Kitchen draining area/ board - is the only solution to wipe dishes straightaway?

[WhoWhereWhatWhy]

We’re finally having a new kitchen. Our current one has a stainless steel sink and a half and attached draining board, which has worked really well for us. But when we upgrade the kitchen to a mid range one we think we’ll have an undermounted sink, and i am really hoping that the budget will stretch to Corian/Dekton for the worksurface.

I never ever dry up after I’ve washed up, and often leave bits from the dishwasher that aren’t fully dry to drain on the drainer.

Am I going to need a personality change and dry up straightaway when our new kitchen is in? I can’t see what draining board options I have other than a plastic one that sits on the worksurface or grooves (my fear is that everything will drop to the floor off the side and that water will just pool).

All advice welcome.

What about a drainer that sits across the sink? It would be fine for plastics, and can be put away when not in use.

Grooves for me and am really glad we chose that. The water obviously pools a little but the grooves are pretty efficient. I like the fact that when there are no dishes draining it is another usable area and I was on a drive with this kitchen to minimise the number of different materials used to achieve a more pared back look.

why are you washing things up if you have a dishwasher?

For me it's stuff that can't go in the dishwasher - non stick pans, non stick oven trays, water bottles, wooden chopping boards etc.

I too was going to recommend the grey drying mat from ikea linked up thread. I also bought some from either aldi or lidl, but the ikea ones are better quality IMO. I just shove them in the washing machine and they still look great. We have a quartz worktop and had grooves cut in, but still use the drying mat on top instead.

In a previous property I did have a drying rack, but we didn't have a dishwasher back then, and it was a double level one so pretty cumbersome.

If you get corian you don’t even need an undermounted sink. You can have the sink moulded out of the corian and simple grooves on the drainer. Looks great and easy to keep clean

The IKEA drying mats are excellent quality vs others I have tried & if it’s stuff that’s coming out of the dishwasher then they don’t get especially wet so I’d be happy to put on any worktop

I hate drying racks too (because things pile up there & never get put away) - just have the mat on top of the draining board & that works for me for ‘non dishwasher’ stuff

I dont think you will suddenly start drying up if you hate it so maybe get a draining board

We have a wide undermounted sink and I use an in sink drying rack, and drying mat next to the sink.

Thank you all for your responses. I’ve weighed it up, and I’m going to get an load of those padded drying mats that I can pop into the washing machine.

I didn’t know this but of course, it makes sense. Do you have one? Can you reassure me about staining if you do please? Obviously a sink gets way muckier than a worksurface as dirty things go directly into the sink whereas they’d be on a copping board on a worksurface.

Why are you going for an undermounted sink if you need somewhere to drain your dishes? People do it to gain worktop space if they don't use the draining board. In your case you're going to not only have a uglier sink with potentially more maintenance issues, but you're going to then need to create a draining board type area which is going to look messy and you don't even benefit from increased worktop space.

I much prefer the look of undermounted sinks.

@WhoWhereWhatWhy we have grooves in the (granite/marble?) worktop and use the Brabantia mats for stuff we handwash or which hasn’t dried in dishwasher. I have two and just wash and use as needed.

www.dunelm.com/product/brabantia-sinkside-dark-grey-microfibre-dish-drying-mat-1000158201?defaultSkuId=30653192&branchCode=0025&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Utility_Utility_%5BGOO-LIA+PSB-HOMEHYGIENE-UTILITY%5D&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=1680817384&gbraid=0AAAAADGqyX3RHzOAsJSts3G1__Am3vXss&gclid=CjwKCAjw1tLOBhAMEiwAiPkRHpcAahZqUHho4KqlgU2omjXHJb8SuH64HVzy7okzjAIeRNfzgFdytRoCA1IQAvD_BwE

Just had a new kitchen in last few months and love my undermount sink and my grooves😂. I just use a drying mat for the odd occasion I have dishes drying. I mostly turn dishwasher on of an evening and put everything away next morning as like everything away.
Off topic but one of my favourite things is my boiling water tap, was worried it would be a novelty but wouldn’t be without now.

I just use a tea cloth folded in half for things that will always have a pool of water when coming out of the dishwasher e.g. mugs with a concave bottom. When it’s no longer needed you can just put it back with the other 20 tea cloths that don’t have much purpose.

When we had this problem 2 years ago, though wooden worktops, we went for a double sink. One to wash, stick to drain in the 2nd.

I’m really confused about the “grooves are old fashioned and not functional” comment. I have grooves with a draining rack set above, they funnel all the water down into the sink just like a draining board 🤷‍♀️.

I want one of these

I hate the dishwasher anyway and one of my gripes with them is that things come out wet and dribbly, crevices in items, plastics, rims on pans etc. Soaking

https://nesstar.co.uk/products/reginox-ceramic-reversible-drainer-ii-in-white-for-belfast-butler-kitchen-sink?variant=51057998627162&country=GB&currency=GBP&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23386830700&gbraid=0AAAAApQQH0uZxTJOtaKD_UFz_nZSjHB3p&gclid=CjwKCAjw1tLOBhAMEiwAiPkRHqok9EKb_IjEpeYohjBCNuPX0l4qpj1qhsFrNj9OW1W2SG9ohcdGyRoCwS0QAvD_BwE

8 have a similar set up and I use the thick absorbent mats to drain and washing up or wet stuff from the dish washer. They live under the sink and get washed with the tea towels.

We considered getting grooves in our worktop and I’m so glad that we didn’t. Once they are there , that valuable space is only good for drying dishes. Our kitchen is very small so it just wasn’t practical.

Yes we dont have grooves in our wooden worktop

Ive nothing against them, although they can go mucky and pale if not kept nice but I didnt want the space taken up by them

You can also look at worktop sinks (brace brace, these are shockingly expensive) as suggested by our architect https://www.olif.co.uk/products/artinox-planum-xt-111-undermount-multi-level-sink?_pos=33&_sid=dbe1e47ea&_ss=r Then the draining board extra accessory sits above the sink

@FriedFalafelsWe have visited Finland several times and all the places I rented have a cupboard above the kitchen sink. When you open the door, instead of a bottom shelf it is a drying rack.

That’s a great idea.
When we go to Spain we’ve seen this where that cupboard is above the hob so all the water drips over it lol. Strange.

I have the Brabantia mat and a similar one from Pro Cook. They absorb everything so no run off or needing to worry about underneath.

We tried lots of options and ended up with one of these - stylish, rolls up for easy storage https://www.aurahome.com.au/silicone-fold-dish-drying-rack-black-designstuff