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Salad Spinners: Reviews, Comparisons & Buying Guide
Pump, crank, or pull cord: the spinners that dry greens properly, fit your cupboard, and survive daily use.
A salad spinner earns its cupboard space on one job: getting leaves dry enough that dressing clings instead of sliding off in a puddle. A wet leaf dilutes every dressing you put on it, and a towel never gets into the folds of a head of lettuce the way a spinning basket does. The differences between spinners are practical rather than glamorous: how the basket is driven, how big the bowl is, whether the brake stops the spin cleanly, and whether the whole thing fits where you plan to store it.
The ten picks below cover the three ways of driving a basket. A pump, as on the OXO and Farberware models, is the easiest to work one-handed and the kindest on wrists. A crank knob, as on the Cuisinart spinners, is simple and hard to break. A pull cord, as on the Zyliss models, spins fastest and dries hardest but asks more of the lid. Two collapsible models fold down for small kitchens, and the smallest spinner here is sized for herbs and berries rather than family salads. Every pick is a current Amazon listing with a verified image, and every capacity below is the maker's stated bowl size.
Every guide on best salad spinners (2026)
11 guidesBest of
The Best Salad Spinners (2026)
The best salad spinners of 2026: the OXO Good Grips Large, Zyliss Swift Dry, KitchenAid Universal, Cuisinart 5-quart, and the best collapsible and budget picks, compared on drying, capacity, and storage.
Ranked on drying per pound spent: mechanism ease, capacity, and build that lasts, with no spinner that needs replacing in a year.
The Best Budget Salad Spinners (2026)
Budget salad spinners that still dry greens properly: the cheapest honest picks, from the Cuisinart 5-quart to the Farberware pump.
Ranked on usable capacity first: basket size against bowl size, then mechanism ease and whether the bowl nests or collapses for storage.
The Best Large Salad Spinners (2026)
Large salad spinners for family salads and meal prep: the biggest bowls, compared on capacity, mechanism, and storage.
Ranked on fit for small loads: a basket sized to the job, a footprint that stores anywhere, and a mechanism that works at small scale.
The Best Small Salad Spinners (2026)
Small salad spinners for one or two people, herbs, and berries: compact picks that store easily and dry small loads well.
Review
OXO Good Grips Large Salad Spinner Review (2026)
OXO Good Grips Large Salad Spinner 6.22 Qt - The default pick for most kitchens: a one-hand pump, a brake that stops the basket dead, and a bowl big enough for a family salad.
Review
Zyliss Swift Dry Salad Spinner Review (2026)
Zyliss Swift Dry Salad Spinner, Large - The driest greens in this list: a fast one-hand pump, a clear bowl that serves at the table, and a five-year warranty.
Review
KitchenAid Universal Salad Spinner Review (2026)
KitchenAid Universal Salad Spinner 7.43 Qt, Empire Red - The biggest bowl here: 7.43 quarts of room for a whole head of lettuce, with a soft-touch pump and a removable bowl.
Head to head
OXO Good Grips Large vs KitchenAid Universal Salad Spinner (2026)
OXO Good Grips Large vs KitchenAid Universal 7.43 Qt compared: pump ease against capacity, and which spinner you should buy.
Head to head
Cuisinart 5-Qt vs Cuisinart 3-Qt Salad Spinner (2026)
Cuisinart 5-Qt CTG-00-SAS vs 3-Qt CTG-00-SSAS compared: capacity, household size, and which size you should buy.
Buying guide
Salad Spinner Buying Guide (2026)
How to choose a salad spinner: pump, crank, or pull cord, capacity, bowl against basket size, storage, and cleaning.
Fix it
Salad Spinner Not Working (2026)
Fixes for common salad spinner problems: basket will not spin, lid will not lock, greens stay wet, and smells after washing.