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The 7 Best Clothes-Drying Racks of 2024, Tested and Reviewed

Easily hang and air dry your delicates, sweaters, and more

Whitmor Over-The-Door Metal Clothing Drying Rack

The Spruce / Marcus Millan

A drying rack can be as much of a workhorse as your dryer if it's durable and spacious. That's why we tested 13 racks at home for 20 hours. In the process, we evaluated each drying rack's ease of assembly, design, quality, and value. We also hung up a variety of wet laundry items, such as a bathing suit, sweatshirt, towel, socks, and t-shirts. Then, as part of our test, we waited 12 hours and then 24 hours to see if everything was dry.

We know that the type of drying rack you need comes down to your personal style, the layout of your space, and your individual needs. Each type of clothes-drying rack is slightly unique and may offer guidelines on the best way to hang clothing.

In most cases, the laundry is draped over one of the rods, leaving space between rows so that air can circulate freely. Clothing that should be dried flat, like a winter sweater, is placed on a horizontal mesh or metal rack so that the fabrics won't stretch or become warped. Small items, like delicates or socks, can be secured to the rods with pinch-style clothes pins.

If you have outdoor space to dedicate to drying, that could be another important factor. "Hanging clothes to dry in the fresh air is great exercise and gentle on clothes, and helps reduce odors," advises Mary Marlowe Leverette, The Spruce's Gardening and Plant Care Review Board member, and laundry and housekeeping expert.

Editor's Note: This review was revised in February 2024 to include new testing insights.

Our Top Picks

Best Overall

Honey-Can-Do Wooden Laundry Drying Rack

Honey-Can-Do Wooden Laundry Drying Rack

Amazon

Our Ratings
  • Assembly
    5/5
  • Design
    5/5
  • Quality
    5/5
  • Portability
    5/5
  • Overall Value
    5/5
What We Like
  • Sets up in seconds

  • Lightweight yet sturdy

  • Easy to store

What We Don't Like
  • Can't hold large items, such as sheets

  • Wood is not sealed

This easy-to-use drying rack won perfect scores for every category during our testing. Although it has a small footprint, you can really cram quite a few items onto the rack. We fit a full load of delicate laundry items on the rack, including face masks, tights, tees, and sports bras.

The accordion-style rack is not the best option for large 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, it only took 30 seconds to set up.

"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. This particular option has wooden dowels with a vinyl coating. They're grippy enough that small, light items won't fall off when we gave the drying rack a shake. Although the weight capacity is 15 pounds, which is equal to roughly 10 bath towels, the rack didn't feel like it would buckle, even when given a hard push from the top.

Honey-Can-Do Wooden Laundry Drying Rack on carpet next to plant

The Spruce / Leticia Almeida

While this rack is on the smaller side (it only weighs three pounds), we also like that it's easy to move around, even when it's full of clothing. It doesn't tilt from side to side when it has several items on it, which can be a concern with other racks of this style. For the number of times you'll use it, it's can be folded up and put in a closet or corner of a room with ease. That makes it a great fit for apartments, dorms, RVs, and large homes alike, and a real standout in our book.

Dimensions When Open: 42 x 29.5 x 14.5 inches | Dimensions When Closed: Not listed | Material: Wood, vinyl | Installation Type: Freestanding | Overall Weight Capacity: Not listed | Outdoor Use: No | Assembly Required: No

Why use a clothes-drying rack?

Air-drying clothing is typically more gentle on fabrics, embellishments, and structural components like elastic waistbands than using a drying machine. Overall, this method of drying can help prevent stains from permanently “baking” into a fabric. We also think putting your clothes on a drying rack can save you money on utility bills, and it can be a great way to make your laundry room eco-friendly.

Best Value

Whitmor Over-The-Door Metal Clothing Drying Rack

Whitmor over the Door Metal Clothing Drying Rack

Amazon

Our Ratings
  • Assembly
    5/5
  • Design
    4/5
  • Quality
    4/5
  • Portability
    3/5
  • Overall Value
    5/5
What We Like
  • Takes up very little space

  • Opens and closes easily

  • Doesn't require mounting hardware

What We Don't Like
  • Rattles when you move the door

  • Not as spacious as other picks

Anyone who's sticking to a budget or working with a smaller space can benefit from this over-the-door drying rack. It's a breeze to set up and doesn't require any hardware, because you position the hooks at the top of your door and hang the metal frame from them.

