{"id":65,"date":"2025-09-25T00:49:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-25T00:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/good-worldwide.go-vip.net\/upworthy\/2025\/09\/25\/finnish-drying-rack-hits-kitchens\/"},"modified":"2025-09-25T00:49:00","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T00:49:00","slug":"finnish-drying-rack-hits-kitchens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goodinc.com\/qa-upworthy\/2025\/09\/25\/finnish-drying-rack-hits-kitchens\/","title":{"rendered":"Wall-mounted dish drying racks have suddenly become the new must-have item for family kitchens"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just like hemlines for jeans and living room paint colors, trends<\/a> come and go like the wind. But sometimes, even trends steeped in pure logic that genuinely make life easier take a while to gain traction all around the world. Such is the case for the wall-mounted dish drying racks,<\/a> which are finally becoming a staple in kitchens<\/a> in the globe’s last outlier\u2014America.<\/p>

While there had been earlier patents<\/a>, it wasn’t until the 1940s when Finnish inventor Maiju Gebhard popularized the idea of the wall-mounted dish drying rack, known in Finland as astiankuivauskaappi<\/em>. The idea is simple: instead of a drying rack in your sink or on the kitchen counter, this one is mounted directly above<\/em> the sink in a closed or open cabinet with an open-ended bottom, allowing water to drip, and plates, etc. to properly air dry.<\/p>

In an article about Nordic inventions for 99 Percent Invisible<\/em> (99pi<\/em>), writer Kurt Kohlstedt<\/a> notes that Gebhard’s design, “in conjunction with the Finnish Association for Work Efficiency, was a huge success. Her basic design is widely used in Finnish kitchens to this day. Over time, older versions built with wood have been replaced by ones using metal wire and\/or plastic.”<\/p>

In David Cad’s<\/a> TikTok video, he illustrates what it might be like for a “foreigner to see astiankuivauskaappi<\/em>” for the first time. “Who else knows about this?” he jokes. His counterpart answers, “What? This is in like every Finnish home.”<\/p>\n

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@davecad<\/a>

Tbh it’s pretty awesome ? #suomitok<\/a> #suomi<\/a> #suomitiktok<\/a> #fyp<\/a> #ttsuomi<\/a> #livinginfinland<\/a> #finland<\/a> #finnish<\/a> #fypsuomi<\/a> #astiankuivauskaappi<\/a> <\/p> \u266c original sound – Dave Cad<\/a> <\/section> <\/blockquote>