Ratings and reviews of TOP 3 boot dryers

A boot dryer is one of those things that make you wonder how in the world you lived before having one. After getting one you are left with that “DUH” feeling and the simple thought of, “Why in the world didn’t I think of this and invent it?”

It’s especially true for the cold days but drying the inside of your boot even if it’s just damp from your sweat is a good idea on a number of levels. A dryer doesn’t only eliminate water, it eliminates odors, bacteria, mold and viruses.

Over the course of the two years since we’ve been following and rating boot dryers, we’ve seen very little change, the runner-ups might come and go in out bi-monthly updates but the MaxxDry XL was the best rated dryer in approximately 80% of the updates we did.

About the guide

It’s been almost two years since we first compiled this guide on the best boot dryers.

At the time it didn’t seem like a good fit for SoleLabz and we didn’t know much about rating these useful babies but since then we recruited a few featured testers, talked to a technology engineer and adjusted our ratings equation to be able to properly rate the dryers.

Current TOP 3 boot dryers:

Picture	Model	Rating
	MaxxDry XL	46 / 50
	PEET Original	44 / 50
	DryGuy DX	43 / 50

In a number of the updates to the guide, the PEET original was very close in ratings but never quite there but we believe that doesn’t say much about quality as about the people using the two models.

We’ve concluded from the reviews that people who only need a boot dryer find the Original Peet seamless and are Ok with the fact that it’s slower while those of you who like to have something sturdier and more powerful go for the MaxxDry every time.

Bottom line – both are top shelf products, it’s almost a sin saying one is better, so we felt the urge to explain.

Here’s what to expect in the reviews of the dryers:

1. Their basic information as provided by the companies
2. PROs and CONs sections – excerpts from the tester and user reviews
3. Ratings in 10 different categories and an OVERALL RATING

So, let’s get to it, dig in and dissect and do individual reviews of all the models:

Review of MaxxDry shoe and glove XL dryer

Fact sheet:

• 1 hours drying for most boots and shoes
• Eliminates viruses, bacteria and odors
• Silent motor
• Versatile – removable extension tubes
• Can dry 4 pieces of gear at the same time
• Weighs 5.5 lbs.
• Dimensions  – width 9 inches  / depth 6.25 inches / height 21 inches

PROs – digests of the positive reviews of the MaxxDry XL:

• I used to own the convection PEET and it was working but was slow and felt flimsy. This dryer puts the old PEET to shame. It’s powerful, sturdier and much faster.
• A dryer is a good idea but I sky a lot and have tested and shared my reviews on a number of models and the conclusion is that most of them are lousy. This MaxxDry is a completely different story, it’s in its own category, well-made, includes a powerful fan and a timer and dries out my boots in about 75-90 minutes. Nothing out there comes close to this dryer…
• This is one sturdy and durable product. We have it for a year now and we pretty much use the home version as commercial for our little sky rental business. So it’s on practically on all the time.
• If you need something fast and powerful, I wouldn’t look any further. My boots and glove and completely dry in less than an hour
• I waited a year to share my review about the MaxxDry after my experiences with others that would work OK for a few months but would either break, melt or just started being less efficient and needed more time to dry stuff.
  This dryer is going strong after a full year, no noticeable change in any aspect. It’s still as fast, as quite and everything is still in tacked and we use it every day
• I read ton of reviews before I got the MaxxDry and while people might say it’s bulky, I say that it makes up for it by being fast. If you have boys in the house you can’t wait for a shoe or a boot to dry for 24 hours. To replace this, you would need a few inferior ones and there goes the argument about it being bulky.
  We didn’t take it to any trips so I can’t speak about that, but for around the house, it’s perfect
• I used to try all sorts of alternative methods to dry out my boots, until I found out this thing existed, but since I did I never looked back. It’s quiet and fast, I just come in from work, pop the boots on it and set the timer to 75 minutes and forget about it
• My old dryer didn’t come with a fan and after trying this I can tell it’s so much better it’s not even funny. I have two youngsters and if I didn’t have this, my life in the winter would be much more complicated…
• Update to a review: I’ve had this dryer for 3 and a half years now, used it almost daily and is still works like new
• It’s great that it comes with attachments that you can put on the shorter sticks designed for gloves and use them for shoes. My wife and I are trail runners and it’s great that we can both dry our sneakers after a run at the same time. And the timer makes perfect sense
• If you do a lot of snow hiking and use waterproof boots to do it, this baby is a must-have. It changed my life, I used to get too pairs of boots only to be able to hike on two consecutive days
• This thing saved me 100s on boots over the two years that I have it. I used to buy new boots just because they would get smelly. This solved the problem like a charm…
• Until I got this my whole house would smell like hockey sticks and gloves. It does all it says it would…
• I like the simple and functional design. I even used it to dry out my cycle helmet and it works…
• It’s fast but feels safe, it doesn’t get to hot and the timer is a great feature, I turn it on and forget about it

CONs – a few useful critical reviews:

• It might be a fluke but mine didn’t work on arrival, I sent it back waiting for replacement…
• This thing is bulkier than I expected so I had to get an extra smaller dryer for traveling…
• I own a GX8 boot. It’s a sturdy and heavy boots with a lot of lining and the max time on the timer which is 3h doesn’t cut it, my boots still feel damp. To completely dry them I have to turn it on twice

