I Tested 14 Salad Spinners and Found 5 That Dried Greens Really Well

Though bagged and boxed mixed greens are washed ahead of time, full heads of lettuce aren’t. Washing the leaves of lettuce (and other leafy greens like chard, kale, and cabbage) is important to rinse off dirt and bacteria. But once it comes time to make a salad, well, dressing doesn’t cling to wet lettuce very well. It’s important to dry greens thoroughly, and one of the most efficient ways is with a salad spinner.

I tested 14 salad spinners to find the best ones that were intuitive to use, fast, and efficient. No soggy spinach to be found!

The Tests

• Mixed Greens Test: I dried five ounces of mixed greens to determine how effectively each spinner worked. I weighed the greens in grams before washing, after washing, and after drying, and I timed how long each spinner took to spin away the water. 
• Romaine Lettuce Test: I washed and dried 14 ounces of romaine lettuce to test the salad spinner’s ability to clean a large amount of hearty greens. I weighed the lettuce prior to washing, after washing, and after drying, and timed how long it took them to dry.
• Fragile Herbs Test: I dried a 100-gram bunch of Italian parsley, looking to see if the salad spinner bruised or otherwise damaged the tender herbs. 
• Cleanup Test: After each test, I washed the salad spinner by hand. 
• Usability Tests: Throughout testing, I noted how easy the salad spinners were to use, clean, and store.

What We Learned 

How a Salad Spinner Works

A salad spinner is kind of like a Rotor or Gravitron amusement park ride: There's a barrel-shaped room, the room spins quickly, then the floor drops out and you stick to the side of the wall. Salad spinners function similarly (minus the bottom disappearing). The greens are placed in a perforated basket nestled in a bowl. You then spin the basket, and centrifugal force flings away the water.

Generally, Faster Was Better

The most efficient salad spinners were the fastest ones. The faster the bowl spun, the more water was flung off the greens. In our previous tests, we found that free-floating-style salad spinners (the kind where the basket gets a push from the spinning mechanism and then continues to spin) were more efficient and could spin faster than fixed rotational spinners, in which the basket must be manually spun with a knob. So, it’s no surprise that the winning spinners were free-floating.

And though, in theory, a salad spinner that goes too fast might bruise delicate herbs or fragile fruit like berries, I didn’t find that to be an issue. Also, just because a salad spinner can go very fast doesn’t mean it has to. A less aggressive push or pull of the spinning mechanism results in a slower spin, keeping the fragile contents whole and undamaged. For folks who are extra concerned, you can line the basket with paper towels to help cushion the greens.

Smaller Holes Removed Less Water

Most salad spinners had a large hole in their baskets to optimize water removal. But some salad spinners, like the Williams Sonoma, had small perforations instead. The smaller holes made it harder for the water to be removed from the greens, leading to damp results. Baskets with larger holes, like the OXO spinners, were able to remove water quickly and more efficiently. 

Non-Skid Bases Helped Stabilize The Spinner

Almost all the spinners I tested had non-skid bases that helped stabilize them. The more lightweight ones still tended to wobble a bit, especially if I spun them super fast. But because of the grippy base, none of them felt like they were going to shimmy off the countertop. 

The only spinner that didn't have a non-skid base was the OXO Good Grips Glass Salad Spinner. While the thick borosilicate glass made the entire spinner heavy and stable, the slick surface of the glass meant I had to be a little more cautious and not place the spinner near the edge of a counter or table, where it risked being knocked onto the floor.

What's the Best Size for a Salad Spinner? 

Storage space is always an issue in small kitchens like mine. But if you have the space, a large salad spinner is best. It gives you the versatility to dry big batches of greens, but it still works well when only partially filled. 

Larger-capacity salad spinners also let you wash hardier greens and vegetables, like chard, collards, or cabbage. My favorite OXO spinners, including the metal, large plastic, and glass ones, could hold just over six quarts of greens. For a more compact spinner, the Chef’n Salad Spinner did a surprisingly good job at drying greens, even though they were packed into a smaller basket.

Another reason that a larger spinner is superior is that overpacked baskets are harder to spin. The more greens you put in the spinner, the slower it spins and the harder it is to dry the greens. A tightly packed basket means water will just move from leaf to leaf, without actually exiting the basket.

