Ask around in the Netherlands for a drying cabinet and you will often hear a familiar appliance name. Ask for NIMO and you usually get a blank look. That Swedish specialist is the more interesting name.
NIMO builds and develops technology that several leading European appliance brands also use. The company itself sits in Hova, Sweden: fewer than 3,000 residents, and for more than eighty years almost nothing but drying cabinets.
In short
- NIMO (Nimoverken) started in 1944 in a garage in Jonkoping and is now the world's largest drying-cabinet manufacturer. All production is still in Sweden.
- NIMO builds and develops technology that several leading European appliance brands also use.
- The company makes energy-efficient drying cabinets for the professional market and for the home, under its own NIMO name.
- XARO is the exclusive NIMO importer in the Benelux. From October 2026 your NIMO cabinet ships from stock in the Netherlands.
Why almost nobody knows NIMO
In Scandinavia the drying cabinet belongs in the laundry room, just like the washing machine. In the Netherlands it stayed a niche for longer. That is why the NIMO name stayed under the radar here, even though the company has specialised for more than eighty years.
Big appliance brands put money into campaigns. NIMO put it into the cabinet itself. Design, build, test, rebuild. Marketing came second.
NIMO builds and develops technology that several leading European appliance brands also use. In that niche - drying cabinets, and almost nothing else - NIMO is the largest worldwide.
From a garage in Jonkoping to a factory in Hova: how NIMO started
It starts on 2 May 1944, in a garage in Jonkoping. Welder Olof Nilsson and business partner Moberg make stainless-steel products for commercial kitchens. Their own washbasin for laundry takes off immediately: within a year the workshop turns out about 3,000 units a month.
In 1952 production moves to Bodafors. Washing machines join the line, up to 900 a month. In the same period the company buys the rights to a drying cabinet. In hindsight, that was the decision that shaped everything.
Bodafors becomes too small. In the late 1950s a new factory goes up in Hova, in Vastra Gotaland. NIMO is still there today.
One product, for eighty years
In the 1970s the real choice follows. After competition with Futurumverken, NIMO focuses fully on drying cabinets. No more washing machines, no lawnmowers (those were briefly on the list too). One product, developed down to the details.
By the end of that decade turnover sits around 30 million Swedish kronor, entirely from drying cabinets. In the 1980s that grows to more than 100 million kronor, with extra attention for cleaner production.
During the Swedish banking crisis in the 1990s NIMO looks for new markets abroad. In the 2000s come the energy-efficient ETS 600 and the first electronically controlled drying cabinet with a sensor. In 2010 NIMO acquires heat-pump specialist Tenexa. That leads in 2013 to the NIMO HP: more than a thousand sold within a year. In 2016 the Hova factory doubles production capacity.
More than eighty years after that garage, NIMO is still one hundred percent Swedish. All production sits in Hova. About 110 to 120 people work there, many of them for generations.
Technology that European brands use
NIMO builds and develops technology that several leading European appliance brands also use. The company says so itself: it makes energy-efficient drying cabinets for the professional market and for the end consumer.
XARO is not a shop for those other brands. We sell NIMO, as exclusive importer for the Benelux, straight from the factory in Hova.
What that means for your laundry
For eighty years NIMO has done one thing: drying cabinets. No fridges, no vacuum cleaners, no washing machines. That specialisation is measurable.
In 2014 the Swedish energy authority Energimyndigheten tested a new generation of drying cabinets. NIMO technology came out on top: fastest drying time, lowest energy use, lowest moisture output. Testers reported 45 to 48 percent more efficiency than older technology.
At home you notice it mainly like this:
- Clothes hang still while they dry. No drum, no wear, no shrunken jumpers.
- Jackets, work overalls, sports bags and shoes fit too. Those do not go in a regular tumble dryer.
- For families with piles of laundry that is daily gain: less ironing, clothes that last longer.
- A heat-pump dryer reuses its own heat. No vent to the outside needed, and a lower energy bill.
NIMO at XARO: straight from Hova
XARO is the exclusive NIMO importer in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. We buy directly from the factory in Hova. From October 2026 XARO also becomes a stockist of NIMO drying cabinets in the Netherlands: shorter lead times, cabinets from our own stock.
The range covers the whole laundry room: efficient heat-pump models from the Passad and ECO Dryer series, fast vented dryers with a sensor, and the Alize steam cabinet that de-wrinkles and disinfects clothes without a wash cycle.
Torn between 60 cm or 120 cm, heat pump or vented? We help you size the space within 24 hours. Delivery is free across the Benelux, with full NIMO factory warranty and original parts from Hova. From October 2026 the cabinets come from stock in the Netherlands.
NIMO drying cabinets at XARO
Passad (heat pump), Solano (sensor) and Alize (steam cabinet) - NIMO from Hova, exclusive at XARO.
The original, straight from Hova
NIMO has built drying cabinets in Hova for eighty years, and develops technology that several leading European appliance brands also use. At XARO you buy that cabinet under the NIMO name, as exclusive importer for the Benelux.
At XARO you buy that cabinet at the source. Exclusive importer for the Benelux, from October 2026 also a stockist in the Netherlands. Browse the NIMO range or get in touch for advice on the model that fits your laundry room.
Browse the NIMO range - Exclusive Benelux importer - from October 2026 stock in the Netherlands