Retractable Drying Racks
Buy the best retractable drying racks selected and recommended by interior designers. By Tara Gosselin.
Strong and durable, retractable drying racks fold or collapse to save space when not in use. This makes them an excellent addition to condos, apartments, and studios with compact laundry rooms. If you want a way of drying clothing in the sun, you can also find retractable clotheslines that retract, keeping the backyard free of clutter. In addition, retractable drying racks and clotheslines are energy efficient compared with tumble dryers, significantly reducing your power consumption. Explore the top five best retractable drying racks and the features that make them stand out.
Retractable Drying Racks
Buying Guide
Tara Gosselin
Interior Design Expert
Tara is a San Antonio-based award-winning landscape architect, writer and educator, passionate about eco-friendly solutions and growing her own food. She knows all it takes to help you create a sustainable backyard retreat that combines blissful charm with a modern take on landscaping.
Retractable drying racks utilize vertical wall space and disappear into oblivion when not in use. They are a great way to air dry clothes, which improves the longevity and prevents colors from fading prematurely.
And they are a space saving alternative to full sized drying racks that look ungainly and eat up on precious space in small apartments. Some of the newer designs are versatile and can be used both indoors and outdoors.
If you are thinking of getting one for your home, then here are a few variables to consider.
The term ‘retractable’ is generally used to describe wall mounted drying racks that fold flat when not in use. But if you wish to avoid wall installations for some reason, then you might want to consider the good old, X-frame rack. This collapsible design still finds takers. When not in use, it can be folded flat and tucked behind the door or under the bed. Y-frame racks offer more drying space. But need more horizontal space when expanded. Not the best of solutions for small rooms.
Retractable wall mounted drying racks are available in a variety of designs. Look for products that have the features that you are looking for. Do you need hooks? Hanger bars? How many bars or clothes lines do you need?
There’s a wall-drop styled rack which folds into a sleek cabinet when not in use. Then there’s the retractable rack with a pull out clothes line that can be installed in between two walls. A knob allows you to adjust the tension of the line and when not in use, the line retracts into the wall mounted mechanism.
Different styles of drying racks offer different drying space. If you need a lot of space to dry larger loads, then look for the X-frame or Y-frame racks. They can offer up to 135 feet of drying space and can be a great alternative for a full sized clothes line.
The smaller retractable versions are better suited for small clothing items like lingerie or towels.
Metallic clothes racks are extremely durable and have much higher weight bearing capacities. But they tend to be more expensive than other materials. And there’s always the risk of rusting, if the coating were to peel or flake after a while.
You are no longer limited by metal though. There are retractable racks made of wood, wicker, bamboo, rattan and plastic. Rattan and bamboo are eco-friendly, tough and durable choices. Wood scores over the rest in aesthetics. But water and wood don’t make for a very long lasting combination.
Always check the load bearing capacity of the drying rack before you buy one. A few wet towels might not seem like much. But your sopping load can quickly add up and you don’t want the drying line to snap or the frame to come crashing down, do you?
Last but not least, retractable racks have to be easy to install and use. It sort of negates the purpose if you have to spend hours to figure out how to install it. Or if you end up pulling the entire line out when you don’t need it.