Is Your Dishwasher Not Drying Dishes?

It turns out getting your plates dry may actually be more arduous for your machine than removing the dirt. Dishes and glassware have multiple crevices that can trap water stopping it from evaporating, thus as your dishwasher cools water condenses out of the humid air.

Dishwashers also utilize a number of different means to get your plates dry. Certain models opt for a heating element to warm the air in the dishwasher and assist the water to evaporate, some heat up the water to a higher temperature near the final rinse, some make use of a fan, and certain models make use of a mix of all of these. There are thus a number of reasons why your dishwasher may not be drying dishes optimally and a variety of options to rectify the situation.

Plastic items are more difficult to dry than other materials as it cools down more quickly hindering the drying process, so it’s worth noting whether the drying issue is related to the material rather than the machine.

If your dishwasher doesn’t seem to be drying effectively you can call a dishwasher repair service or first make use of this troubleshooting guide to figure out what the problem is and with any luck fix it.

Top Reasons Your Dishwasher Isn’t Drying Dishes

There is nothing more frustrating than a home appliance that doesn’t work as it’s meant to, 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 cleaning or drying your crockery and cutlery. If you open the dishwasher to wet plates here are a number of troubleshooting tips to help you figure out the issue.

Not all makes and models are built to the same spec and some dishwashers do a better job of drying your dishes than others. However, if if your dishwasher has always dried your crockery and cutlery in the past one of these issues may be the cause.

Have a Look at the Placement of Your Crockery and Cutlery

Sometimes there is nothing actually wrong with the appliance. Before assuming the dishwasher is faulty you should look at how it has been stacked, ensuring it isn’t too full. Also be aware that plastics are more difficult to dry than metal, glass or ceramics.

Inspect 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 broken this can stop your crockery and cutlery coming out properly dry.

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

Check The Heating Coil

Without enough heat your plates will not dry so a broken heating coil may be the reason your dishwasher is not working as it should. If your plates aren’t hot to touch at the end of the cycle this can mean that the heating coil is faulty.

To inspect the heating element you will need to unplug the machine, find the heating coil, you may need the instruction manual for this, then use a multimeter to check it’s working.

Have a Look at the Thermostat

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

If you check the heating element and do not uncover an fault but your dishwasher isn’t getting hot, then the thermostat may be the issue. Again you can test 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 from the appliance. If either of these elements are broken then the hot air will condense on the plates instead preventing them from drying.

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

First visually inspect the fan and vent to check if there is anything lodged that could prevent it from working as it should. And again testing for continuity using a multimeter.

Ideas to Increase Drying Ability

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

Allow sufficient space between plates. Overloading the machine inhibits the circulation of air and water decreasing the effectiveness of your machine when it comes to both cleaning and drying your dishes. It could be tempting to cram everything in but your machine will work better if you leave sufficient space so that dishes are not touching.
Utilize rinse aid. Some dishwasher tablets already have this but even so, adding a little extra to the dishwasher won’t hurt. 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 appliance as soon as the cycle has completed. Some new machines have this as an automatic function, but if yours doesn’t, opening the dishwasher when the program completes allows warm air to evaporate and stop water droplets forming as the appliance cools down.
Check if your appliance has a heat feature and make sure it’s turned on. Setting a higher heat will result in improved drying times and it might be possible to add more heat at different points in the program.
Think about how you unload your machine. This doesn’t affect how well your machine works, but it prevent and water spilling that has collected in the concave bottoms of cups and glasses.

If you have checked all the above it could be necessary to phone the professionals or perhaps upgrade your dishwasher.