We aren't in the habit of buying plastic bags, but we do keep a small collection to wash and reuse. Drying the bags usually entails propping them around utensils in the dish rack or over chopsticks in a jar. The thought of purchasing a plastic bag drying contraption for ourselves seems like a waste of money and resources. On the other hand…
… if someone was regularly washing a lot of bags and wanted a dedicated, sturdy drying rack, we wouldn't fault them for buying one of these gadgets. And we have to admit we're intrigued by fancy-sounding features like the Telescoping Bag Dryer's "adjustable antenna arms"!
Pictured are a few different ways to dry bags, including solutions you can purchase and those you can make yourself. What's your preference: buying or DIY-ing? Do you have any other techniques or products to recommend?
• 1 Countertop Bag Dryer, $20 at Gaiam
• 2 Telescoping Bag Dryer, $14.95 at Cooking.com
• 3 Our own DIY bag dryer, made from a jar, chopsticks, and rice to hold them in place
• 4 From Whole Living, a plastic bag dryer made from a toothbrush holder and chopsticks or wooden dowels
• 5 Thrifty Knitter's whimsical DIY bag dryer made from Tinkertoys, a jar, and salt
Related: Five Ways to Reuse Newspaper Delivery Plastic Bags
(Images: Gaiam, Cooking.com, Emily Ho, Whole Living, The Thifty Knitter)
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I put off buying one of these for years because it seemed like such a ridiculous thing to spend money on - then after a while I broke down and spent the money and I LOVE IT.
at the very least, DIY from materials in your home (chopsticks in a glass, binder clips on a wire, etc). purchasing one seems sort of silly to me.
i just drop mine over some wine bottles on the kitchen counter. done and done!
I love the chopstick idea, and will give that a try with some glass marbles that I use in flower arrangements instead of rice. I've wanted a dryer thing for about a year now, as we no longer have room for the old handy-dandy hanger with clothespins on it approach in the kitchen that we have now.
I use my son's bottle dryer rack.
Reuse & repurpose idea: Save some chopsticks from take-out and put them in a flower frog, either the glass/ceramic kind with holes or the wire frame type.
I wish I had some tinker toys lying around, I think that one is so cute.
I stick my bags to the metal side of the refrigerator with a magnet. Place the magnet near the top of the bag's inside and it stays open to air dry. Works fine for me.
Definitely do-it-yourself with a flower frog and some chopsticks. So easy!
I put the bags, inside out, in the dish rack. The next morning, I turn them right side out to dry for a few more hours. Done. The one with clips looks very useful, though...
What I did (after trying other do-it-myself solutions) was to get a length of white-painted chain links - you know, the kind you can buy by the foot at the hardware store. I put a hook on either side of the kitchen cabinets over the sink, and the chain hangs between them, but is easily removable. Bags are washed, and suspended using clothes clips - I use it to dry my silpats, as well.
I used to hang them by a corner between a cupboard door and the cupboard.
Now I've attached a couple of nice bamboo clothespins (with 3M removable adhesive) to the cupboard side beside my sink and I clip the corners in there. They stay open and dry very quickly without cluttering my counter with another gadget.
I turn the bags inside out and hang them on utensils drying in my dishrack. Gets the job done and there's no need to buy an extra thing to clutter up my tiny kitchen.
No offense to anyone that bought one - but stick some chopsticks in a glass and call it a day. This gadget seems like a waste of money, although effective.
My family just props them open upside down on the counter, with a dish towel underneath to catch drips, and let them air dry. No purchase necessary! I do like the chopstick idea though.