Letters To The Editor

We had so many people write in with suggestions for Frustrated’s drainboard problem that we decided to just include several of those suggestions in today’s Letters to the Editor.

Dear Frustrated,

I have a double sink and what I did is buy a stainless steel basket type dish drainer that has “handles” that hook on both front and back of one-half of my sink. The handles extend to fit any size sink. I found it on the Internet. The drawback is that I can’t have rinse water in the one-half of my sink so it takes more water to rinse, but it works quite well.

Edith

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Dear Frustrated,

We had the same problem finding a good draining dish rack until we found this one. We have one of these—the simple human steel framed dish rack. We got it at William and Sonoma, so it can probably be found a lot cheaper, but even at $70, it has held up very well, drains nicely, and has a really handy knife holder that protects the blades as well as the dishwasher (me). We heartily endorse this one.

https://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/simplehuman-steel-frame-dish-rack/?pkey=chkgclnsnk

Chris

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Dear Frustrated,

There is an easy, inexpensive fix to the drainboard solution if one doesn’t mind a homemade solution instead of a store recommendation.

You need to check the underside of your drainboard as its configuration would determine what you should do to build a stable “lift.” After determining the appropriate height, get some scrap wood and cut several pieces into long triangles where one of the legs of the triangle provides the amount of additional lift desired. You would need to check the underside of your drainboard to determine appropriate height, width, and lengths of the strips. Using the situation described in the letter to the editor, one of the legs of the triangle would need to be an additional 1/2″ to whatever the current spacing measures, while the other leg and the hypotenuse could be whatever measurements work for that particular drainboard. Fasten 3-5 triangles to another strip of wood also cut to the same height as the leg (e.g., 1/2+”) but wide enough to provide support for the full width of the drain board. Place this “lift” under the end of the drainboard and you then have a custom made “lift” for your drainboard.

The big box stores in my area allow gleaning from the scrap wood bin, so if you don’t have wood readily available, obtaining the needed pieces shouldn’t be too difficult.

I hope that isn’t too confusing.

Elise

Thank you, readers, for your hints and tips for Frustrated! We appreciate you taking the time to write in with your thoughts and suggestions!

The Editor

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