OXO Good Grips Salad Spinner Review

What it is

It's a plastic salad spinner with a soft, non-slip base and a clever pump on the lid. Press the dome a few times and centrifugal force flings the water off your lettuce into the outer bowl. A brake button stops the basket fast. The whole thing comes apart for cleaning and the clear bowl doubles as a serving bowl if you don't mind people seeing it's a kitchen gadget.

Capacity is the standard large size, enough for a few heads of romaine or a big batch of herbs. It runs roughly $25 to $40 on Amazon depending on the day and the size you pick.

How it performs day to day

The pump is the whole story here, and it earns its reputation. You don't have to grip and crank like you do on the cheaper Zyliss pull-cord models. One palm holds the lid, the other hand pumps, and the bowl stays put on the counter thanks to that rubber ring on the bottom. Greens come out dry enough to actually hold dressing.

It's quieter and smoother than the budget spinners, and the brake is genuinely useful when you want to stop and add more leaves. Owner consensus over many years is consistent: this is the one that doesn't wobble across the counter or feel like it's about to crack.

The pros and the annoyances

Pros: the one-handed pump, the stable base, a basket that works as a colander on its own, and durability that's better than almost anything in its price range. It's dishwasher safe on the top rack, though most people just rinse it.

The gripes are real but minor. It takes up a fair amount of cabinet space and doesn't nest down small. The pump mechanism is the part most likely to wear out eventually, and a few owners report it getting stiff or sticky after years of use. If you don't dry it fully, water can pool in the lid and the underside of the base. And no, the lid is not flat enough to stack neatly with other bowls.

Who should buy it, who should skip it

Buy it if you eat salad more than once a week, wash a lot of herbs, or have wrist issues that make a crank or pull-cord painful. The pump is far easier on your hands. It's also the right pick if you've burned through a cheap spinner already and want one that lasts.

Skip it if you have a tiny kitchen with no cabinet to spare, or if you wash greens maybe twice a month. At that frequency a clean dish towel and a few shakes does the job for free. There's also a smaller OXO version if counter space matters more to you than capacity.

The verdict

The OXO Good Grips Salad Spinner is the default recommendation for a reason. The pump design is better than the competition, the build holds up for years, and the price is fair. It's not exciting and it's not small, but it does exactly what it promises every single time. If you want one salad spinner and you want to stop thinking about it, this is it.

Frequently asked questions

Is the OXO salad spinner dishwasher safe?

The basket and bowl are top-rack dishwasher safe. The lid with the pump mechanism is best rinsed by hand to protect the internal parts and keep water from getting trapped inside.

How is the pump version different from a pull-cord spinner?

You press a dome on top with one hand instead of yanking a cord or turning a crank. It's smoother, quieter, and much easier on your wrists, and a brake button stops the spinning quickly.

Does it take up a lot of storage space?

Yes, that's the main drawback. It's a large bowl that doesn't collapse, so it needs real cabinet room. If space is tight, look at the smaller OXO size.