Lids That Came Apart Were Easier to Clean

Because salad spinners are often used just for cleaning lettuce, a simple rinse of the basket, bowl, and lid is typically all you need to do. That said, my favorite salad spinners from OXO have lids that come apart, making it easy to do a deep clean if you need to. Being able to take apart the lid also means the parts dry quickly because water or greens don’t get trapped in between the plastic pieces.

The Williams Sonoma model's lid didn’t come apart, and water got trapped between the sections of the lid. Worse, stray small pieces of greens or vegetables could find their way inside.

Extra Features Were Nice

Non-slip or non-skid bottoms were a great feature. But some other extras made some spinners stand out: The OXO glass and metal spinners both had a removable inner insert with a bump in the middle. This is how the basket stays elevated and spins. Making this bump removable, instead of a built-in part of the bowl, means the outer bowl can be used as a serving or mixing bowl.

Most free-spinning dryers also have a “stop” button that stops the basket from spinning. Some, like the Williams Sonoma, didn’t work very well—I had to push hard to make the basket stop. But my favorite models all stopped the basket almost immediately. Stopping and starting the basket also helps to fling the water off the greens faster. 

My favorite spinners also had knobs or handles that locked down into position, making storing somewhat easier. Spinners like the Cuisinart or Westmark had fixed handles that couldn’t be collapsed. These models could be stored by turning the lid upside down, but this made it more difficult to retrieve the spinner without knocking the lid off.

Finally, the Chef’n salad spinner comes with a chopping blade as well as a basket with a crossbar handle. The chopping blade didn’t work on hardy greens like romaine, pushing the thick-stemmed greens around the bowl instead of chopping them. But the crossbar on the basket flips perpendicularly to the bowl, making it a nice handle and turning the basket into an easy-to-use colander. Once flipped back on top of the bowl into a cross-bar position, it makes it easy to place and remove from the outer bowl. 

The Criteria: What to Look for in a Salad Spinner

The best salad spinners were fast and free-spinning. They were intuitive to use and had pump- or pull-style mechanisms that worked quickly and smoothly. They dried greens and tender herbs efficiently without bruising them and could hold enough lettuce for a four-serving salad. They were stable on the counter as they spun and had features like brake buttons that allowed me to quickly stop the basket. Lids that came apart prevented greens from getting trapped between the layers and were easier to clean.

Our Favorite Salad Spinners

The Best Salad Spinner

OXO Steel Salad Spinner

$75

$59 at Amazon View on Williams Sonoma $75 at Sur La Table

What we liked: The OXO Stainless Steel salad spinner has a generous 6.34-quart basket that accommodates small amounts of greens, delicate herbs, and large amounts of lettuce alike. The spinner dries efficiently, using a simple one-handed pump that pops up from the top of the lid. The spinner’s stop button also quickly stops it from spinning.

The stainless steel bowl is lightweight, durable, and dishwasher-safe. The bowl has a grippy base that helps prevent the bowl from sliding around as you pump and spin the greens. The lid comes apart into two parts with just a simple push of a button, which makes deeper cleaning easier and drying faster. The removable insert in the bowl (which is what the basket spins on) allows you to convert the bowl to a serving or mixing bowl as well. 

What we didn’t like: If you pack the basket to the brim with greens, the vegetables in the center might get crushed when you place the lid on it due to the large center stem.

Key Specs 

• Materials: Stainless steel; BPA-free plastic; rubber
• Style: Pump
• Amount of time taken to dry 5 ounces of greens: 27 seconds
• Basket dimensions: 9.75 x 9.75 x 5 inches
• Bowl capacity: 6.34 quarts
• Weight: 3 pounds, 2 ounces
• Dishwasher-safe: Yes

The Best Budget Salad Spinner

OXO Good Grips Salad Spinner

$33 at Amazon $33 at Target $33 at Sur La Table

What we liked: Similar to the winning stainless steel spinner, this plastic version of the OXO salad spinner is intuitively designed, works efficiently, and is easy to clean. It also costs half as much as its metal sibling. The outer plastic bowl also has a non-slip base that prevents the bowl from sliding around on the countertop. The bowl doesn’t have an insert but instead has a molded dimple in the middle that the basket spins on. This makes the basket more stable than its metal and glass counterparts that have inserts, but it also makes the outer bowl a little less functional, as the center dimple is a little annoying when using it as a serving bowl.

