The 5 best shower caddies for toting toiletries from your dorm to the bathroom

September 2024 ยท 13 minute read
JUMP TO Section Chevron icon It indicates an expandable section or menu, or sometimes previous / next navigation options.
  • Best overall
  • Best budget
  • Best large
  • Best compact
  • Best fabric
  • What else we tested
  • Our dorm shower caddy testing methodology
  • Dorm shower caddy FAQS
  • Check out our other great guides for dorm living

    • When you buy through our links, Insider may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more

    Portable shower caddies keep all your toiletries together so you're not constantly going back and forth between your dorm and the bathroom when you realize you forgot your toothbrush or soap or moisturizer. Shower caddies hold everything you need for your morning and nightly routines. 

    Whether it's fabric, metal, or plastic, a dorm shower caddy should be durable, spacious, easy to clean, and quick-drying. 

    Because every student has different needs, we tested 11 shower caddies for a variety of budgets and size preferences. (Read our shower caddy testing methodology here.) Whether you have an extensive collection of products or a minimalist routine, one of these caddies should be able to hold it all.

    Find out more about how Insider Reviews tests and reviews home products.

    Our top picks for shower caddies

    Best overall: Pottery Barn Teen Recycled Classic Shower Caddy - See at Pottery Barn Teen
    Durable and practical, the Pottery Barn Teen Recycled Classic Shower Caddy has room for all your essentials and will still look nice sitting on your dorm floor.

    Best budget: Room Essentials Mesh Caddy - See at Target
    Between its roomy pockets and quick-drying mesh, the Room Essentials Mesh Caddy has everything you could want in a shower caddy.

    Best large: Room Essentials 2-in-1 Caddy - See at Target
    The most unique feature of the Room Essentials 2-in-1 Caddy is its removable container, which gives you even more space in this already roomy caddy.

    Best compact: Bags in Bag Portable Shower Caddy - See at Amazon
    The Bags in Bag Portable Shower Caddy can hold a lot for its size but folds up well and has a zipper, making it great for traveling. 

    Best fabric: L.L.Bean Personal Organizer Toiletry Bag (Medium) - See at L.L.Bean 
    If you don't want a traditional shower caddy, the L.L.Bean Personal Organizer Toiletry Bag can hold a ton of grooming essentials in an organized way.

    Best overall: Pottery Barn Teen Recycled Classic Shower Caddy

    Jenny McGrath/Insider
    Shop at PB Teen

    Pros: Spacious, four pockets for organization, sturdy, lots of color options, easy to hang up

    Cons: Not machine washable, side pockets are a bit shallow

    If you don't have a cabinet or cupboard to stash it, your shower caddy might always be on display in your dorm. The Pottery Barn Teen Recycled Classic Shower Caddy looks nice enough that you may not mind, especially because it comes in a variety of colors. 

    Of all the similarly shaped mesh caddies we tested, this one had the roomiest main compartment. After adding our 14 products to the bag, we still had room in the side pockets for more items. 

    We also appreciated the structure the recycled polyester lent to the bag, helping it stay open instead of collapsing in on itself when it was empty. 

    The side and pocket material is sturdy and dries quickly. The mesh bottom did stay damp for eight hours, so you might want to leave it hanging to help with airflow. In our draining test, water passed easily through the mesh but could pool a bit on the polyester strips on the bottom of the bag. A slight shake dislodged the water. 

    The exterior pockets are a little shallow compared to the Room Essentials mesh caddy, so you might want to keep your taller bottles in the main compartment.

    Best budget: Room Essentials Mesh Caddy

    Jenny McGrath/Insider
    Shop at Target

    Pros: Roomy, dries quickly, lots of pockets, easy to hang up

    Cons: Limited color options

    Lightweight and crammed with pockets, the Room Essentials mesh caddy will help keep all your toiletries together but organized. The six side compartments are various sizes, but the smallest one held a 22-ounce bottle of shampoo with no problem. 

    We easily fit all our testing items in the main compartment and some of the side pockets. There were quite a few pockets left empty, so we could've added even more. 

    This mesh bag was one of the fastest-drying caddies we tested. After six hours, it was nearly completely dry, with only the handles feeling slightly damp.  

    Its two long handles are great for hanging on hooks or door handles. In our draining test, the water got hung up a bit compared to other mesh options but only by the tiniest fraction. 

    There's not a lot to complain about with this no-frills caddy. Our biggest concern is that it's not very distinctive-looking, and there aren't many color options to help you distinguish yours from everyone else's.

