Is Your Dishwasher Not Drying Dishes?

It turns out drying your plates might in actual fact be harder for your dishwasher than getting them clean. Plates and cups have lots of crevices that could trap dishwater preventing it from evaporating, thus as your appliance cools down water condenses out of the humid air.

Dishwashers also make use of a variety of different approaches to dry your dishes. Certain models opt for a heating coil to warm the inside of the dishwasher and help the water to evaporate, some heat the water to a higher temperature nearing the final rinse, others make use of a fan, and some employ a mix of all of these. There are consequently a variety of explanations why your dishwasher might not be drying crockery and cutlery fully and a number of options to rectify the situation.

Plastic items are more difficult to dry than glass or ceramics as it doesn’t retain heat in the same way which helps with the drying process, so it’s worth noting whether the items that aren’t drying are predominantly plastic items.

If your dishwasher doesn’t seem to be drying effectively you can hire a dishwasher repair service or first use this troubleshooting guide to help you identify and rectify the issue.

Top Reasons Your Dishwasher Isn’t Drying Crockery and Cutlery

Few things are more frustrating than a home appliance that isn’t working properly, regardless of whether its a smartspeaker, air conditioner or dishwasher we expect them to do the job they were made for. If you open your dishwasher to discover wet plates there are a number of troubleshooting tips to help you figure out why.

Not all makes and models are created equal and you will find that some dishwashers perform to a higher standard compared to others. But if if your dishwasher has always dried your dishes in the past one of these areas may be the problem.

Have a Look at the Placement of Your Dishes

It might be that there is no fault with the machine. Before assuming the machine is broken you should first check that you haven’t overloaded it or accidentally stacked items one inside the other. Also be aware that plastics don’t dry as well as metal, glass or ceramics.

Inspect The Rinse Aid Dispenser

Rinse aid plays a key role in drying your plates and so if you’ve forgotten to top up or the rinse aid dispenser is not working this can stop your crockery and cutlery coming out properly dry.

Visually check the dispenser for cracks and check that it’s full.

Have a Look at The Heating Element

Without enough heat your plates will not dry so a faulty heating element might be the explanation your appliance is not drying crockery and cutlery. If your plates don’t feel hot to touch when they come out of the machine this can indicate that the heating coil isn’t working as it should.

To check the heating coil you will need to disconnect the dishwasher, locate the heating element, you may need the owners manual to do this, and check for continuity using a multimeter.

Inspect the Thermostat

The thermostat prevents your dishwasher overheating, regulating the temperature of the water and the drying part of the cycle. However, if it’s broken this can result in your machine not reaching a high enough temperature.

If you check the heating coil and do not discover an fault but there’s still no heat, then the thermostat might be the issue. Again you can check this with the help of a multimeter.

Inspect The Drying Fan and Vent

Many dishwashers will employ a fan and vent to suck moist air from the appliance. If either of these elements are broken then the hot air will condense on the crockery and cutlery instead leaving them wet.

You can employ your manual to find out if your machine has a fan and locate it. Again you need to make sure the dishwasher is unplugged before attempting to access the fan.

First visually inspect the fan and vent to ascertain if there is anything lodged that could prevent it from working as it should. And again testing for continuity using a multimeter.

Tips to Increase Drying Power

There are a number of methods you can use to increase your dishwashers effectiveness at drying and prevent you needing to dry them by hand as little as possible.

Don’t cram the machine. Overloading the dishwasher stops the flow of both water and air decreasing the effectiveness of your dishwasher when it comes to both washing and drying your dishes. It might be appealing to stuff everything in but your machine will be more effective if you leave sufficient space so that crockery and cutlery are not touching.
Use rinse aid. Some dishwasher tablets already have this but even so, adding a separate rinse aid to the dishwasher will do no harm. Rinse aid works by breaking the bond between water molecules and your crockery and cutlery, helping water run off quickly, speeding up drying time and giving a spot and streak free finish.
Open your appliance as soon as the cycle has completed. Some new models have this as an automatic option, but many do not, thus, opening the door at the end of the program can help allow the water to evaporate and prevent water condensing on the plates as the dishwasher cools down.
Check if your dishwasher employs a heat feature and make use of it. The higher the heat the better the drying and it might be possible to choose which points in the cycle you increase the temperature.
Think about how you empty your machine. This is simply because cups and glasses that are upside down on the top shelf often have a concave bottom where water can pool. Emptying the bottom rack first stops you spilling this water onto the crockery and cutlery below.

If this trouble shooting guide hasn’t worked it may be necessary to call in the professionals or perhaps replace your dishwasher.