The rack itself folds down at a 90-degree angle (unlike other wall-mounted styles that don't extend as much) so longer items can hang freely. When you aren't using the rack for drying, you can use the hooks to store tote bags, and the bars to hold accessories like scarves if the product is in the folded position.

Notably, during testing we found that you can't put too much on at once. We fit five kids' T-shirts and four pairs of underwear on the included hooks, although you could purchase additional hooks to add a few more items or rely on the bars if you were so inclined. The rack rattled slightly when the door opened and closed, but this issue could likely be solved by either permanently attaching the brackets to the top of the door or using spongey adhesive strips. 

Whitmor Over-The-Door Metal Clothing Drying Rack on carpet

The Spruce / Leticia Almeida

Also of note is that items could be hard to reach without a stool if you or someone in your household is on the shorter side. However, given its overall convenience and value, we ultimately think it's ideal for those who are looking to save space.

Dimensions When Open: 24.25 x 20 x 16.25 inches | Dimensions When Closed: Not listed | Material: Metal | Installation Type: Door-mounted | Overall Weight Capacity: Not listed | Outdoor Use: No | Assembly Required: Yes

How do you install a wall-mounted drying rack?

While not all wall-mounted racks need hardware, for the most part they should always be secured to a wall stud or vertical structural post with sturdy screws. When loaded with wet laundry, the rack will be heavy and can fall or cause damage to the wall if only screwed into drywall.

Be sure to follow any specific instructions in your rack's user manual for assembly. One exception may be an over-the-door drying rack, such as the Whitmor Over-The-Door Metal Clothing Drying Rack, our best value pick.

Best Heavy-Duty

Minky Homecare Multi Dryer Indoor Drying Rack

Minky Multi Dryer Indoor Drying Rack

Amazon

Our Ratings
  • Assembly
    5/5
  • Design
    4/5
  • Quality
    5/5
  • Portability
    5/5
  • Overall Value
    5/5
What We Like
  • Great construction

  • Wheels make it easy to move

  • Easy to store

What We Don't Like
  • Ends of metal bars are slightly sharp in places

The Minky is a joy to use and received high scores across the board. It has the highest weight capacity of all the racks we tested, and the assembly takes just a few minutes. No tools are needed, as you simply need to pop the four wheels onto the bottom of the rack. It takes about four minutes to set it all up. It folds up to less than three inches thick and can be very easily stashed in a closet or tucked next to the washer. When it's time to use it, you just pop it open using the fast-action mechanism. Closing it back up is the same process in reverse. The steel material is notably strong and lightweight, and it moves easily, thanks to the pretty blue wheels at the bottom.

It earned perfect scores in nearly every category (assembly, quality, portability, and overall value) and a nearly perfect score for design. We found the bars to be quite close together (just two inches apart), so you're a bit limited if you want to hang several large or bulky items.

A women's medium-sized T-shirt, for example, took up six bars when hung off one end. We also noticed that the ends of some of the bars were rough, and one snagged a towel. And while we appreciated the mesh shelf at the bottom for drying delicates like sweaters, we weren't sure how it would hold up over time, as it can't be removed and washed.

Minky Homecare Multi Dryer Indoor Drying Rack on carpet near wall

The Spruce / Leticia Almeida

This rack is quite large, too; it has 82 feet of drying space. Minky estimates that it can hold two loads of laundry. This will depend on the sizes of the individual items you decide to add to the rack. For loads big and small, we think there are plenty of ways to use (and appreciate) it.