    Best large: Room Essentials 2-in-1 Caddy

    Jenny McGrath/Insider
    Shop at Target

    Pros: Spacious, removable compartment, drains water well, durable

    Cons: Not easy to hang up, takes up a lot of space

    If you have a ton of toiletries, the Room Essentials 2-in-1 Caddy should be able to fit them all in. It has three compartments, one of which has a removable handled container for extra storage space. 

    Overall, we fit all 14 items into the caddy and had space left over. Removing the container insert gave us even more room. This extra bucket is large enough to hold shampoo and conditioner (22 and 21 ounces, respectively) and a slim tube of shaving cream. Trying to get a 22-ounce bottle of body wash was too tight of a squeeze. 

    Every compartment, except the removable bucket, has plenty of holes to help the water drain quickly. Water can pool a bit in the edges, but slightly tipping it is enough to dislodge the droplets. In our drop test, Target's plastic caddy was undamaged after tumbling down seven concrete steps. 

    Because of its size and the placement of the handle, this isn't a great option if you want to hang up your caddy. Also, while the 2-in-1 is very spacious, the lack of smaller compartments makes it difficult to keep products organized.

    Best compact: Bags in Bag Portable Shower Caddy

    Jenny McGrath/Insider
    Shop at Amazon

    Pros: Compact but still holds a lot, collapses well, easy to hang up, dries quickly, zippable

    Cons: No compartments, doesn't hold as much as other caddies

    If you want a shower caddy that's extremely portable, the Bags in Bags pouch can do the trick. It's one of the few options we tested that has a zipper, and it also collapses very well.  

    Technically, we fit everything except a package of cotton rounds in this bag, though it wouldn't zip closed. We don't recommend packing it as tightly as we did. Still, it comfortably holds (and zips closed) 22-ounce shampoo and body wash bottles and a 21-ounce bottle of conditioner. Considering its compact dimensions, that's pretty impressive. Just don't expect it to hold a dozen grooming products without spilling.

    The mesh portions of the pouch dry very quickly. After six hours, the only parts still damp were the handles and fabric strips along the top of the bag. This bag also did very well in our draining test, with water easily passing through the mesh bottom. 

    Because this bag is only a single compartment, it doesn't offer as much organization as the other products on this list. However, it might be a good addition to a gym bag. Just keep in mind that while the zipper will help contain the bottles inside, the mesh won't protect against leaks.

    Best fabric: L.L.Bean Personal Organizer Toiletry Bag (Medium)

    Jenny McGrath/Insider
    Shop at L.L. Bean

    Pros: Portable, water-resistant, lots of pockets, easy to hang up, zippable

    Cons: Dries slower than mesh caddies, doesn't hold as much as a regular shower caddy

    This toiletry bag from L.L.Bean is a great shower-caddy alternative. It has a large capacity, plus a surplus of pockets and pouches for organizing. 

    We were able to fit almost everything in our 14-product list inside, except for a jar of face cream. The main compartment zipped closed, even with shampoo, conditioner, and body wash inside. There are mesh pouches for keeping smaller bottles or grooming tools separate from each other. 

    On the sides of the bag, there are two more zippered pockets, and the outside flap has one as well. The inside of the flap has two zippered pockets, one of which has a mirror attached. There's also a small, removable partition with some mesh pouches fit for travel-sized bottles. It has a hook so you can hang it.

    You can hang the entire bag from a hook meant to hold up to 25 pounds. For reference, our bundle of products weighed less than 10 pounds. 

    Though it's made of water-resistant polyester or nylon (depending on the pattern), you probably don't want to bring this into the shower with you. It doesn't dry nearly as quickly as the mesh options on this list. 

    We tested the medium-size toiletry bag, but there are also small, large, and family-size options, depending on your needs.

    What else we tested

    Jenny McGrath/Insider

    What else we recommend and why

    Handy Laundry Dorm Shower Caddy: A collapsible caddy from Handy Laundry, this mesh container was the quickest-drying option we tested. Its single compartment can hold a lot of products, but its tall design means you'll have to pull out a lot of items to reach anything on the bottom. We still really like it as a compact option, though it lacks a zipper like the Bags in Bags pouch. 

    Handy Laundry 7-Pocket Tote: Handy Laundry's mesh caddy has seven deep pockets that are great for organization. We liked that even tall bottles fit snugly in the side compartments with no fear of them tipping out. It lost out compared to the Room Essentials mesh back because it's a little pricier, it took longer to dry, and its main compartment was a little smaller. 

