Dish Drainer without antimicrobial junk in it??

[CathyA]

I can't find a dish drainer like my old one. It is a big Rubbermaid one which really fits my needs. I do tons of dishes by hand. So I went online and all I can find is Rubbermaid stuff with antimicrobial junk in it. Any ideas? I'm just not into antimicrobial stuff.......not handsoap, dish drainers, etc., etc. I don't think it's necessary.

[catherine]

This is the kind I have when hand-washing dishes

http://www.amazon.com/Totally-Bamboo-20-6701-Dish-Rack/dp/B0054PSX46

If you mean the thing underneath that catches all the drips, I use dishtowels

[Birdie]

I have a chrome dish drainer that has no coating over the chrome. I think the antibacterial is in the coating over the metal on other dish drainers. You might look at the chrome ones.

[CathyA]

Birdie....does the chrome scratch your dishes at all?

[mschrisgo2]

Check Big Lots, and the various iterations of the Dollar Store. Our 99 cent store has them, no extra junk included.

[Birdie]

I've never noticed any scratches, but I mostly use hand wash crystal glasses and miscellaneous things that won't fit in the dishwasher. I use my dishwasher for everything if they will fit in it.

[rosarugosa]

Cathy: We have a stainless steel dish drainer that we got from Williams-Sonoma quite a few years ago. We don't have a dishwasher - I think that's what beats up glasses and dishes. Our drainer doesn't scratch our dishes at all. I would never go back to a plastic one. This was expensive, but it will probably outlast us.

[SteveinMN]

Most of our dishes go in the dishwasher, but the items which can't (or just don't fit) are handwashed and placed on a clean towel to dry. Even dishes. But not my wood-handled knives. When everything is dry in a few hours, they're put away and the towel returned to its usual location on the oven door.

If I were looking for an inexpensive old kind of dish drainer, I'd hit up one of the local dollar stores or larger Asian food stores. But I'd be wondering what it would be off-gassing in our home while it was new...

[CathyA]

Thanks everyone! You know Steve.........I started wondering what was in just the plastic that lines our present drainer! I'm sure there's junk in that stuff too.
We don't have a dishwasher either. I do TONS of dishes all the time, so I'm thinking the bamboo ones might not work. Looks like they might fall over under the weight......
In addition to our drainer, we do put all the glasses, knives, etc. on a towel. I'm not big on immediately drying dishes.
I hadn't thought of the dollar stores/big lots, etc. I'll check those out. But maybe I should consider the stainless steel ones. It just always seemed like they would scratch things.
Thanks again for all the input!

[iris lilies]

This thread prompted me to look up what exactly anti-microbial finishes are since I had no idea that plastic household stuff had this finish. In skimming web articles I learned that all kinds of stuff have this treatment.

One manufacturer talked about including urea in their light switches as anti-microbe reatment. Urea. That brings to mind a lot of microbes.

http://tinyurl.com/k9yf7lt

I can't say that I satisfied my curiosity completely. I still can't figure out what the magical treatments are, what chemicals (?) they use that fend off microbe growth but that are resistant to being washed off with soap and water.

Cathy I agree with you that all of this treatment seems ridiculous.

[Aqua Blue]

I've had the same stainless steel one for years and years and years and don't recall it ever scratching anything. I like one that fits on one side of the sink.

How about the bamboo ones? Or, my sister has gone to one of those mats and it works well for her. She moves usually a couple of times a year and all of her kitchen things fit into one tote, so having a mat takes up little space.

[CathyA]

Aqua Blue....do you mean just the mat that usually fits under the drainer?

[CathyA]

I've been doing a search for stainless steel ones and I'm seeing some reviews that they got rust after just a few weeks. Is there anything in particular I should look for, so this doesn't happen? Target had a reasonably priced one, but it got horrible reviews. Maybe I need to buy more expensive ones? I'll check all the reviews too.

[Aqua Blue]

No, the one my sister has is cloth with some sort of padding. It wicks the water away. She throws it in the washer/drier occasionally.

The stainless steel one I have is probably 20 years old and no rust. I think it was from target and at the time it seemed like I spent a lot of money on it.

[rosarugosa]

Cathy: I've been searching for years for a stainless shower caddy that won't rust (I've given up and accepted the rust), so I've definitely appreciated the fact that my dish drainer has never shown any signs of rust. I think it cost about 75.00 and that was probably at least 8 years ago. It came with a plastic tray I didn't like, but I founds a replacement at K-Mart for $5.00 and that has never rusted either, although it didn't say it was stainless. The dish drainer has special holders for drying stemware, so it's perfect for us wine lovers! :)

[SteveinMN]

I've been doing a search for stainless steel ones and I'm seeing some reviews that they got rust after just a few weeks. Is there anything in particular I should look for, so this doesn't happen?
I would do a Web search for how to buy quality stainless-steel flatware. Things like nickel content, etc., make a difference. I strongly suspect you will get what you pay for, as you do with flatware. But you might do better at a place like Bed, Bath, & Beyond with a good coupon.

[CathyA]

Bed Bath & Beyond coupons? I have a couple hundred of those! haha And they never expire! :)