Is Your Dishwasher Not Drying Dishes?

It turns out getting your crockery and cutlery dry could actually be harder for your dishwasher than getting them clean. Plates and glasses have lots of nooks and crannies that could collect dishwater stopping it from evaporating, thus as your dishwasher cools down water condenses from the humid air.

Dishwashers also utilize a number of different approaches to dry your plates. Certain models will use a heating element to heat up the inside of the machine and help the water to evaporate, some heat up the water more nearing the final rinse, certain models use a fan, and certain models use a combination of all of these. There are consequently a number of reasons why your dishwasher could not be drying crockery and cutlery optimally and a number of options to rectify the situation.

Plastic is less likely to dry fully than glass or ceramics as it doesn’t retain heat in the same way which helps with the drying process, so it’s worth taking note whether the items that aren’t drying are predominantly plastic items.

If your dishwasher doesn’t seem to be drying properly you can enlist the help of a dishwasher repair service or first employ this troubleshooting list to help you identify and rectify the problem.

Top Explanations Your Dishwasher Isn’t Drying Dishes

There is nothing more annoying than an appliance that isn’t working as it should, whether that’s a smartphone that really isn’t being that smart, a washing machine that’s churning out dirty clothes, or a dishwasher that is either not removing the dirt from or drying your crockery and cutlery. If you open your dishwasher to discover wet plates there are a number of places you can look to help you figure out the issue.

Not all appliances are created equal and some appliances perform to a better standard compared to others. But if if your dishwasher has always dried your plates in the past one of these areas might be the cause.

Check How Your Dishwasher Has Been Loaded

Sometimes there is nothing actually wrong with the appliance. 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 are more difficult to dry than metal, glass or ceramics.

Inspect The Rinse Aid Dispenser

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

The best thing to do is inspect the dispenser for cracks and ensure that there is rinse aid inside.

Check The Heating Coil

Heat is essential for drying your crockery and cutlery so a broken heating coil could be the reason your dishwasher is not drying plates. If your crockery and cutlery don’t feel hot to touch at the end of the cycle this can mean that the heating coil is broken.

To check the heating element first unplug the dishwasher, then locate the heating element, you could need the instruction manual for this, and check for continuity using a multimeter.

Inspect the Thermostat

The thermostat ensures your machine doesn’t overheat, determining the temperature of the water and the drying part of the cycle. However, if it’s broken this can mean your machine doesn’t heat up at all.

If the heating element appears to be working as it should but there’s still no heat, then the thermostat may be the issue. Again you can check this using a multimeter.

Have a Look at The Fan and Vent

Many appliances will use a fan and vent to remove the warm moist air from the appliance. If the fan isn’t operating as is should or the vent is blocked then the hot air will remain in the dishwasher preventing the plates from drying.

You can utilize your manual to ascertain if your machine uses a fan and find its location. Again you need to double check the appliance is disconnected before attempting to make repairs.

You can look at the fan and vent to see if anything is blocking it that might prevent it from functioning as it is supposed to. If there is nothing obvious you can then test for continuity using a multimeter.

Ideas to Increase Drying Capability

There are a variety of things you can do to increase how well your dishwasher dries your dishes and prevent you needing to dry them by hand as infrequently as possible.

Don’t cram the machine. Overfilling the appliance inhibits the flow of air and water making removing the dirt from and drying your crockery and cutlery more difficult. Although it’s tempting to try and stuff everything in, you will get better results if you leave sufficient space so that plates are not touching.
Use rinse aid. Some dishwasher tablets already have this but even if the brand you use says it does, adding a separate rinse aid to the appliance 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 newer machines have this as an automatic option, but if yours doesn’t, opening the door at the end of the program can help allow the water to escape thus stopping water condensing on the plates as the dishwasher cools down.
Find out if your machine uses a heat feature and make sure it’s turned on. The higher the temperature the better the drying and it may be possible to add more heat at different points in the cycle.
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 you have checked all the above it might be necessary to phone an engineer or perhaps upgrade your machine.