No Dryer? Air-Dry Your Tees and Towels With the Best Clothes-Drying Racks (original) (raw)

A drying rack can be as much of a workhorse as your dryer if it's durable and spacious. We’ve tested top clothes-drying racks at home from brands like Honey-Can-Do, OXO, and Brabantia, evaluating their setup, design, quality, and value. We’ve hung up a variety of wet items, such as a bathing suit, sweatshirt, bath towel, pair of socks, and T-shirt; then waited 12 hours, and then 24 hours, to see if everything was dry.

All that to say, we know drying racks—and the type of drying rack you need comes down to the layout of your space and your individual laundry needs. Each type of drying rack is unique and may offer guidelines on the best way to hang clothing. In most cases, your laundry gets draped over the rods, with space left between rows so that air can circulate freely. However, if you have any clothing that should be dried flat, like a sweater, a horizontal mesh or metal rack will allow you to do just that, so the fabric won't stretch or warp.

There are also clothes-drying racks that are quite large. They're hard to store in a small space, like an apartment—especially if they don't collapse in between uses—but they give you space to hang items vertically or dry smaller items, like delicates or socks, that can otherwise be secured to the rods with pinch-style clothes pins. For smaller spaces, over-the-door units can help keep the floor clean and spacious.

Our top picks are a mix of our tested favorites and vetted finds. They are also a mix of different designs, but offer space and flexibility, and won't tip over easily.

Editor’s Note: This review was updated in December 2024 to include new buying considerations.

What We Like

What We Don't Like

The Honey-Can-Do Wooden Laundry Drying Rack has been our favorite clothes-drying rack for years, and for good reason. Although it has a small footprint, you can really cram quite a few items onto the rack. We've been able to fit a full load of delicate laundry items, including tights, tees, and sports bras. One of our editors, who's owned this rack for over two years now (and counting), has hung up several shirts, sweaters, and pairs of jeans at one time too, with zero problems.

The accordion-style rack is not the best option for larger items like sheets, but the dowels are wide enough to fit a standard-sized bath towel folded over them. (This is not the case with many other drying racks.) Plus, you can hang items with straps off the sides, or lay items flat across the dowels at the top. The dowels are smooth and unlikely to cause snags.

This particular option has wooden dowels with a vinyl coating, and they're grippy enough that small, light items won't fall off when you give the rack a shake. And although the weight capacity of the rack is 15 pounds, which is equal to roughly 10 bath towels, the rack doesn't feel like it will buckle.

What Our Editor Says

"This clothes-drying rack couldn't be more straightforward and spacious. I love how light it is, and that it can easily tuck into the basement closet where my laundry machines are when it's not being used. I air-dry my leggings, favorite sweatshirts, jeans, and more at least once per week, and I haven't wanted or needed to replace the rack in years—even after moving with it." —Marisa Viglione, senior editor

"I like this style because I prefer to lay something across every single one of those bars, rather than drape something over the top," says textile expert Patric Richardson, the author of Laundry Love: Finding Joy in a Common Chore and host of The Laundry Guy on HGTV. The only catch is that the wood sides aren't sealed—they could create a pull in your fabrics if you aren't careful.

The Honey-Can-Do Wooden Laundry Drying Rack is on the smaller side (it only weighs three pounds), though, and we like that it's easy to move around, even when it's full of clothing. It doesn't tilt too much from side to side, even after several years, which can be a concern with other racks of this style. And it's easily collapsible, so you can put it in a closet or corner of a room when it's not in use. That makes it a great fit for apartments, dorms, RVs, and large homes alike.

Dimensions When Open: 42 x 29.5 x 14.5 inches | Material: Wood, vinyl | Assembly Required: No

What We Like

What We Don’t Like

Resembling the silhouette of a standing coat rack, the Household Essentials Tripod Clothes Drying Rack has two sets of collapsible bars that can hold up to 72 garments (depending on the size you pick). Unlike other drying racks on our list, this one requires clothes hangers, adding to its overall cost. But, we love that it can collapse for storage.

Because this drying clothes rack is lightweight and collapsible, it’s the perfect option for travelers, and its slim silhouette is great for small spaces, too. By collapsing the lower set of bars, you can use the drying rack at its full height to dry or even steam and de-wrinkle longer-length clothes, like knee- or floor-length dresses. You can also condense the drying rack to just the lower-tier racks for smaller garments that need to air dry.

While it’s not the most luxurious rack, the Household Essentials Tripod Clothes Drying Rack is easy to assemble, portable, customizable, and can dry nearly up to 40 pounds worth of laundry, so it more than gets the job done. It also does all of this for less than $30.

Dimensions When Open: 26.18 x 26.18 x 59.84 inches | Material: Aluminum, stainless steel | Assembly Required: Yes

What We Like

What We Don’t Like

Whether you’re tight on space or have a few delicate garments that are not dryer-friendly, or both, the Looca Mesh Clothes Hanging Dryer Rack is the perfect solution to all your air-drying needs.

