Are you looking for a simple way to save some money and ‘go green’? Then you’ll appreciate these laundry drying rack options.
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Laundry Drying Rack Options
I have been drying my clothes for the last 10 years: partly to help the environment, but largely to save money.
Hang-drying your clothes is a simple and easy way to save on your electricity bill.
I live in a naturally dry area so clothes dry well here. I hang my clothes inside, and also outside during the warmer months.
What I had been drying my clothes with:
For years I have been using a drying rack that I purchased at Costco.
And to be honest…I wasn’t intended on writing this post. At least not yet. (My girlfriend and I ARE planning a large laundry room remodel and getting different laundry drying racks, but I did something a little stupid last night.)
I busted my metal drying rack from Costco by trying to hang a HUGE duvet on it. I put up the overhead bar on the drying rack and draped the heavy duvet over it. When I tried to shift the blanket a little, the plastic joint on the rack snapped and the whole thing buckled. It now looks like twisted metal insect.
I still have a couple other drying racks (one of them you’ll see below), but because I need a new drying rack, and I’m going to do my laundry room remodel, I have researched some clothes drying rack options.
Folding, Portable Laundry Drying Racks
Here are some great folding laundry drying racks that are particularly well-suited for small laundry rooms or apartments.
1) Stainless Steel Folding Rustproof Drying Rack
The drying rack above from Cresnel (and available on Amazon) looks very, very similar to the one I just busted from Costco. In fact, it looks more like our old one than the drying racks currently for sale on Costco’s website.
I wanted to replace our broken rack with the same one, but I don’t see the exact one on Costco anymore.
What I like about drying racks like the one above is that it’s stainless steel and won’t rust. So you don’t have to worry about your clean clothes getting dirty from your clothes rack.
It has the lower level of rods where I usually hang my socks or underwear (shorter clothes that don’t dangle to the ground).
CLICK here if you want to see more details on Amazon.
Portability
Another great thing about these portable drying racks is that you can take them outside when its warm. I do have a traditional clothes line outside but it isn’t very long. So I haul my drying rack outside to take advantage of the sunlight. On hot summer days I think my clothes dry outside just as quick as they do in the dryer.
2) Accordion-Style Folding Laundry Drying Racks
We also have an accordion-style drying rack that we mostly use for small items like socks, underwear or baby clothes. (You can see it in the picture above.)
The reason we use shorter items on our particular accordion-style drying rack is because the drying rods are directly on top of each other: they are not offset. This means that if I hang a longer item like t-shirt from a top rack it will make contact with clothes on the rack directly below it. Wet clothes touching each other don’t dry well: no air flowing between them.
Another thing I don’t like about our drying rack is that it is made of wood. It is nice and lightweight but the plastic rod covers are falling off so the wet clothes are directly touching the wood. (You can see this on the second rod in.) No issues with this yet, but I wonder if my clothes will get stained or dirty over time from mildew? I guess we’ll see.
The drying rack in the picture below is one that is for sale on Amazon. It looks very similar to the one we have except this one is metal and not wood. It claims it is mildew-proof.
Despite being made of metal the seller still claims it is lightweight.
I foresee the same issues with this rack as I have with mine: long articles of clothing would overlap the clothes below it.
CLICK here to see this drying rack on Amazon.
3) X-Frame Design (almost like ironing board)
I found another folding option on Amazon, and this one has an x-frame like an ironing board.
It claims to have over 30 linear feet of drying space. And maybe you could hang it on the wall with ironing board hangers to store it? Will this work for you? Click here to see details on Amazon.
Wall Mounted Laundry Drying Racks
If you want to get your drying rack off the floor there are several styles of wall-mounted drying racks available.
4) Retractable Wall-mounted Clothes drying rack
The one shown below is a short, single rod drying rack that folds up fairly tight to the wall. So when you aren’t using it, you fold it up.
The drying options for this seem pretty limited though. I think it would work for clothes that hang on hooks such as button-down shirts or perhaps pants if you have hangers with clips.
(I have provided a picture of clothes hangers with clips so you know which ones I mean.)
5) Accordion-Style Wall Mounted Drying Rack
This drying rack mounts to the wall and then can extend outward to provide 22 linear feet of drying space. The manufacturer claims it has a 60 pound capacity. (Just make sure you mount it correctly to your wall!)
It is stainless steel so it won’t rust or get mildew.
Other Laundry Drying Rack Ideas
The majority of the drying racks I’ve seen are either floor-standing or wall-mounted, but I have come across a few other innovative ideas.
6) Over the Door Hanging Clothes Rack
This seem like a good way to maximize space…the “dead space” behind a door.
This would be a great space saver for a small laundry room, or for an apartment.
If you think this will work for you, click here to see it on Amazon.
7) Single Rod Over the Door Option
The drying rack shown above is a single rod style that allows you to hang clothes hangers from it.
Plus, the neat curvy sides allow the hangers to stay put and not slide together.
8) Over the Door option with Multiple Drying Rods
Here is another over the door option, but this one has multiple drying rods. So you can actually lay some clothes over the rods to dry, and also hang clothes hangers from it. It seems like a versatile option for small laundry loads or tight spaces. You can see more details on it here.
I hope you have got some inspiration from this list of laundry drying rack ideas.
An inexpensive option that you may want to use is simply string a clean rope between the walls of your laundry room and create your own clothesline inside.
Will one of these drying racks work for you? (You may need a couple to hang your clothes at once.)
Do you have a door to your laundry room to have an over-the-door drying rack?
Thank you and take care.
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