Dimensions When Open: 49.21 x 54.33 x 23.62 inches | Dimensions When Closed: 49.21 x 2.36 x 23.62 inches | Material: Tubular steel, plastic (wheels) | Installation Type: Freestanding | Overall Weight Capacity: 55 pounds | Outdoor Use: Yes | Assembly Required: Yes

Best for Hanging Items

Mainstays Hanging Clothes Drying Rack

Mainstays Space-Saving 2-Tier Tripod Hanging Clothes Drying Rack

Walmart

Our Ratings
  • Assembly
    5/5
  • Design
    5/5
  • Quality
    5/5
  • Portability
    5/5
  • Overall Value
    5/5
What We Like
  • Small footprint

  • Utilizes vertical space

  • Great for long items

What We Don't Like
  • Could be more attractive

  • Hangers needed for ideal use

This steel, tripod-style rack earned perfect scores across the board during our testing, with attention to its assembly process, design, quality, portability, and overall value. It resembles a coat rack and can be snapped together in less than five minutes without tools. What's more, it can hold up to 65 garments at one time, an impressive feat in our eyes.

The only real downside is that it works best with items on hangers, though you could loop individual items like bras or tights over the bars. If you're using hangers to dry items like full-length dresses or long coats, you can collapse the lower set of bars so they hang freely.

Mainstays Space-Saving 2-Tier Tripod Hanging Clothes Drying Rack on carpet

The Spruce / Leticia Almeida

We filled it with sweatshirts and a fall coat, using a mix of huggable and wooden hangers, and the rack seemed quite durable. It's best to place heavier items towards the inside (closest to the post), which will help keep it stable. When you aren't using it, it can be quickly broken down into three pieces and tucked away in its original box or another storage bin. While it could be more attractive to look at, it really gets the job done.

Dimensions When Open: 73.5 x 28.5 x 28.5 inches | Dimensions When Closed: Not applicable | Material: Steel | Installation Type: Freestanding | Overall Weight Capacity: Not listed | Outdoor Use: No | Assembly Required: Yes

Best Leaning

Honey-Can-Do Leaning Steel Clothes Drying Rack

Honey Can do Leaning Steel Clothes Drying Rack

Walmart

Our Ratings
  • Assembly
    3/5
  • Design
    5/5
  • Quality
    4/5
  • Portability
    4/5
  • Overall Value
    4/5
What We Like
  • Good use of vertical space

  • Extremely lightweight

  • Easy to store

What We Don't Like
  • Assembly process is tedious

  • Larger towels get a little scrunched

This drying rack has a simple, streamlined look and is incredibly lightweight, making it easy to move around the house. During testing, we gave it high marks for design, quality, and portability, appreciating how versatile and convenient it is. It feels very sturdy and can be folded down to half of its size for easy storage.

It has 10 bars that provide 18 linear feet of drying space. It's worth noting that the bars are only set four inches apart, so if you have longer or bulkier items, they may need to be spaced out on the rack.

We found it a bit difficult to assemble, too—we had to reach for a screwdriver, and getting the screws and bars to align properly felt trickier than it should have been. It took a total of 30 minutes to assemble the rack. (Luckily, you only need to assemble it once!)

Honey-Can-Do Leaning Steel Clothes Drying Rack on floor carpet

The Spruce / Leticia Almeida

Although this seems like it would be great to keep in a bathroom as an extra towel rack, note that our bath towels (23 inches wide) couldn't fit on the bars without being scrunched up a bit. However, the rack comes with four plastic grips (two at the top and two at the bottom) to provide traction where it meets both the wall and the floor, giving you extra stability.

We also like how you can easily store it in a closet when your laundry is complete, making it a great choice for a small living space (or for anyone who prefers out-of-sight storage).

Dimensions When Open: 41 x 24 x 16 inches | Dimensions When Closed: Not applicable | Material: Steel | Installation Type: Wall-leaning | Overall Weight Capacity: 20 pounds | Outdoor Use: No | Assembly Required: Yes

Best for Outdoors

Brabantia Lift-O-Matic Rotary Dryer

Brabantia Lift o matic

Amazon

Our Ratings
  • Assembly
    5/5
  • Design
    5/5
  • Quality
    5/5
  • Portability
    3/5
  • Overall Value
    5/5
What We Like
  • Spins easily in the breeze to help dry clothes

  • Height can be adjusted

  • Sturdily constructed

What We Don't Like
  • Requires ground spike

  • Not very portable

If you have the space, consider the Brabantia Lift-O-Matic Rotary Dryer, our top pick for drying your clothes outside in the great outdoors. Mary Marlowe Leverette of The Spruce's Gardening and Plant Care Review Board and laundry and housekeeping expert, is also a fan. "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.