This three-tier hanging rack is designed with mesh shelving that’s breathable and fast drying. Similar to our best for sweaters pick, the OXO Good Grips Folding Sweater Drying Rack, this clothes drying rack is excellent for keeping your damp sweaters fresh and warp-free because you can lay items flat. And its tiers fold flat and can be stored away in a linen closet, or on your laundry room shelf, making it perfect for small spaces.

Along with polyester mesh shelving, the Looca Mesh Clothes Hanging Dryer Rack includes many other useful features, such as built-in straps to keep your garments from sliding and a plastic hook that allows you to hang this portable rack from anywhere, like a shower rod or clothing rack. The best part? No assembly is required.

Dimensions When Open: 30.3 x 24.5 x 30.7 inches | Material: Polyester, stainless steel | Assembly Required: No

What We Like

What We Don’t Like

Sharing the same brand as our best overall, it’s no surprise that the Honey-Can-Do Gullwing Drying Rack is our best heavy-duty pick. With 46 linear feet of drying space and a steel body, this drying rack is great for drying large loads and sturdy enough to hold up to 50 pounds.

With an immense drying space, you can air dry a decent amount of your wardrobe, from blouses to sweaters and even shoes. It features a medium-sized mesh shelf that’s great for keeping sweaters fresh and damp-free, or for holding smaller undergarments. Similar to our best overall, the Honey-Can-Do Wooden Laundry Drying Rack, this rack’s dowels are wide enough to hold your folded-over clothes, plus towels and bedding as well.

The Honey-Can-Do Gullwing Drying Rack is overall designed similar to an ironing board that can be collapsed and folded away when not in use. However, with a width of 57 inches, this rack definitely isn’t ideal for those tight on space.

Dimensions When Open: 23.5 x 57 x 37 inches | Material: Steel | Assembly Required: Yes

What We Like

What We Don't Like

This featherweight rack weighs just one pound and is worth getting if you frequently dry items that need to lay flat, such as sweaters. It can be placed on the floor or a table, or on top of your washer or dryer. (Some like the dryer's added warmth.) When we used it on top of a front-loading dryer, two of the legs needed to be hooked over the back for it to fit, but it stayed stable, and a chunky knit sweater dried in about 14 hours.

The OXO Good Grips Folding Sweater Drying Rack features mesh that's stretched quite tautly over the plastic frame. It didn't sag during testing—even with a wet, heavy sweater on it. However, the assembly process was a bit tricky. The plastic bars need to be slid into the mesh sleeves and then forced together. Luckily, it only needs to be put together once, and then it can simply be folded in half when not in use.

While testing, the plastic seemed a little flimsy. We pinched a finger when popping it open the first time, so plan accordingly, and be careful when setting it up or folding it down. However, this pick is also stackable if you opt to buy more than one, making an even more efficient setup for multiple garments. The price tag is also under $20, which is reasonable for a drying rack that has just one purpose: lay an item (or two, at max) flat to dry.

Dimensions When Open: 4.5 x 26 x 26 inches | Material: Mesh, plastic | Assembly Required: Yes

The Spruce / Leticia Almeida

What We Like

What We Don’t Like

If you’re looking for the best way to optimize your small bathroom storage space, investing in an over-the-door drying rack, such as the iDesign Over The Door Towel Rack, is a great place to start. Although labeled as a towel rack, this three-tier rack dries more than bath towels and washcloths, and requires no floor space.

While we haven't tested this rack for ourselves, we've tested over a dozen clothes-drying racks in many styles, including over-the-door racks. Similar to the ones we have tested and loved, this space-saving rack requires no mounting hardware or screws to hang, doesn't get in the way of opening or closing your door, and is great for drying towels, bathing suits, and smaller garments.

The iDesign Over The Door Towel Rack isn’t ideal for those looking to replace a drying machine, as it can’t hold as much laundry as some of our other picks, but it’s the perfect bathroom drying rack. And, at a lower price, it's certainly a steal we wouldn’t recommend passing up.

Dimensions When Open: 22.8 x 7 x 1.5 inches | Material: Nickel | Assembly Required: Yes

What We Like

What We Don't Like

If you have the outdoor space and are looking to take advantage of the natural elements to help air dry all your clothes, consider the Brabantia Lift-O-Matic Rotary Dryer. Mary Marlowe Leverette, a member of The Spruce's Gardening and Plant Care Review Board and a laundry and housekeeping expert, is also a fan of this rack that is nearly 80 inches tall when open._"_Tucked in a sunny corner of my garden is the Brabantia Rotary Dryer Lift-O-Matic that helps me take advantage of our abundant Southern sunshine," she says.

Despite its size, assembly is intuitive. It surprisingly doesn't come with any written instructions (except for the ground spike), but it sets up similar to a patio umbrella, and the open-close mechanism is buttery smooth. The pole's height can be positioned from approximately 4 to 6 feet, so shorter users won't have to strain as they're trying to adjust their items on the line. During testing, we found the lowest height setting was great for drying bulky items, such as bedding or cushions.

The bars have individual holes for inserting hangers, an ideal feature for delicate items that you don't want to snag. Overall, the rotary-style dryer is designed to spin gently in the breeze to help clothes dry quickly, too.

