Is Your Dishwasher Not Drying Dishes?

It may not be the primary function but drying your crockery and cutlery might really be harder for your machine than getting them clean. Plates and glasses have multiple nooks and crannies that can pool water making it more difficult for it to dry out, thus as your appliance cools water condenses out of the humid air.

Different machines also make use of a number of approaches to dry your dishes. Certain models opt for a heating coil to heat up the inside of the dishwasher and help the water to evaporate, some heat up the water to a higher temperature approaching the end of the cycle, some employ a fan, and certain models have a mix of all three. There are thus a number of explanations why your dishwasher might not be drying crockery and cutlery optimally and a variety of things you can do to improve the situation.

Plastic items are less likely to dry fully than other materials as it cools down more quickly hindering the drying process, so it’s worth seeing 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 make use of this troubleshooting list to help you identify and rectify the issue.

Top Explanations Your Dishwasher Isn’t Drying Plates

There is nothing more annoying than a home appliance that isn’t working properly, regardless of whether its a smartphone, air conditioner or dishwasher we expect them to do the job they were designed for. If you open the dishwasher to wet plates here are a few places you can look to help you figure out why.

Not all appliances are built to the same spec and you will find that some appliances perform to a superior standard compared to others. However, if you notice a change in how well your machine is working one of these faults might be the problem.

Check How Your Machine Has Been Loaded

Sometimes there is nothing actually wrong with the dishwasher. Before assuming the machine 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 plastics don’t dry as well as metal, glass or ceramics.

Check The Rinse Aid Dispenser

Rinse aid plays a key role in drying your crockery and cutlery therefore, if you have run out of rinse aid or your rinse aid dispenser is broken this can mean wet dishes at the end of the cycle.

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

Have a Look at The Heating Element

Heat is essential for drying your crockery and cutlery so a broken heating element may be the reason your dishwasher is not working as it should. If your plates don’t feel hot to touch when they come out of the machine this can indicate that the heating coil is broken.

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

Inspect the Thermostat

The thermostat stops your appliance getting too hot, regulating the heat of the water and air during drying. However, if it’s faulty this can mean your appliance doesn’t heat up at all.

If you check the heating element and do not find an fault but there’s still no heat, then the thermostat could be the issue. Again you can make sure with the help of a multimeter.

Inspect The Drying Fan and Vent

Many appliances will make use of a fan and vent to suck moist air out of the machine. If either of these elements are broken then the steam will form droplets on the plates instead preventing them from drying.

You can make use of your instruction manual to find out if your dishwasher has a fan and locate it. Again you need to ensure the appliance is disconnected before attempting to make repairs.

You can look at the fan and vent to check if anything is blocking it that could prevent it from working as it is supposed to. And again testing for continuity using a multimeter.

Ideas to Boost Drying Capability

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

Don’t overcrowd the dishwasher. Overfilling the machine stops the flow of both water and air making removing the dirt from and drying your dishes more difficult. Although it’s tempting to try and cram everything in, your appliance will work better if you leave sufficient space so that water and air can circulate freely.
Utilize rinse aid. Some dishwasher tablets include a rinse aid 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 newer machines do this automatically, but if yours doesn’t, opening the machine when the cycle finishes can help allow the water to evaporate and stop water condensing on the contents as the dishwasher cools down.
Find out if your dishwasher uses a heat feature and use it. The higher the heat the better the drying and you may be able to add more heat at different points in the program.
Think about how you empty your dishwasher. This doesn’t affect how effective your machine is, but it prevent and water spilling that has collected in the concave bottoms of cups and glasses.

If this trouble shooting guide hasn’t worked it could be time to phone the professionals or perhaps buy a new dishwasher.