Assembly is intuitive, an especially good thing because it doesn't come with written instructions (except for the ground spike). It's similar to a patio umbrella, and the open-close mechanism is buttery smooth. The rotary-style dryer is designed to spin gently in the breeze to help clothes dry quickly.

Brabantia Lift-O-Matic Rotary Dryer on floor near wall

The Spruce / Leticia Almeida

We also appreciated the adjustability of this product. The pole's height can be positioned from approximately six to four feet, so shorter users won't get neck strain as they're trying to adjust their items on the line. During testing, 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.

The Brabantia can't stand on its own but does come with a metal ground spike. If you need to store it during the winter, you can easily remove the dryer, place it in the 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. It prevents the spike from becoming a tripping hazard or filling with rainwater, so you don't need to dig it up each time.

Dimensions When Open: 78.8 x 4.3 x 4.3 inches | Dimensions When Closed: Not listed | Material: Alloy steel, plastic | Installation Type: Ground spike | Overall Weight Capacity: Not listed | Outdoor Use: Yes | Assembly Required: Yes

Best for Sweaters

OXO Good Grips Folding Sweater Drying Rack

 OXO Good Grips Folding Sweater Drying Rack with Fold-Flat Legs

Amazon

Our Ratings
  • Assembly
    3/5
  • Design
    5/5
  • Quality
    4/5
  • Portability
    5/5
  • Overall Value
    5/5
What We Like
  • Folds easily

  • Taut mesh allows sweaters to dry quickly

  • Fabric can be removed and washed separately

What We Don't Like
  • Plastic could be better quality

  • Assembly is not intuitive

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 the 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. It's also stackable if you opt to buy more than one, making an even more efficient setup for multiple garments at a time.

OXO Good Grips Folding Sweater Drying Rack with Fold-Flat legs kept on carpet

The Spruce / Leticia Almeida

Because the mesh is stretched quite tautly over the plastic, it didn't sag during testing—even with a wet, heavy sweater on it. However, this feature makes the assembly process 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.

We docked a point for quality: 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.

Dimensions When Open: 4.5 x 26 x 26 inches | Dimensions When Closed: 2.5 x 19 x 8 inches | Material: Mesh, plastic | Installation Type: Freestanding | Overall Weight Capacity: Not listed | Outdoor Use: No | Assembly Required: Yes

Compare

Assembly Design Quality Portability Overall Value
Honey-Can-Do Wooden Laundry Drying Rack
Best Overall:
Honey-Can-Do Wooden Laundry Drying Rack
5 5 5 5 5
Whitmor over the Door Metal Clothing Drying Rack
Best Value:
Whitmor Over-The-Door Metal Clothing Drying Rack
5 4 4 3 5
Minky Multi Dryer Indoor Drying Rack
Best Heavy-Duty:
Minky Homecare Multi Dryer Indoor Drying Rack
5 4 5 5 5
Mainstays Space-Saving 2-Tier Tripod Hanging Clothes Drying Rack
Best for Hanging Items:
Mainstays Hanging Clothes Drying Rack
5 5 5 5 5
Honey Can do Leaning Steel Clothes Drying Rack
Best Leaning:
Honey-Can-Do Leaning Steel Clothes Drying Rack
3 5 4 4 4
Brabantia Lift o matic
Best for Outdoors:
Brabantia Lift-O-Matic Rotary Dryer
5 5 5 3 5
 OXO Good Grips Folding Sweater Drying Rack with Fold-Flat Legs
Best for Sweaters:
OXO Good Grips Folding Sweater Drying Rack
3 5 4 5 5
Final Verdict

Our best overall clothes-drying rack is the Honey-Can-Do Wooden Laundry Drying Rack, a lightweight, accordion-style drying rack that will work for a variety of people and homes. It's well-constructed and sturdy, and it folds up so it can be stored easily. Or consider the Whitmor Over-The-Door Metal Clothing Drying Rack, our best value pick. It folds down to a 90-degree angle and is ideal for drying a small number of lightweight items.

