Is Your Dishwasher Not Drying Dishes?

It turns out drying your dishes may in actual fact be more arduous for your machine than cleaning them. Plates and glassware have lots of crevices that may collect water stopping it from evaporating, plus as your appliance cools down water droplets form out of the humid air.

Dishwashers also make use of a variety of methods to get your dishes dry. Certain models opt for a heating element to warm the inside of the dishwasher and assist the water to evaporate, some heat up the water to a higher temperature nearing the end of the cycle, others employ a fan, and some make use of a mix of all of these. There are thus a number of reasons why your dishwasher could not be drying dishes fully and a number of options to rectify the situation.

Plastic items are less likely to dry fully than glass or ceramics 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 enlist the help of a dishwasher repair service or first employ this troubleshooting guide to help you identify and rectify the problem.

Top Reasons Your Dishwasher Isn’t Drying Dishes

There is nothing more annoying than a home appliance that doesn’t work as it should, regardless of whether its a smartspeaker, 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 number of troubleshooting tips to help you figure out the issue.

Not all dishwashers are created equal and some dishwashers perform to a better standard compared to others. However, if you notice a change in how well your machine is working one of these areas might be the cause.

Check the Placement of Your Crockery and Cutlery

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

Check The Rinse Aid Dispenser

Your machine needs rinse aid to properly dry your plates and so if you have run out of rinse aid or your rinse aid dispenser is faulty this can stop your crockery and cutlery coming out properly dry.

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

Check The Heating Element

Heat is essential for drying your crockery and cutlery so a not working heating element could be the explanation your machine is not drying dishes. 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 coil first disconnect the machine, then find the heating element, you might need the instruction manual to do this, and use a multimeter to check it’s working.

Check the Thermostat

The thermostat ensures your dishwasher doesn’t get too hot, adjusting the heat of the water and air during drying. Therefore, if it’s faulty this can result in your dishwasher not heating up at all.

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

Check The Drying Fan and Vent

Many appliances will make use of a drying 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 form droplets on the plates instead leaving them wet.

You can utilize your user manual to find out if your machine uses a fan and find its location. Don’t forget to make sure the appliance is unplugged before attempting to access the fan.

You can look at the fan and vent to see if there is anything lodged that might stop it from functioning as it is supposed to. And again testing for continuity using a multimeter.

Ideas to Increase Drying Power

There are a variety of methods you can use to boost your appliances drying ability and prevent you needing to dry them by hand as little as possible.

  1. Allow sufficient space between crockery and cutlery. Overfilling the machine limits the flow of air and water decreasing the effectiveness of your appliance when it comes to both cleaning and finishing your dishes. Although it’s appealing to try and cram everything in, your dishwasher will be more effective if you leave enough space so that dishes are not touching.
  2. Utilize rinse aid. Some dishwasher tablets include a rinse aid but even if the brand you use says it does, adding a little extra 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.
  3. Open the door at the end of the cycle. Some newer models have this as an automatic function, but many do not, thus, opening the dishwasher at the end of the program can help allow the water to escape thus preventing water droplets forming as the dishwasher cools down.
  4. Check if your dishwasher has a heat feature and make sure it’s turned on. The higher the heat the better the drying and you could be able to choose which points in the cycle you increase the temperature.
  5. Think about how you unload your dishwasher. 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 plates below.

If you have checked all the above it could be time to call in the professionals or even replace your dishwasher.

More Dishwasher Problems:

  • Dishwasher Being Loud
  • Dishwasher Not Turning On
  • Dishwasher Not Draining
  • Dishwasher Leaking