Stop Buying Dish Racks — I Use This Genius Alternative Instead

Because I live in a small apartment without a dishwasher, and work from home several days a week — my life is essentially a never-ending cycle of washing dishes by hand. My husband and I also love to host friends and family, so our tiny kitchen can easily be taken over by piles of dirty dishes. That’s why a good dish-drying rack is key, and I’ve found the one in JosephJoseph’s Extend Expandable Dish Drainer Rack. 

The extendable design is a total game-changer for small kitchens, and it ended up solving nearly all of my gripes with traditional dish racks. Read on for my honest thoughts. 

It’s an extendable dish drying rack that expands to nearly twice its size (it measures 12.5 inches wide at its smallest and slides out to 20.8 inches wide when fully extended) giving you plenty of dish real estate, whether you’re cooking for one or cleaning up after a dinner party. 

It’s split into two zones: a ribbed surface on one side, and a removable section of steel draining prongs on the other. The base is sloped to prevent water build-up underneath your dishes and effectively channels water to the built-in draining spout (which can be adjusted to either plug or drain water). It also comes with a draining cup for cutlery, which can be removed to make space for larger items if needed.

The Extend is unlike any other dish rack I’ve tried. It’s compact enough for my kitchen’s tiny countertop but still has room to expand when I need it to. It holds way more dishes than you’d think, too: My old dish rack had a fixed layout of prongs that limited the number of dishes it could hold, but the Extend fits just about anything. The ribbed side can be used for cups, bowls, and cookware, while the pronged side is great for dinner plates, wine glasses, serving bowls, and anything else that needs more separation. Plus, I love that the prongs have rubber caps to protect my nicer “hosting” dishes from getting scratched. 

But the best thing about it is how well it drains. The drain on my old dish rack was basically useless, which caused gross water build-up that I’d have to scrub down regularly. The Extend, on the other hand, actually drains water. I’ve had it for over two months now, and I haven’t had to clean it once, which tells me that it’s draining as it should. The rack’s ribbed, sloped surface means that it doesn’t matter how chaotically the dishes are stacked on the rack — the water drains every time.

It’s also super stable. Even if the rack is mostly empty except for a heavy kitchen knife or two, it doesn’t wobble or creak. The cutlery cup is also wide and sturdy, so it doesn’t fall over when I load it up with large utensils (which is a huge pet peeve of mine). 

Now I know $63 is pricey for a dish drying rack, but if you want to invest in one that’s made to last and can do the most in a small kitchen, then JosephJoseph’s is absolutely worth the splurge. 

Buy: JosephJoseph Extend Expandable Dish Drainer Rack, $63