Clothes drying racks come in all shapes, sizes, and materials. Whether you’re looking to line dry a few pieces of clothing or entire loads of laundry at one time and whether you prefer to hang items inside or outside, there’s a drying rack option to suit your laundry needs. The CRESNEL Stainless Steel Clothes Drying Rack earns accolades for being one of the largest and sturdiest options on the market. Eager to see if the CRESNEL would live up to its hype, we put it to the test in our home. Evaluating its size, design, and overall performance, we set out to determine if the CRESNEL drying rack is worth its hefty price tag. Read on to see our findings.
Size: Incredibly large—be sure you have the space for it
When it comes to storage capacity, the CRESNEL drying rack far surpasses the competition. When it’s fully extended, the rack measures 58 x 24 x 40 inches. When not in use, it folds into a rectangle that measures 40 x 24 x 3 inches. Weighing a little under 7 pounds, it’s very portable. We had no trouble carrying it from room to room. Once unfolded to its maximum size, however, we weren’t able to fit this rack in our smaller bathroom. We had to relocate it to the primary bathroom, which is much more spacious. Even in the larger room, the rack took up a good amount of space. We live in a small household, so this rack is unnecessarily large for two people. For the number of clothes we air dry, we could easily make do with a rack that’s half the size. If you have a large family or prefer to line dry all of your laundry, however, this rack will likely come in handy. Whereas most compact racks have a somewhat limited capacity, the CRESNEL rack will have no problem accommodating an entire load of laundry.
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Design: Not very attractive but a stellar performer
The CRESNEL drying rack is made from stainless steel and built to last. It is intended for both indoor and outdoor use. The manufacturer claims it can withstand direct sunlight and rain without rusting. CRESNEL backs its rust-proof promise with a free lifetime replacement warranty. The clothing rack comes fully assembled. All you have to do is expand the rack (into an A shape), flip up the side panels, and you’re good to go. We can’t say we love the look of the CRESNEL; it’s incredibly large and the design isn’t particularly attractive. If we happen to have guests over, we want our laundry to be tucked out of the way or displayed discreetly. That would be impossible with a rack this bulky. Other clothes drying racks we tested were much more compact. Some are small enough to put in a standard bathtub, but this one is not. Once the rack was fully extended in our primary bathroom, we jokingly referred to it as the “small airplane.” The stainless steel material stuck out like a sore thumb, particularly against our white bathroom fixtures. Aesthetics aside, this heavy-duty clothes drying rack certainly gets the job done. Its clothes-drying capacity crushes the competition. There are 17 racks on the top tier and seven racks on the lower level. The bottom rack even has special slots to accommodate shoes and slippers. We hung a full load of laundry on it and still had plenty of room to spare. The stainless steel material is very durable. It can take on heavy items like thick jeans and wet towels without bending, buckling, or wobbling. There is also plenty of space between each bar so that pieces of clothing—and even towels—won’t touch one another. The rack is tall enough that we could hang our longest dresses up to dry and they didn’t touch the floor. We loved the fact that when the rack was expanded at a 90-degree angle, the top tier could be used as a shelf. This worked perfectly for some longer sweaters we have that need to be laid out flat to dry properly. The CRESNEL rack provided plenty of surface area to dry everything we wanted.
Price: High quality is worth the high price
Retailing around $60, the CRESNEL Stainless Steel Clothes Drying Rack is one of the pricier options on the market. If you want a sturdy and durable rack with an extra-large storage capacity, though, it is well worth the money. Its lifetime warranty adds to the overall value especially if you’re someone who uses a drying rack regularly. The rack is quite large, though, so you’ll want to make sure you have the space for it before making the investment.
Competition: Plenty of options if size is a concern
Honey-Can-Do Retractable Clothesline: If you really want to save on space, you could go with a retractable clothesline instead. We tested the Honey-Can-Do retractable clothes rack, which retails for around $11. It offers surprisingly high quality at a very low price. It provides 8 feet of drying space and it’s sturdy enough to hold several pairs of wet jeans at once. The CRESNEL Stainless Steel Clothes Drying Rack held considerably more laundry than other racks that we tested. Provided you have the space for it in your home, its large capacity is definitely worth its fairly steep price tag.
