner. By bedtime (or next day…) dishes and pad are dry.
With a kind of light ratcheting resistance? We have a mounted version on our Ikea tiny kitchen island and LOVE it. It’s securely attached, making it easier to tear the paper towel. The countertop model we had before had a tendency to get pulled along a bit (or a lot) with the paper towel.
I have a 20% off coupon from Bed, Bath & Beyond burning a hole in my purse… may have to make a trip over there today. If this thread isn’t License to Shop, I don’t know what is.
I didn’t realize the padded thingies dried so fast even while lying flat on the counter under dishes.