Now, the Brabantia Lift-O-Matic Rotary Dryer can't stand on its own, but does come with a metal ground spike that stabilizes it. If you need to store it during the winter, you can easily take it down, place it in a waterproof, zippered storage bag, and hang it from the top loop. The spike has a cap that's to be used once the dryer has been pulled off. This prevents the spike from becoming a tripping hazard or filling with rainwater; you don't need to dig it up each season—phew!

Dimensions When Open: 78.8 x 4.3 x 4.3 inches | Material: Alloy steel, plastic | Assembly Required: Yes

The Spruce / Leticia Almeida

Final Verdict

Our best overall clothes-drying rack is the Honey-Can-Do Wooden Laundry Drying Rack: a light, accordion-style drying rack that our editor has used and loved for over two years. It's both well-constructed and sturdy, and folds up so it can be stored easily. You may also want to consider the Household Essentials Tripod Clothes Drying Rack. As our best value pick, it has a design similar to a coat rack, but can be adjusted and collapsed for easier use and storage.

How We Tested the Clothes-Drying Racks

We've purchased and tested over a dozen clothes-drying racks from brands like Honey-Can-Do, OXO, and Brabantia, and put them to work at home. To find the best options for you, each clothes-drying rack we test is assessed on a variety of traits.

Testing Takeaway

For example, in the case of our best for outdoors pick, the Brabantia Lift-O-Matic Rotary Dryer, we had to install a ground spike to insert the drying rack into. That said, assembly typically only has to be completed once; racks can fold down or be broken down in some way for storage in between uses.

Testing Takeaway

Some racks are designed for just a single purpose, such as providing a flat surface for a sweater to dry, which is the case with our best for sweaters pick, the OXO Good Grips Folding Sweater Drying Rack. We don't dock racks for anything they aren't designed to do.

When vetting additional, non-tested clothes-drying racks for this list, we also take all of our testing experiences into consideration, and rate each rack on the same attributes to the best of our ability.

What to Look for When Buying a Clothes-Drying Rack

Research the Type of Clothes-Drying Rack That Best Fits Your Routine

There are a number of different types of clothes-drying racks, and what suits your space will come down to the type of laundry you need to dry, the amount of room you have, whether you'll be drying inside or out, and your own personal preferences. "Laundry should be fun," says Patric Richardson, textile expert and author of Laundry Love: Finding Joy in a Common Chore and host of The Laundry Guy on HGTV. He says, "If it seems really hard, you're not going to do it. Your drying rack should open easily and it should just work for you, so you'll think, 'Oh, this is no big deal.'"

With that in mind, here are some of our favorite types of clothes-drying racks:

Our tip? Look for a winged drying rack that has a flat drying rack between the support legs for more versatility. Our pick for the best heavy-duty clothes-drying rack, the Honey-Can-Do Heavy Duty Gullwing Drying Rack, includes this feature.

Our tip? Our choice for the best over-the-door clothes-drying rack, the iDesign Over The Door Towel Rack, is a great example of a metal rack that conveniently hangs over your door of choice. The best part, though, is that it can double as a clothing rack for small undergarments and bath towels, making it particularly versatile and functional in a small space. It also doesn't require any mounting hardware.

Our tip? The Brabantia Lift-O-Matic, our pick for an outdoor clothes-drying rack, is an ideal choice for this exact purpose. While you do have to put a spike in the ground, it comes with a bag for storing it in bad weather or during off seasons, and a cap for the spike so it won't fill up with rainwater or become a hazard.

Consider the Drying Rack's Material

Make sure that your drying rack is made of something that will not harm wet fabrics. Always look for materials that will not rust, transfer color, or snag fabrics. Plastic will not rust, but stainless steel is much more durable and will support more weight.

Our pick for the best outdoor rack, the Brabantia Lift-O-Matic, includes both plastic and alloy steel. If you believe metal rods will be too slippery for your fabrics, look for models that offer a coating on their dowels or rods.

For example, in the case of our best overall pick, the Honey-Can-Do Wooden Laundry Drying Rack, we love that the dowels are vinyl-coated so they're both smooth and not slippery. However, the wood edges of the drying rack are not finished, so they may snag clothes if you're not careful.

Think About the Rack's Weight Capacity

The weight capacity of a clothes-drying rack is determined by how much wet laundry it can hold at one time. Today’s large-capacity washers can produce loads weighing up to 40 pounds. If you tend to wash several loads in a single day and want to hang dry all of these items, you may want a larger drying rack (or multiple).

The Honey-Can-Do Heavy Duty Gullwing Drying Rack (our best heavy-duty pick) is able to hold up to 50 pounds of laundry. But if you do only one load per day, then a smaller rack will meet your needs, such as our best overall pick, the Honey-Can-Do Wooden Laundry Drying Rack, which has a weight capacity of about 15 pounds.

Why Trust The Spruce?

Kenedee Fowler is a shopping writer for The Spruce, specializing in cleaning tools and products, laundry products, furniture, and more. She is constantly researching the best home products and, for this roundup, used our home testing insights to inform her selection. She also used our testing experience to help her find new, highly rated picks from top brands.

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