At LAST - Sturdy, Beautiful and Large Enough
This dish drainer is just what I've been looking for and I'm so relieved that I can stop shopping for one! The old one wasn't the best when I bought it (ugly welds, a bit of crookedness) but I made do with it for a while because it was all just aesthetics that were lacking. But because the tray didn't drain very well it soon started collecting ugly mineral deposits that I couldn't remove. The bottom rack had also started to rust. It had to go. I bought a replacement recently and it didn't cut it either.But enough about THAT...let me tell you instead of this product you're considering!First, the dish drainer came with very easy to follow instructions and setting it up was a breeze. I admit at first I was puzzled about where the mat went, until I looked at the instructions again and realized that I had installed the sides racks onto the lower bar instead of the higher bar. Fixed that and it was done!Because effective draining is really important, that's the first thing I tested. I removed the plug (REMEMBER to DO THAT!!) and poured some water on the mat. Even though my sink has this raised lip around it (ugh!) the water drained into the spout and right into the sink! That was a MAJOR deal for me!The rack itself is very nice, it has rubber coatings to protect your dishes from bumps, at the same time protecting the metal from rusting - none of the dish drainers I've bought in the past had that feature and it's really nice. The bars on the top shelf are spaced out wide enough to fit my bowls securely and that was something that my first replacement dish drainer wasn't able to do. It's also designed so that the cup/glass holders are positioned OVER THE MAT instead of on one of the sides, where the tray doesn't reach and therefore the water would go straight onto the countertop. These cup holders also have that thoughtful coating on them to help protect your cups and glasses. The cutting board holder also had that coating to keep the rust away.The utensil holder can be placed in different positions on your drainer but unless you place it on the side next to sink where the drainage spout comes out, you're going to get water on your counters.For me, the remedy to that was to just forego the drainage mat and continue to use my diatomaceous stone mat (if you haven't looked into those yet, you really should!); it measures 23.5 x 15.4in so it leaves extra space for an additional cutting board holders and other things that might not fit in the rack.BESIDES my observances, I was reassured by the quality testing that they did to make sure they offered a great product: you can see from the pictures that they have placed 110 pounds in the top rack and there doesn't appear to be any bending from it. In the description they also state that the racks passed a 24-hour salt test.Because I literally got this drainer only a few hours ago, only time will tell how long before we are going to start seeing signs of rusting or bending, etc.I will be sure to update this review if after usage I find any defects that should be noted.