Designers: Donald Strum, Robert VanVarick, Ben Wintner, Michael Graves Design Group, Princeton, New Jersey, USA and Kerry Cooper, Polder Products, LLC., Oxford, Connecticut, USA
Manufacturer: Polder Products, LLC., Oxford, Connecticut, USA
The modern kitchen’s need for a dish rack vs.
just a dishwasher remains prevalent due to a growing number of smaller one-and-two-person households creating smaller amounts of items to be washed.
Waiting to fill the dishwasher can take days and is not realistic.
Additionally, items like wine glasses and items made of materials that are negatively affected by the heat of the dishwasher need to be considered.
The current dish rack paradigm has plate holders centrally located within the rack.
When a user places plates in the holders there is little room for any other object.
This is a space-use issue that has never been properly addressed.
This limited space has created a very successful sub-drying rack category using microfiber mats as a drying surface for larger items and the placement of wet goods to dry.
These drying mats are inexpensive and sell in large volumes in the market.
The mats do a fine job of absorbing water, but they don’t offer some benefits of a dish rack, including orderly placement to drain plates and utensils and a stable surface for delicate items like wine glasses.
Polder studied current market offerings and created a dish rack that speaks to all the above-noted problems and solves them in an elegant and innovative manner.
The Plush Dry dish rack is compact in its primary form and manages smaller quantities of drying items while looking elegant enough to leave out as a home décor item.
When the need for more space arises, the rack expands on both ends.
The frame on one side pulls outward, and the microfiber mat flap folds down to create a flat, stable drying surface for glasses and other items.
The frame on the other side rotates downward, and the microfiber flap on this side folds downward as well.
The wire plate rack moves to the outer edge, leaving significant space in the center for larger items or general storage.
The construction of the Plush-Dry dish rack employs a machine-washable microfiber mat as the primary drying surface vs.
large plastic drain trays which angle excess water towards the sink and are less eco-friendly.
This, plus a non-rusting aluminum frame offers users a solution that removes undesirable plastic trays and the need to be next to the sink to perform the drying function.