What we didn't like: Like the other OXO spinners, the center stem in the lid takes up space in the basket. The plastic bowl on this model is also lightweight and less stable than the metal and glass versions.

Key Specs 

• Materials: BPA-free plastic
• Style: Pump
• Amount of time to dry 5 ounces of greens: 28 seconds
• Basket dimensions: 9.5 x 9.5 x 4.75 inches
• Bowl capacity: 6.22 quarts
• Weight: 2 pounds, 10 ounces
• Dishwasher-safe: Yes

The Best Smaller Salad Spinner

Chef’n Salad Chopper and Spinner

$40 at Amazon $40 at Wayfair View on Macy's

What we liked: The Chef’n Salad chopper has a smaller basket and footprint than the winning OXO models. But it still holds a fairly generous amount of greens, and drying five ounces of mixed greens only took 25 seconds. The lid is a single piece of plastic, making it easy to clean, with no hidden crevices or sandwiched parts to trap water or stray leafy greens.

The spinning mechanism does require two hands: one to hold the spinner and the other to pull the big O-ring on top. Though this is less convenient than a one-handed pump-style spinner, it gets the basket up to speed quickly. The inner basket also has a crossbar that attaches to the lid for spinning. This crossbar opens up and becomes a handle, making the inner basket an easy-to-use colander as well. Best of all, it’s cheaper than most of the other spinners I tested.

What we didn't like: Because of the pull-string mechanism, the spinner requires two hands. The “chopping” blade that comes with the spinner is fairly useless, especially with sturdier greens like romaine; it just spun them around. The spinner is also hand-wash-only.

Key Specs 

• Materials: BPA-free plastic
• Style: Pull-string
• Amount of time taken to dry 5 ounces of greens: 25 seconds
• Basket dimensions: 9 x 9 x 3.75 inches
• Bowl capacity: 3 quarts
• Weight: 1 pound, 15 ounces
• Dishwasher-safe: No

The Best Splurge Salad Spinner

OXO Good Grips Glass Salad Spinner

$75

$56 at Amazon View on Williams Sonoma $75 at Sur La Table

What we liked: Like the OXO metal and plastic version, this glass salad spinner has a pump-style spinning mechanism that is easy to use and does a quick and efficient job of drying greens, lettuce, and herbs. The lid comes apart for easier cleaning and drying. Although some manufacturers advertise that the bowls of their salad spinners can be used as salad or serving bowls, the OXO glass spinner bowl actually looks like a glass serving bowl.

What we didn’t like: The spinner is heavy, weighing over six pounds. It doesn’t have a non-slip base, which makes it prone to sliding if bumped. It’s also one of the most expensive of the spinners I tested.

Key Specs 

• Materials: Borosilicate glass bowl; plastic basket and lid; rubber
• Style: Pump
• Amount of time taken to dry 5 ounces of greens: 32 seconds
• Basket dimensions: 9.5 x 9.5 x 4.75 inches
• Bowl capacity: 6.22 quarts
• Weight: 6 pounds, 5 ounces
• Dishwasher-safe: Yes

Editor’s Pick

Zyliss E940005 Swift Dry Salad Spinner

$45 at Amazon View on Walmart $45 at Wayfair

What we liked: This lightweight model has a pedal-powered spinning mechanism that was easy to use and quickly got the drying basket up to speed. Despite being one of the lightest salad spinners I tested, the non-slip base on the bottom helped it stay put. The Zyliss also features a brake button, which worked well, and the pedal pump handle locks flat for easy storage. It's been one of our favorite salad spinners since we first tested them back in 2016.

What we didn’t like: The plastic gears in the lid were petite, with tiny teeth. They would occasionally not catch, and the basket wouldn’t spin.

