Is Your Dishwasher Not Drying Dishes?

It may not be the primary function but getting your plates dry could actually be harder for your machine than cleaning them. Plates and glassware have lots of nooks and crannies that may collect water making it more difficult for it to evaporate, thus as your dishwasher cools down water condenses out of the humid air.

Dishwashers also employ a variety of approaches to dry your plates. Certain models will employ a heating coil to warm the air in the machine and help with evaporation, some heat the water more near the final rinse, others use a fan, and certain models have a mix of all of these. There are therefore a variety of explanations why your machine may not be drying dishes optimally and a variety of things you can do 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 seeing whether the drying issue is related to the material rather than the machine.

If your dishwasher isn’t drying effectively you can enlist the help of a dishwasher repair service or first employ this troubleshooting guide to figure out what the issue is and with any luck fix it.

Top Explanations Your Dishwasher Isn’t Drying Dishes

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

Not all appliances are created equal and some appliances do a better job of drying your plates than others. But if if your dishwasher has always dried your plates in the past one of these faults may be the problem.

Inspect How Your Machine Has Been Loaded

Sometimes there is nothing actually wrong with the dishwasher. Before assuming the machine is faulty you should look at how it has been stacked, ensuring it isn’t overloaded. Also be aware that plastic items don’t dry as well as metal, glass or ceramics.

Check The Rinse Aid Dispenser

Your dishwasher needs rinse aid to properly dry your dishes therefore, if you’ve forgotten to top up or your rinse aid dispenser is not working this can mean wet plates at the end of the cycle.

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

Inspect The Heating Element

Heat is essential for drying your crockery and cutlery so a broken heating element may be the explanation your dishwasher is not working as it should. If your plates aren’t hot to touch at the end of the cycle this can be a good indicator that the heating coil isn’t working as it should.

To inspect the heating element first disconnect the dishwasher, then locate the heating coil, you might need the manual to do this, then check for continuity using a multimeter.

Check the Thermostat

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

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

Check The Fan and Vent

Many appliances will use a fan and vent to suck moist air from the dishwasher. If the fan isn’t operating as is should or the vent is blocked then the water vapor will remain in the machine preventing the dishes from drying.

You can utilize your manual to find out if your machine has a fan and locate it. Don’t forget to ensure the appliance is unplugged before trying to make repairs.

You can visually inspect the fan and vent to see if there is anything lodged that would prevent it from working as it is supposed to. And again testing for continuity using a multimeter.

Tips 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 need to get the drying up cloth out as infrequently as possible.

Allow sufficient space between dishes. Overfilling the machine limits the circulation of both water and air making cleaning and drying your crockery and cutlery more difficult. It might be tempting to stuff everything in but your machine will work better if you leave sufficient space so that plates are not touching.
Make use of 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 machine 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 machine as soon as the program has completed. Some new dishwashers have this as an automatic option, but if yours doesn’t, opening the dishwasher at the end of the program allows warm air to evaporate thus stopping water condensing on the plates as the dishwasher cools down.
Check if your dishwasher employs a heat feature and make sure it’s turned on. The higher the temperature the better the drying and you could be able to choose which points in the program you add more heat.
Think about how you empty your dishwasher. This doesn’t affect how effective your machine is, but it does stop water from cups and glasses falling on dishes below.

If this trouble shooting guide hasn’t worked it could be time to call in the professionals or even upgrade your dishwasher.