Overall Ratings of the MaxxDry XL

Review of Peet Original Electric

The data sheet:

• Efficient at eliminating bacteria,  odors, viruses, mold
• Prolongs the life of your boots/shoes
• It’s safe and completely silent
• Weight – 2.9 lbs
• 25 year warranty
• Dimensions – 10.5×4.8×13.2 “

PROs – what the users of the dryer liked in their reviews:

• It does just what it says it does, it’s simple effective, solid as a rock once you feel the feeling of warm dry boots in the morning there’s no going back to living without one…
• I have been using dryers for years and the one issue I had is the fact that not all of them are really silent. My previous one would make this humming noise. I have this PEET for 3 weeks and I still haven’t found anything that I’m not happy with.
• The way I see it, there’s not much to think about.  A 25 year warranty and a product that works as advertised and is fully made in the US for under 40 bucks, it’s great value for money…
• Every soccer mom owes a big thank you to however invented this. I have two boys and our hallway would stink from cleats. They have practice 6 days a week and the stench was starting to spread around the house. I can’t feel a thing since we got this, I just hope it lasts…
• I have tried pretty much every product that’s out there to destink my shoes and boots and it’s only when I got a dryer was my problem truly solved. If you think about it, it’s common sense, with any other product like spray or powder, you often just put the boot on with residual dampness still there.
  Sprays and powders solve the problem in the short run but over time the bacteria is just locked in. A dryer eliminates the very issue, it doesn’t just mask it for a month or two…
• I was skeptic about this because, for some reason, I figured that a dryer is just a hot stick that might make the smell issue even worse. I’ve had this PEET for 6 months and I can say that I was wrong about it, it’s probably the heat or something, but I haven’t washed my shoes in months and there is no odor whatsoever
• I work in a mine and I wash my boots with a hose 2-3 times a day. Before I got this dryer two pairs of boots were a must and they would still develop a smell after a few months. I can’t believe nobody told me this existed earlier…
• I have feet odor problems. Working 10 hours shifts in a safety boot will do that to you. I used all kinds of creams for my feet, sprays and boot balls for my boots but it was still embarrassing taking my boots of at the end of the day. I would leave them on the porch and head to the bathroom to take a shower right away. This baby is amazing, the boots are perfectly dry within hours and the feeling of getting your feet into a warm boot on a cold morning is a great way to start a day
• I am impressed, I am not sure how this thing works exactly but it doesn’t only dry the boots, it really does eliminate the smell.
• My tactical boots are often fully submerged in water on my job as a police officer and I used to dry them out just by leaving them out until they dried out on their own…and they would buy they would become stinky very soon. I know it sounds like an infomercial and I don’t care because it’s true, this little plastic thing changed my life

CONs – what people didn’t like:

• It was working great and I was happy camper but the plastic started melting after a few months. I don’t know if I received a defective one but I send it back for a replacement
• It takes hours for the boots to dry. I expected something that would be more efficient, there’s no fan or anything, it’s just radiant heat…

Category and Overall ratings

Review of DryGuy DX

Basic info as per the good people of DryGuy:

• Quiet whisper blower
• Material – sturdy durable plastic
• 105 F – tested and proven optimal air temperature to protect your gear from potential damage
• Can dry anything from pants to heavy boots – most garments are dry within 1 to 2 hours
• Timer – up to 3 hours
• Cord – 6 feet long
• Full warranty – 1 year
• Weight – 10 lbs
• Dimensions – 7.8 x 12.5 x 15 “

PROs – the positives from user reviews:

• I like the design, it’s small and compact and comes with an extra set of 4 extension tubes to make the short sticks usable for deeper boots
• This is a good buy and I still can’t believe I didn’t know these things existed. It’s so practical and makes life much easier. As about the quality, so far it works just as advertised…
• If you have a large family that skies, something like this is a must-have. We tried with smaller dryers for our mudroom but it would just too long. At one point we had 5 two-stick PEETs.
  When one of them broke we decided to get a more serious dryer and got the DryGuy DX. It saves a lot of time, you don’t have to worry about turning it on and off, it feels better made and more durable and you can dry 4 pairs of boots simultaneously…
• I used to spent at least half an hours by trying to waterproof my boots properly with all sorts of waxes and oils because even if a boot if waterproof, it soaks in some of the moisture after all and it’s unusable at least for a day. Getting the DryGuy was probably the best investment I made in the last year.
• It’s worth every dime. We use it for everything from hockey clothes, even helmets
• This is the 3rd drier we got and this one already lasts as the previous two combined. We dry snowboarding gear which can get heavy, but in spite of that the previous two were a disappointment, poor quality of the plastic. This one’s much better and feels well-made…
• It’s relatively small, definitely smaller than the MaxxDry we owned a few years back
• We do use it for its intended use, boots and stuff, but when my husband discovered how his slippers felt after spending 15 minutes on the DryGuy, he was happy as a clam. Well worth the money…
• The decision point for us is that the air is not so hot and it’s safe to have it around the kids…

CONs:

• The design with the controlled temperature has its drawbacks, there’s no way to override it if you need something fast and are not that worried about damaging your boots or clothes
• It would be a useful featured if I could only turn on two of the sticks

Overall Ratings of the DryGuy DX