Neither Baskets Nor Racks: The Kitchen Towel Storage Hack You'll Wish You Knew Sooner

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Kitchen towels are one of life's necessities, coming to the rescue time and again to dry hands and dishes galore. The only issue is that wrangling your dish towel stash isn't always the easiest task. Whether you struggle with a haphazard stack that constantly tips over in the closet, a neatly folded pile that completely rumples as soon as you grab one towel, or a drawer that seems to be springloaded with falling towels the minute you open it, we are all left with the same thought: there has to be a better way to affordably organize the kitchen towel chaos. 

Luckily, the answer is yes — and it doesn't involve bulky baskets or cluttered racks. Instead, the trick is to repurpose a magazine file holder. By flipping this tall, narrow box onto its back, it becomes the perfect vertical organizer for rolled kitchen towels, complete with an angled, open front for easy access. To try this budget-friendly kitchen towel storage hack yourself, start by grabbing a spare upright magazine file holder. These are also sold at dollar or office supply stores, as well as online, such as this two-pack Amazon Basics Plastic Desk Organizer. 

While you can certainly opt to use a paper or wooden magazine holder, plastic is likely to hold up better against kitchen spills, splashes, and wet hands reaching for a towel. Once your magazine holder is in hand, you're ready to set up your dish towel storage system. It's as easy to DIY as it is to maintain over time, leaving your space beautifully organized and uncluttered for the long haul.

The first step is to choose an easy-to-reach spot in your cabinet, pantry, cleaning closet, or deep drawer where you'd like to store your towels. Then, tip the magazine holder 90 degrees to rest on the longer side of the box. This creates a longer, shallower space for the towels to sit and provides better access to grab them when the time comes to replace your dish towel.

The next step is rolling your towels so they slide seamlessly into the organizer. You could fold them in half and then roll them, forming shorter, thicker spirals. This works fine for a small number of towels, as they take up a little more height in the vertical stack but do not take advantage of the entire depth. Alternatively, you could leave the towels at their full width — assuming it's less than the depth of the organizer — and roll them in a single layer. This will take up less space vertically when stacked, allowing you to add more towels to each row.

Depending on the size of your towels, collection, and magazine holder, you may want to play with your folding and rolling technique until you figure out the best option for you. Now, you can easily reach the top towel from the front without disrupting the rest of the stack. The days of a messy tower of toppling kitchen towels are over, thanks to this clever dish towel hack that gets you organized in a jiffy with a spare magazine file holder.