Stop Buying Dish Racks — I Use This Smart Alternative Instead

I remember the first apartment I lived in that had a dishwasher: I was happy not to have to hand-wash so many dishes, but I was even more thrilled to forgo a dish rack. This was back when dish racks weren’t nearly as chic as they are now, and I was over having an ugly plastic contraption take up so much counter space. Plus, it was just another thing to clean.

I still needed something to rest my non-dishwasher-safe items on while they dried. My first solution was to lay a dish towel on the countertop, which inevitably turned into a soggy mess. I resigned myself to buying another dish rack, but then I discovered Cuisinart Dish Drying Mats instead. For years now, they’ve been a complete game-changer in my kitchen. 

The Cuisinart Dish Drying Mat is a 24×18-inch mat made of super cushiony, absorbent microfiber that is the perfect replacement for a standard dish rack. It comes in a set of two and is soft and flexible, so it’s easy to store in a drawer when not in use. I have the XL version, but it also comes in a smaller 18×24-inch size. At just $21.44 for two, it comes out to less than $11 each!

The dish mat absorbs water extremely well and stays flat even when wet — no puddles like I’ve had with a towel or a dish rack — and it dries quickly. I’ve been using mine for years and have never seen a spot of mold or mildew on it, and have never had any odor, either. The mat is machine washable, so I’ll toss it in the wash every week or so. Thanks to the two-pack, I simply pull the other clean one out of the drawer where I keep the dish towels. (There’s also a loop that you can use to hang it, if you prefer.) 

I typically use my mats for drying dishes, but they’re also useful for resting washed produce to air-dry (when the mat is clean, of course). The design is great for underneath standard dish racks to keep water off your counters, or for under pet food bowls to absorb messes.

Dish racks are useful, don’t get me wrong. But unless you put dishes away as soon as they’re dry — something I rarely do, admittedly — you’re left with an avant-garde sculpture of cookware, utensils, and water bottles creating visual clutter on your countertop. A dish mat levels the playing field, quite literally. It offers a flat, absorbent place to put dishes after they’ve been washed. Sure, the dishes are still on the counter, but when they’re put away, you’re left with just the mat, not an empty rack. I like being able to look at my kitchen at the end of the night and see nothing on my countertops.

Even when I leave the Cuisinart dish mat out, it’s easy to move to make more counter space, like when my husband and I are baking or cooking something that’ll take up more room. That’s not something you can do easily with a dish rack. 

Where a dish rack does have the upper hand is in its ability to prop up dishes and pots so they dry more quickly.  My husband and I have our little tricks with the mats, like leaning a cutting board against a pot, but unless you angle or flip the pot over at some point, it won’t air-dry completely, so sometimes I rearrange dishes throughout the day. 

Keeping a low profile is the Cuisinart dish mat’s superpower, but if you want it to double as kitchen decor, it comes in more than 10 different colors and patterns. I’ve had my gray set for quite a while now, and while it’s still going strong, I’m thinking of getting it in blue just to change things up a bit. This is one kitchen item I won’t mind having more than a few of, especially since they’re so versatile and easy to store.

Buy: Cuisinart Dish Drying Mat, 2-Pack, $21.44