Key Specs 

• Materials: BPA-free plastic; rubber
• Style: Pedal
• Amount of time taken to dry 5 ounces of greens: 45 seconds
• Basket dimensions: 10 x 10 x 4.25 inches
• Bowl capacity: 5.75 quarts
• Weight: 2 pounds, 2 ounces
• Dishwasher-safe: Bowl is dishwasher-safe, all other parts hand-wash only

The Competition 

• Cuisinart Salad Spinner: This spinner was too small and rattled a lot when spinning. The hand-turned crank didn’t generate enough power and was hard to use.
• Farberware Pump Spinner: This salad spinner performed solidly throughout testing. The pump mechanism was powerful, and it dried lettuce well. However, it was hand-wash only and felt cheap.
• Mueller Salad Spinner: An unusual “pulling bar” spin mechanism generated more force than a simple hand crank, but this still ranked toward the bottom in the drying tests. It was also unusually loud—enough to scare a (skittish) dog out of the room during testing. This spinner is now discontinued.
• Prepworks by Progressive Collapsible Salad Spinner: We had high hopes for the space-saving promise of this collapsible salad spinner. Unfortunately, this model underperformed in the drying tests and wasn’t able to accommodate 10 ounces of lettuce. Expanding and collapsing the bowl and basket took a considerable amount of muscle, too. 
• Westmark German Vegetable and Salad Spinner: Inexpensive materials, a hand crank, and a slow-spinning speed landed this salad spinner near the bottom of our results. The Westmark also appears to be out of stock.
• Zyliss Easy Spin Salad Spinner: Cord-operated salad spinners may have a nostalgic appeal for some. But the long cord on this model made using it fairly awkward, and a considerable upper-body workout. Customer reviews also suggest that the cord frays over time.
• Williams Sonoma Salad Spinner: This spinner felt very sturdy, but the inner metal basket had small holes that didn’t allow enough water to be removed. The lid was more challenging to place on top, often misaligning with the basket. And the stop button didn’t work as well as other spinners.
• OXO Good Grips Little Salad & Herb Spinner: This mini version of the OXO salad spinner works similarly to its larger siblings. But its smaller capacity of 2.4 quarts, less than half the size of the other OXO salad spinners, limited its usefulness, even for small amounts of herbs and greens. Worse, the lid’s inner plastic ring broke when washing romaine lettuce.
• Sur La Table Stainless Steel Salad Spinner: This salad spinner came with a large metal bowl that also doubled as a salad and mixing bowl. It did not spin very fast and didn’t dry the greens as well as other similarly priced models. It also had an inner basket and insert that felt like they were made of cheap, rigid plastic that would crack over time.

FAQs 

Why is the OXO salad spinner so popular? 

OXO makes a lot of salad spinners—we tested four of them and named three winners (we didn’t find the smaller-capacity OXO Good Grips Little Salad and Herb Spinner to be as good a spinner as its big siblings). They are probably popular because they work really, really well and are durable too.

What else can you use a salad spinner for besides drying greens? 

Salad spinners can be used to dry berries or fresh herbs as well as greens. Basically, anything too delicate to dry with a kitchen towel.

How should I store greens after I've washed and spun them? 

Spray a paper towel with a little bit of water, spread your greens on it, and roll it up lightly. Then place it in a plastic bag and tuck it into your crisper drawer. We also like layering freshly cleaned greens with paper towels in plastic storage containers (read more about this tip here).

How long do freshly washed and spun greens last? 

While it depends on the green (tender greens, like mint, shrivel up faster than hardy greens, like romaine lettuce), freshly washed and spun greens can last seven to 10 days. After that, they may start to wilt or get slimy (yuck).

What's the best way to clean a salad spinner? 

Most salad spinners can be quickly rinsed and ta-da! They're clean. Some of the spinners are dishwasher-safe, so that's another easy way to get 'em spick and span. Either way, make sure they're thoroughly dried, or else you could get mildew buildup in nooks and crannies.

Why We're the Experts 

• Irvin Lin is a cookbook author and contributing writer for Serious Eats. He's also an IACP-award-winning photographer and is currently on the James Beard Book Awards Subcommittee. He ate an extraordinarily large amount of Caesar salad for this article.
• To find the best salad spinners, we tested 14 models—evaluating how efficiently they were able to dry various amounts of greens, how easy they were to clean, and more.
• We first tested salad spinners in 2016. The OXO and Zyliss models have long been our favorites.