The 8 Best Clothes-Drying Racks of 2023

Best Overall

Honey-Can-Do Wooden Laundry Drying Rack

5

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Our Ratings

• Assembly
  5/5
• Design
  5/5
• Quality
  5/5
• Portability
  5/5
• Overall Value
  5/5

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. Our tester 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.)

"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 (like face masks) 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.

The rack itself only weighs three pounds, so 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 also a great value and 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! 

Price at time of publish: $43

_{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}

Best Budget

Whitmor Over-The-Door Metal Clothing Drying Rack

4.2

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Our Ratings

• Assembly
  5/5
• Design
  4/5
• Quality
  4/5
• Portability
  3/5
• Overall Value
  5/5

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. Our tester 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. On our tester's door, 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. 

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 or save a few dollars (or both!).

Price at time of publish: $25

_{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}

Best Leaning

Honey-Can-Do Leaning Steel Clothes Drying Rack

4.2

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Our Ratings

• Assembly
  3/5
• Design
  5/5
• Quality
  4/5
• Portability
  4/5
• Overall Value
  4/5

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. Our tester 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!)

Although this seems like it would be great to keep in a bathroom as an extra towel rack, note that our tester's 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).

Price at time of publish: $22

_{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 Hanging Items

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

5

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Our Ratings

• Assembly
  5/5
• Design
  5/5
• Quality
  5/5
• Portability
  5/5
• Overall Value
  5/5

This steel, tripod-style rack earned perfect scores across the board during our testing, which emphasizes the 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.

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.

Price at time of publish: $26

_{Dimensions When Open: 73.5 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 for Outdoors

Brabantia Lift-O-Matic Rotary Dryer

4.6

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Our Ratings

• Assembly
  5/5
• Design
  5/5
• Quality
  5/5
• Portability
  3/5
• Overall Value
  5/5

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. 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.

Price at time of publish: $124

_{Dimensions When Open: 78.3 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 Heavy-Duty

Minky Homecare Multi Dryer Indoor Drying Rack

4.8

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Our Ratings

• Assembly
  5/5
• Design
  4/5
• Quality
  5/5
• Portability
  5/5
• Overall Value
  5/5

The Minky is a joy to use and received high scores across the board. It has the top 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 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.

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.

Price at time of publish: $77

_{Dimensions When Open: 49.2 x 54.3 x 23.6 inches | Dimensions When Closed: 49.2 x 54.3 x 2.36 inches | Material: Tubular steel, plastic (wheels) | Installation Type: Freestanding | Overall Weight Capacity: 55 pounds | Outdoor Use: Yes | Assembly Required: Yes}

Best for Small Items

IKEA Pressa Hanging Dryer

4.8

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Our Ratings

• Assembly
  5/5
• Design
  4/5
• Quality
  5/5
• Portability
  5/5
• Overall Value
  5/5

What's not to love about this adorable drying rack, which can hold 16 different items and costs less than a fancy coffee? With its eight arms, turquoise hue, and smiling face, it's designed to look like an octopus—or maybe a chandelier, if you pretend not to notice the eyes! It's best for small, lightweight items, such as socks, face masks, or lingerie. (One caveat: The clothes hooks may leave indentations in very delicate fabrics.) If you're looking for a way to entice a little one to help you with laundry, this may very well do the trick. "Laundry should be fun," says Patric Richardson, textile expert and host of The Laundry Guy on HGTV. "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.'"

The only area where the Pressa received fewer than 5 stars was design. During testing, the rack wouldn't fit over our tester's shower head, shower curtain rod, or walk-in closet rod. (However, they noted that others might have more luck!) The Pressa would fit well on either a ceiling or wall hook that extends a few inches out to allow room for all eight arms. Our tester was able to hang the Pressa from a gull wing of another drying rack and otherwise found it to be lightweight and a great value.

Price at time of publish: $8

_{Dimensions When Open: 10.25 x 15.75 inches | Dimensions When Closed: Not listed | Material: UV-light–treated plastic, synthetic rubber (arms) | Installation Type: Hanging | Overall Weight Capacity: Not listed | Outdoor Use: No | Assembly Required: Yes}