Is Your Dishwasher Not Drying Dishes?

It may not be the primary function but drying your dishes could really be harder for your dishwasher than getting them clean. Plates and glasses have multiple nooks and crannies that could pool water stopping it from drying out, thus as your appliance cools water condenses out of the humid air.

Dishwashers also utilize a number of approaches to dry your plates. Some opt for a heating coil to warm the air in the machine and help the water to evaporate, some heat up the water further near the end of the cycle, some make use of a fan, and others make use of a mix of all of these. There are thus a number of explanations why your dishwasher might not be drying plates fully and a variety of options 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 drying issue is related to the material rather than the machine.

If your dishwasher isn’t drying properly you can enlist the help of a dishwasher repair service or first make use of this troubleshooting guide to help you identify and rectify the issue.

Top Reasons Your Dishwasher Isn’t Drying Crockery and Cutlery

There is nothing more frustrating than an 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 made for. If you open the dishwasher to wet plates there are a number of troubleshooting tips to help you figure out why.

Not all makes and models are built to the same spec and you will find that some dishwashers perform to a better standard compared to others. However, if you notice a change in how well your dishwasher is working one of these issues may be the problem.

Inspect How Your Machine Has Been Loaded

It might be that there is no fault with the appliance. Before assuming the machine is faulty you should look at how it has been loaded, ensuring it isn’t too full. It’s also worth noting that plastic items are more difficult to dry than metal, glass or ceramics.

Inspect The Rinse Aid Dispenser

Your machine needs rinse aid to properly dry your dishes and so if you’ve forgotten to top up or your rinse aid dispenser is broken this can result in wet crockery and cutlery at the end of the cycle.

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

Inspect The Heating Element

Heat is essential for drying your plates so a faulty heating element may be the explanation your appliance is not working as it should. If your plates aren’t hot to touch when they come out of the machine this can indicate that the heating element isn’t working as it should.

To inspect the heating element first disconnect the appliance, then find the heating element, you may need the manual to do this, and check for continuity using a multimeter.

Have a Look at the Thermostat

The thermostat ensures your appliance doesn’t get too hot, regulating the heat of the water and air during drying. Therefore, if it’s broken this can result in your dishwasher not reaching a high enough temperature.

If you check the heating element and do not find an issue but your machine isn’t getting hot, then the thermostat might be the issue. Again you can check this with the help of a multimeter.

Inspect The Fan and Vent

Many machines will use a fan and vent to remove the warm moist air out of the appliance. If either of these elements are faulty then the water vapor will remain in the dishwasher preventing the crockery and cutlery from drying.

You can utilize your instruction manual to ascertain if your dishwasher uses a fan and locate it. Don’t forget to ensure the machine is unplugged before trying to access the fan.

First visually inspect the fan and vent to ascertain if there is anything lodged that might stop it from working as it should. If there is nothing obvious you can then test for continuity using a multimeter.

Ways to Boost Drying Power

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

Don’t overload the dishwasher. Overcrowding the appliance limits the circulation of both water and air making cleaning and drying your dishes more difficult. It might be tempting to stuff in as much as possible but your machine will work better if you leave sufficient space so that dishes are not touching.
Employ rinse aid. Some detergents already have this but even if the brand you use says it does, adding a separate rinse aid to the dishwasher can only improve matters. Rinse aid works by breaking the bond between water molecules and your plates, helping water run off quickly, speeding up drying time and giving a spot and streak free finish.
Open your dishwasher as soon as the cycle has finished. Some new models do this automatically, but if yours doesn’t, opening the dishwasher when the program finishes allows warm air to escape and stop water droplets forming as the machine cools down.
Check if your dishwasher uses a heat feature and make sure it’s turned on. Setting a higher heat will mean better drying times and it could be possible to choose which points in the program you add more heat.
Unload the bottom rack first. This doesn’t affect how well your dishwasher works, but it stop and water spilling that has collected in the concave bottoms of cups and glasses.

If this trouble shooting guide hasn’t worked it might be necessary to phone the professionals or perhaps buy a new machine.