Is Your Dishwasher Not Drying Dishes?

It turns out getting your dishes dry could actually be more difficult for your dishwasher than getting them clean. Dishes and glasses have lots of crevices that can trap dishwater making it more difficult for it to evaporate, and as your machine cools down water condenses from the steam.

Dishwashers also utilize a variety of different means to get your plates dry. Certain models will have a heating coil to heat up the inside of the dishwasher and assist with evaporation, some heat up the water more approaching the final rinse, others have a fan, and some use a mix of all of these. There are thus a number of reasons why your machine may not be drying plates fully and a number of options to improve the situation.

Plastic is less likely to dry fully than other materials as it cools down more quickly hindering the drying process, so it’s worth taking note whether the items that aren’t drying are predominantly plastic items.

If dishes are coming out wet you can call a dishwasher repair service or first utilize this troubleshooting list to help you identify and rectify the issue.

Top Explanations Your Dishwasher Isn’t Drying Plates

Few things are more frustrating than a home appliance that doesn’t work as it’s meant to, regardless of whether its a smartphone, washing machine or dishwasher we expect them to do the job they were designed for. If you open your dishwasher to discover wet plates there are a few troubleshooting tips to help you figure out why.

Not all appliances are built to the same spec and some makes and models perform to a better standard compared to others. But if if your dishwasher has always dried your crockery and cutlery in the past one of these issues might be the cause.

Have a Look at the Placement of Your Dishes

Sometimes there is nothing actually wrong with the dishwasher. Before assuming the appliance is broken you should first check that you haven’t overfilled it or accidentally stacked items one inside the other. It’s also worth noting that plastic items are more difficult to dry than metal, glass or ceramics.

Inspect The Rinse Aid Dispenser

Rinse aid plays a key role in drying your dishes thus, if you have run out of rinse aid or the rinse aid dispenser is broken this can stop your dishes coming out properly dry.

The best thing to do is check the dispenser for cracks and check that it’s full.

Inspect The Heating Element

Heat is essential for drying your crockery and cutlery so a faulty heating coil might be the explanation your machine is not working as it should. If your dishes aren’t hot to touch at the end of the cycle this can indicate that the heating coil is broken.

To inspect the heating element you will need to disconnect the dishwasher, find the heating element, you could need the manual to do this, then use a multimeter to check it’s working.

Have a Look at the Thermostat

The thermostat stops your machine overheating, adjusting the temperature of the water and the drying part of the cycle. Therefore, if it’s broken this can result in your machine not heating up at all.

If the heating coil seems to be working as it should but your machine isn’t getting hot, then the thermostat could be the problem. 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 the fan isn’t operating as is should or the vent is blocked then the steam will remain in the appliance preventing the plates from drying.

You can make use of your manual to check if your machine uses a fan and locate it. Again you need to double check the appliance is unplugged before trying to access the fan.

You can visually inspect the fan and vent to ascertain if there is anything lodged that would prevent it from functioning correctly. If there is nothing obvious you can then test for continuity using a multimeter.

Ideas to Boost Drying Ability

There are a variety of methods you can use to boost how well your appliance dries your dishes and ensure you have to hand dry as little as possible.

Allow sufficient space between crockery and cutlery. Overfilling the appliance stops the circulation of both water and air making cleaning and drying your dishes harder. Although it’s appealing to try and stuff everything in, you will get better results if you leave sufficient space so that water and air can circulate freely.
Employ rinse aid. Some dishwasher tablets already have this but even so, adding a little extra to the appliance can only improve matters. 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 finished. Some newer machines do this automatically, but if yours doesn’t, opening the dishwasher when the program completes can help allow the water to evaporate and prevent water droplets forming as the appliance cools down.
Have a look to see if your machine has a heat feature and utilize it. The higher the temperature the better the drying and it might be possible to choose which points in the cycle you increase the temperature.
Unload the bottom rack first. 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 dishes below.

If none of the above solves the problem it could be necessary to call in the professionals or perhaps replace your machine.