We first noticed this product about 10 years ago in Hong Kong. Since then, dozens if not hundreds of factories in China have started making this product. It’s a type of folding portable clothes dryer that has a small heater on the bottom, collapsible hollow metal legs, a folding outer shell and hangers at the top.

It’s a very interesting product from 3 angles:

• You can fit quite a few items in a small space;
• No hookups are required, it plugs in to a regular household outlet;
• It takes up very little space for shipping, warehousing and when not in use;
• The production cost is extremely low.

However, there is a major drawback: in our testing, the drying times were extremely slow. Sometimes jeans would still be wet after several hours. As a result, we felt the product was not very useful, nor eco-friendly.

We instead decided to go with a portable electric dryer called the Solaris+. While the production cost is at least 3x higher, drying times are much faster due to superior air flow and overall design.

When using any such type of product, it’s best to use in a well-ventilated area. Otherwise, some of the moist air can re-enter the machines, significantly slowing drying times.