I was so proud of this thing when I bought it.
I found it at Costco, but it wasn’t cheap. There also weren’t multiple options like there might have been if I’d gone looking for a salad spinning thingy in a regular store.
But I wasn’t looking. I just saw it in front of my face and the proximity alone reminded me how desperately I’d been wanting one.
Desperately, even though I had never gone looking. Whatever.
Anyway, I bought it. I mean, it’s a really good brand. And just think of the motivation to eat salads! And fruit! This purchase alone will surely change my life.
It worked (for spinning salad, not really for full-life-change), but it’s huge. So huge I can’t fit the pieces in my dishwasher.
And it took up huge amounts of room in my kitchen cabinet. I wasn’t about to replace (a clutter-busting concept when I can use it) my colanders. I use those all the time.
And they fit in my dishwasher.
After months of shifting and counter-space-taking (in various states of washed-ness/usability), I stuck it on the top shelf of my pantry.
Where it sat, and definitely didn’t get used.
As I put away groceries last week, I felt animosity toward this monstrosity (monstrosity is too harsh, but oh so rhymable) and the prime pantry real estate it had claimed.
So I finally gave up. I gave up on the idea that this thing would suddenly turn into the wonder-product I’d imagined it was when I bought it.
Off to the Donate Box so someone somewhere who doesn’t mind handwashing can use it in their much bigger kitchen.
Or at least they can find out it’s not for them for a lot less than I paid for it.
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--Nony
Mine was donated as well. I didn’t mind the handwashing part as much as how much space it took up! It’s easier just to wash lettuce and dry it on paper towels or a clean dish towel.
My hubby got us a salad spinner too. He usually buys such good things for the kitchen, but I hated this as it was so big and it didn’t seem to do miracles with the salad. So we kept it around for a few months and then got rid of it. It was painful as it was expensive, but I haven’t given it a passing thought of regret since we donated it. Good job!
Too funny. I actually decluttered something else to make room for my salad spinner, and replaced the old one when it broke. I love that thing and use it several times a week. We do eat salad frequently, though, and buy inexpensive (and dirt-covered) heads of lettuce that require soaking and washing. I’d rather hand-wash the salad spinner than eat gritty lettuce. 😛
I loved mine. I like how it gets the lettuce dryer. I don’t remember what happened that I had gotten rid of it.
Drier nor dryer.
I love mine.
Who knew there were so many inappropriately sized salad spinners?
I acquired a nice, compact (and relatively inexpensive) one but when my husband and I merged households, I sacrificed mine to accommodate his monstrous one. It doesn’t work as well and it takes up too much space in the dishwasher and the cupboard. At least it actually gets used, although I make my husband do the salad-spinning because I don’t think it works that well.
I always intend to eat more salads, and am actually working into it, so I’m glad I bought one. I don’t think mine is a brand name salad spinner though. It wasn’t expensive, it’s not very big (maybe a little bigger around than the middle-sized pan in a set – what we call ‘the potato pan’ – and a few inches shorter). I have to use a small knob on the top to spin it in a circle, but it’s not much work. If my plans to eat healthier don’t ‘pan’ out this time, I will be getting rid of it. I’m definitely starting to believe less is more.
I bought a salad spinner about 6 months ago but I got it at the Goodwill store and only paid a dollar because they had 5 to choose from.We eat a lot of salad since hubby started the Atkins diet so it is getting a lot of use.And it was a pretty green color that matches my kitchen.
You can take it back to Costco! Forever! And they will look up your receipt. I’d go trade it for chocolate!
Perfectly timed post! I just looked on the top shelf and realized I had a salad spinner and a “take the pie to the party” container, neither of which I had used. I eat a lot of salad, but since I live alone, I’ve taken to buying the ready-to-eat type of lettuce. Less waste and it’s so easy to use I actually eat salad. And although I often take desserts to parties, they usually aren’t pies.
So off to St. Vincent de Paul for someone else to love. And so much more room in my cupboard!
We’re buy hearts of romaine lettuce, and I found a fun new easy to dry it off…hold firm on the lettuce and swing it like a bat outside, or up n down like a logger…doesn’t matter. It’s free and fun ????????
Be glad you couldn’t fit in dishwasher. My first one did. MELTED. Finally bought new one which I use a lot. Just hand wash.
Oh, so relatable! I’m one of the people who does use (and has cabinet space for) my salad spinner, but I’ve bought at least THREE stick blenders (at thrift stores/garage sales), only to get rid of them yet again in frustration because they’re hard to clean, take up too much space in the drawer, and don’t actually make cooking any easier. Do we all have something like this?
Dana! This story makes me laugh because it is so typical of how we clutter-brained people operate. I have a really fancy, expensive stainless steel salad spinner that I bought 10 years ago and have never used once. It is up in our shop, taking up shelf space, but I need to donate it.
I wanted to share with you that I was able to move the one large, bulky appliance I use a couple times a week downstairs into my small pantry because I have decluttered so effectively. This is crazy, but the crock pot was in a closet I have to access by getting on my knees and crawling! I was doing that all the time because I use the crock pot and I didn’t have room for it in my kitchen. It is so incredibly reinforcing to move it downstairs and have it accessible because I actually rely on it to make meals. Thanks so much for inspiring me to embark on my decluttering frenzy, as I call it. I’m not done yet, and I’m realizing this is a never ending journey for us.
This is how I felt about the instapot and air fryer! The time & effort required for clean up completely outweighed the negligible “benefit” of using these tools and they took up SO much space! Sold those 2 babies (& when I say babies – those things were bigger than my actual babies were!) as fast as I could on a swap & shop page.
At first glance I thought that was something fir the washing machine, ha ha.
My salad spinner looks to be about the same size, without the monstrous broom handle on top. I keep it in the cupboard above my sink with other large lightweight bowls and basins, so it’s handy, and use the clear bowl for mixing the salad.
I put my salad spinner to good use by letting my nephew wash his small toys, legos, etc. He loved it
I put my salad spinner to good use by letting my nephew wash his legos and small toys in it. I guess I can get rid of it now, he’s 26! LOL!
This motivates me to get rid of the instapot that I have used 3 times and just takes up so much space!! Thank you!
So this gives me permission to donate my WOK! I have already donated my salad spinner that we used maybe 3 times. The Wok has been sitting on a shelf for a long time! I am going to box it up tomorrow morning! Betting I find more things just like that unused for years WoK on my ” storage” shelf. Oh, and I have learned to take before and after pictures. Thanks,
Isn’t it funny how there regularly are things that suddenly everybody should have in their kitchen? A few years ago we all “had to” buy a wok (probably because it was supposed to be healthier).
Nevermind that you need a special burner on your stove to use it that nobody I know actually has. So it’s the exact same than using a regular frying pan in the end…
This is the first time I am commenting. I agree that the salad spinner takes up a lot of space, but it is such a wonderful and fast way to dry lettuce, that doesn’t involved an entire roll of paper towels. I have a garden, and a lot of lettuce to wash. And usually the spinner needs only a quick rinse in the sink and then on the drying mat; no dishwasher required.
I think my Wok has sat on our “extra” shelf…that holds all things that don’t get used regularly,
for about 20 yrs. Its just been hiding out. Moving it out this week. The shelving has been on my mind all summer but I just never made time to really clear out stuff. Fall yard work has been completed and its time for some inside decluttering. One shelf at a time, should help me get it done.