Best drying racks on carpet

The Spruce / Leticia Almeida

How We Tested the Clothes-Drying Racks

We purchased 13 clothes-drying racks and put them to work in a home environment. To find the best, each clothes-drying rack was assessed on a variety of traits.

  • Assembly: For each rack, we completed the assembly, following instructions if any were provided, and noting how clear or intuitive the process was. Then, we filled the rack with a variety of wet items, including sweatshirts, towels, socks, shirts, jeans, and more.
  • Design: As we navigated the design features of the rack, we noted whether the features were practical and useful, whether the rack was spacious and allowed for items to dry efficiently, and whether the rack was aesthetically pleasing in person. 
  • Quality: We also rated the quality of the rack's materials and noted whether it was stable and durable throughout its use.
  • Portability: We then tried moving the rack from one room to another, while it was both empty and full, to test its portability
  • Value: We considered these experiences when looking at the price of the rack and rating its overall value.

What to Look for in a Clothes-Drying Rack

Type

There are a number of different types of clothes-drying rack, 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 Richardson. "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 favorites:

  • Winged Drying Racks: These clothing-dryer racks stand on an A-framed base but most often have wings that form into a fixed, T-wing shape or adjustable, gull wing shape. While they take up a larger footprint than other styles, these drying racks will hold larger and heavier loads and are good for families. Look for one that has a flat-drying rack between the support legs for more versatility. Our pick for best heavy-duty, the Minky Homecare Multi Dryer Indoor Drying Rack, includes this feature.
  • Accordion Drying Racks: The most classic drying rack—often found in a college dorm room—is the accordion rack, which is what we selected for our best overall, the Honey-Can-Do Wooden Laundry Drying Rack. This style has multiple tiers and a small footprint. Accordion racks are lightweight and collapsible, and they hold a good amount of laundry. However, they might not be suitable for a large load of heavy items.
  • Tiered Racks: There are also tiered racks that can be formed into a tent or ladder shape. Our best leaning pick, the Honey-Can-Do Leaning Steel Clothes Drying Rack, is a great example. These are small enough to fit over a bathtub or lean against a wall and are most useful for small, lightweight items that should be air-dried.
  • Wall-Mounted Drying Racks: Attached to a wall or hung over a door, each type of mounted clothes-drying rack saves space and is handy to use in a laundry room or bathroom. Some are designed like a ladder that pulls out of the wall. Others, however, pull out in an accordion design or retract into a clothesline. The drying racks can be made of wood or metal, and most will only handle a small amount of lightweight laundry at one time. Our choice for best value, the Whitmor Over The Door Drying Rack, is a great example of a metal rack that conveniently hangs over your door of choice and folds down for easy usage.
  • Outdoor Drying Racks: Some of the other types of clothes racks are made from materials that can be used outside on a patio or balcony. If you’d like to have a more permanent outdoor dryer, there are numerous clotheslines, like freestanding umbrella shapes, classic T-shaped support poles and lines, retractable lines, and pulley systems. Perfect for families with lots of laundry, these are eco-friendly and a great option for locations with good weather conditions. The Brabantia Lift-O-Matic, our pick for best for outdoors, is an ideal choice for this exact purpose. Keep in mind that outdoor drying might not suit every household.

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 best heavy-duty, the Minky Homecare Multi Dryer Indoor Drying Rack, includes both plastic and tubular 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.

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). We love our option for best heavy-duty, the Minky Homecare Multi Dryer Indoor Drying Rack, which can hold up to 55 pounds. 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 15 pounds.

Why Trust The Spruce?

Lexi Dwyer has been contributing to The Spruce since 2019 and has written about laundry hampers, clotheslines, and clothes detergents, among other home-related topics. She personally tested 13 different drying racks, evaluating their ease of assembly, design, quality, portability, and value, before making final recommendations.

Our Experts:

  • Patric Richardson, textile expert and author of Laundry Love: Finding Joy in a Common Chore and host of The Laundry Guy on HGTV
  • Dena Ogden, commerce writer at The Spruce
  • Michelle Lau, editor at The Spruce