Wooden worktops make a beautiful complement to undermounted stainless steel kitchen sinks and glossy ceramic sinks. Without a built-in draining board, it is sensible to ensure that kitchenware can be left to dry beside your sink without leaving standing water that could compromise your wood work surface. Angled worktop draining boards and built-in drainage grooves are both smart solutions.

Learn more about them in this handy guide:

Angled Drainers – Plastic

There is a wide array of plastic angled drainers on the market, and they come in a variety of styles and sizes. Whatever style you decide on, these drainers are designed to allow water to collect beneath the items you have been washing up and easily drain away. Usually, there is a narrow spout at the base, to channel any excess water directly into the sink.

The Arena™ self-draining dish rack from Joseph Joseph is an excellent choice, with an innovative concentric design that holds cups and dishes securely. This compact drying rack can hold up to four place settings and is ideal for smaller kitchens.

For a more minimalist aesthetic, the space-saving worktop drainer tray from Betterware can be placed alongside your wooden worktop’s sink cut-out when in use, and easily wiped and stored away afterwards. This drainer unit is angled, and comes with a surface design that channels all the water towards the drainage spout.

Betterware’s space-saving angled worktop drainer

Angled Drainers – Ceramic

To complement worktops in a traditional kitchen setting, consider a ceramic angled drainer. This ceramic angled drainer is designed to sit directly on any work surface, though is particularly well-suited for protecting a wooden worktop.

These ceramic worktop draining boards can either be a permanent accessory for your kitchen worktops, or can be easily stored when not in use.

Looking for an undermounted sink to complement a drainer board like these? We stock a wide range of Belfast sinks and undermounted sinks.

Angled Drainers – Stainless Steel

For a more robust feel, we can recommend the use of a stainless steel drainer. The OXO Good Grips® Peg Dishrack features an elegant design and has a fresh, clean appearance. This white rack uses soft-tipped pegs to support your dishes in any direction, and has a cutlery holder that can be removed for easy cleaning. What’s more, the drip tray underneath can be removed and rotated 90° so that you can orientate the angled drainer to suit your kitchen sink.

Lakeland offers a 2-in-1 drainage unit for a more flexible solution, combining a stainless steel dishrack with a removable plastic drainer. The two elements can be used separately – to cater for double the capacity – or together – for an all-in-one drainage unit. If you have a double-bowl sink, the steel dishrack can be placed in one of the empty basins to provide support for draining plates, whilst washing up in the other.

To keep the all-natural look flowing throughout your kitchen, you might like to add an angled drainer made from wood. Like this beautiful design from

mademesomethingspecial.com, you can choose from a range of timber species to pick one that will match your work surface, for a truly elegant finish. These standalone draining boards feature angled grooves, which allow excess water to easily drain away.

Solid oak angled drainer for wooden worktops

Drainage Grooves

Last, but certainly not least, we recommend the use of in-built drainage grooves, routed into your solid wood worktop. This is a service that we offer when you purchase your worktop from us, which is available as part of our wood worktop cutting service. The drainage grooves become deeper towards the edge of the work surface, allowing water to flow directly into the sink.

When ordering drainage grooves, our customers can choose from three different formations: straight, fan or fountain. Grooves are available as a set of six, and there is a discount if you decide to purchase two sets. Even better, place your bespoke worktop order via our online tool to save 10% on our entire range of worktop cutting services, including cut-outs for undermounted and Belfast sinks. Regularly oiling wooden worktops will also help to prevent water damage. Find out more about how to correctly oil wood work surfaces in our:

Worktop Customisation Services

Solid oak worktop featuring fountain drainage grooves

Oiling Worktops Nutshell Guide

If you would like to place your order for bespoke worktops with a member of our knowledgeable sales team, please get in touch by telephoning us at 0345 22 22 644, or by emailing [email protected]