Customer Reviews

simplehuman Flip-Top Dishrack with Bamboo Knife Block, Stainless Steel

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The design is great, especially with the flip-up expandability. The dishes stand up perfectly in the rack, and we like the utensil holder. At first we didn't think too much of the knife-block cover, but it actually works very well to help the knives dry faster (and more safely). I would have given a five-star rating, except for the poor quality control. One of the hinges for the flip-up section was bent, hindering the movement of the shelf. A plastic cover had to be removed to bend it back into shape. The nice part of having to do this was that I got to test the quality of the welds. I've seen too many spot-welds break when adjacent pieces had to be bent, but the welds on this unit are very high quality. The other negative was that the wine glass hanger (which we don't use anyway) is unusable because poor alignment when the plastic holder was molded onto the stainless wire. Again, a very nice design, but manufacturing quality is pretty bad.

Expensive at $80 but one usually gets what you pay for...the problem? Appears that the wire grids are thinly coated with plastic; once that flakes off (took about 45 days of use) then the metal is exposed and then its Rust City. Very surprised because we've owned several of this manufacturer's products over the years without problems. Their newer drainers have different wire covering material so perhaps the problem is now corrected assuming you get a newer model.

Although the most expensive dish rack I have purchased, well worth the price. Had I purchased this 2 years ago, overall I would have saved money as I have thrown away so many inferior racks (mold and rust after very little time). Plenty of space available. The flip up shelf is great. A huge plus is the knife block. The ability to change the direction has opened up counter space. Because of the orientation we only use 2 of the cup "prongs". The only con is that it doesn't always drain without a little manipulation, but I think it has more to do with my counter not being level than the construction and design of the dish rack.

Highly recommended!!!

I bought this dish rack because my husband and I recently moved to NYC and space can be very limited here and unfortunately most apartments do not have plumbing for dishwashers :( We bought this dish rack after reviewing the stainless steel simplehuman dish rack reviews and also because this dish rack had so many more features. But, to much disappointment this dish rack has many flaws. First if your sink's lip overhangs or is too high this dish rack will not drain well and will therefore drain all over your counter, cabinets and floors. There are hinges on the bottom of the drain tray but the flaw with this is that a)there are only 3 hinges when there should be 4 to assist in draining process especially for sinks like mine that are abnormally high and b)the two different places to put the stainless steel drain lip on the dish drain should have options that can plug/close the one not being used to prevent draining on the counter/cabinet/floor. I will say that this dish rack is nice for the fact that it is large; plates and other large items stand up without tipping over and there are clip on features for cups and wine glasses. The bamboo knife drainer attachment is very nice too. I would think twice before buying this item because of the drain issues. I would go with the older item that has the white swivel drain to assist in better drainage.

I got this recently, after moving to an apartment without a dishwasher. So far, I love it.

A few people here have asked why there are 3 hinges. This is why:

There is a drain on two sides of the plastic base. You can use one on the long side of the rack, as shown in the picture, or on the short side of the rack (next to the cutlery/knife holder). The bottom of the plastic base has legs on three corners (the hinges). These come folded up into the base. There is no leg in the corner between the two drains.

The legs on the bottom of the draining base are meant to tilt the base (and rack) so that it drains more easily. It's designed for only two to be used at one time: if you're using the drain on the long side, you fold out the two legs on the opposite long side. If you're using the drain on the short side, you fold out the two legs on the opposite short side. Either way, the whole thing is slightly tilted so that the side with the drain is lower and water will flow down to the sink instead of gathering on the base. That's why there's no leg on the corner in between the two drains: it's not about raising the whole rack, it's about tilting it.

By the way, this is one of the things that sold me on this rack. The plastic base for my last rack had a slight built-in tilt, but not enough for the water to drain well. I agree with somebody's comment about directions, though. It's funny to think of a dish rack needing them, but a picture could easily clarify the purpose of the legs. We bought this at a store that specialized in these sorts of things, so an employee told us about its various features.

OK, this item is not cheap, but this is the best dish rack that I've ever seen. As a matter of fact, I ordered two more for friends that, after seeing it, wanted one too.

I really like this dish rack. It is well-designed and well-made. I wash a lot of dishes by hand and I like that it is big and can hold a lot of different things. It drains well and looks reasonably good on my counter.

We have small kitchen with no dishwasher, so we hand wash all our dishes, with limited counter space. This drying rack works great - the layout allows it to hold a lot of dishes in a little footprint, the feet insure that it is sloped for drainage, and there is a drain spout that makes sure the dripping water all flows into the sink instead of the counter.

Also, the adjustable rack works great. We can flip it closed to conserve space, or flip it out to create more storage/layers.

One small complaint is that the cutlery drying attachment has a tendency to have standing water in the bottom, and over time gets a little dirty. This is a bit disconcerting with regards to cutlery, which you put in your mouth, and they could stand to improve the drainage design of that add-on to address it.

However, that is a small quibble regarding an overall excellent product.

We've had this dishrack for a little under 2 years and while it is the right design and size for our needs, the build quality of the plastic and rubber hole seals just isn't up to par.

The plastic area that holds the drain spout is now cracking and the rubber hole seals are now yellow and hard.

This is likely why they offer replacement drain boards for $20.

I definitely recommend spending your money elsewhere as this dish rack is not a good value when you consider cost and longevity of the product.

I recently replaced this rack with a Zojila 'Rohan' Dish Rack, similarly expensive. This otherwise-excellent Simplehuman rack has a plastic drain base that is hard to clean & eventually deteriorated. The Zojila looked promising since it is made entirely of stainless steel, including the drain base. Unfortunately, the Zojilla simply proved to have much less functionality than the Simplehuman: Z looks nice & is well-made, but it cannot compare with the SH in terms of accommodating the dishes from even a small family (3-4 people). The utensil holders of the SH, while not made of stainless, are also much more functional, having 2 bins for cutlery & a dedicated one for chef's knives. The SH also has a double-deck rack & 4 clips to support glasses. A solution? I resurrected the SH, junked its plastic base by replacing it with a Vollrath #68085 stainless steel cookie sheet (about $25), slightly elevated the end & positioned the whole affair with the hanger-hole of the cookie sheet over the sink edge. Looks good & works quite well! The Zojilla Rohan might prove satisfactory for 1 person, or maybe a minimalist couple...