    UUJOLY Organizer Storage Basket: Cute and roomy, this basket fit everything we put into it. It drains well and is lightweight. The main drawback is its lack of compartments. If you don't have it well-filled, the bottles inside tend to jostle together, and smaller items can get lost. But if you have a lot of products, it should have space for all of them. 

    mDesign 11-Section Shower Caddy: With a ton of differently sized compartments, the mDesign shower caddy is great for someone with an in-depth skincare routine or a decent amount of makeup. This plastic caddy is also very durable. However, we didn't like the position of the drainage slats. They were located in several different places in each compartment, meaning we had to tip the basket in four directions to empty them. 

    Pottery Barn Teen Extra Large Wire Shower Caddy: A truly pretty shower caddy, this wire basket has so much room. It is just a single compartment, so it's not as easy to keep products organized as some other options. Our main issue with this caddy is the holes at the bottom. While they're great for draining water, they're also so large that lip balm and other small items easily slip through. 

    What we don't recommend and why

    Attmu Oxford Mesh Shower Caddy: Though this caddy comes highly rated on Amazon, it arrived with an extremely strong chemical odor that took days to dissipate. A few of the other caddies had faint smells but nothing as strong or unpleasant as this one.

    Our dorm shower caddy testing methodology

    These are all the products we used to test the capacity of the dorm shower caddies. To test dorm shower caddies, we used several methods to determine how durable they are, how quickly they dry, and how many products they can hold. Jenny McGrath/Insider

    We tried to fit the following 14 items into every caddy: 22-ounce bottle of shampoo, 21-ounce bottle of conditioner, 3.8-ounce tube of toothpaste, razor, 80-count package of cotton rounds, electric toothbrush, 2.7-ounce deodorant, 22-ounce bottle of body wash, 13.52-ounce bottle of lotion, small floss dispenser, 6-ounce canister of face cream, 6-ounce tube of shaving cream, 2.5-ounce tube of post-shave lotion, and one tube of lip balm. We noted if there were compartments for organization and how well they fit certain items, like a 6- or 8-ounce tube of shaving cream or body wash.

    We poured a cup of water into the bottom of each caddy to see how well they drained. We noted if water pooled anywhere and how we had to tip or shake the caddy to get it to drain. 

    For the mesh and fabric bags, we got them wet and weighed them after four, six, and eight hours to see how long they took to dry. We also felt them to see which parts were still damp. 

    To test the durability of the plastic and metal caddies, we pushed them down seven concrete stairs. We also dropped them each twice on the concrete. Then we examined them for dents or cracks. 

    Dorm shower caddy FAQS

    Jenny McGrath/Insider

    What size shower caddy do I need? 

    The right shower caddy for you will depend on the number of products you're going to fill it with. 

    You might think your toiletries are pretty minimal. But by the time you're toting shampoo, conditioner, lotion, toothpaste, shaving cream, and so on back and forth a couple of times a day, you'll realize that you actually have a lot to carry. We recommend tallying up the products in your routine to get a feel for whether or not you can get away with a compact-size caddy.

    Is it better to have a mesh or plastic shower caddy? 

    Plastic shower caddies dry quickly and are easy to clean, while mesh ones take up less space and are often easier to hang up. 

    Which type you opt for will depend on what's most important to you. Plastic is less likely to get moldy, but many of these options take up more space. If you decide to get a mesh bag, you'll want to make sure you let it thoroughly dry after each use.

    Check out our other great guides for dorm living

    Dormify
    Jenny McGrath Senior Reporter Jenny McGrath is a senior science reporter, covering archaeology, paleontology, and more. She's written about science throughout history, technological innovations, and women in science. Some archaeological and paleontological research she has covered include Neanderthal cave drawings, some of the oldest stone tools found in the US, a tiny "ice mouse" that lived among dinosaurs, and Pleistocene extinctions. Other areas of interest include invasive species and scientific mysteries. Before joining the science team, Jenny covered smart-home technology and home appliances. Prior to working at Business Insider, Jenny was a senior writer and home editor for Digital Trends. She launched the site's home section as its first home editor in 2014, before Amazon released the first Echo and the same year Google bought Nest. At trade shows including CES, KBIS, and IFA, she's watched smart-home and home appliance trends evolve.  She always has podcast recommendations. Read more Read less

    You can purchase logo and accolade licensing to this story here.

    Disclosure: Written and researched by the Insider Reviews team. We highlight products and services you might find interesting. If you buy them, we may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our partners. We may receive products free of charge from manufacturers to test. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. We operate independently from our advertising team. We welcome your feedback. Email us at reviews@businessinsider.com.

    ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7o8HSoqWeq6Oeu7S1w56pZ5ufonyowcidnKxnmKS6pnvBnqqtZZSkv6550qGmsJ2iYrCisMOy