Is Your Dishwasher Not Drying Dishes?

It turns out drying your plates may actually be more arduous for your dishwasher than getting them clean. Plates and glasses have multiple crevices that could collect water preventing it from drying out, and as your appliance loses heat water droplets form out of the humid air.

Dishwashers also utilize a variety of different methods to dry your dishes. Certain models will use a heating coil to warm the inside of the machine and help with evaporation, some heat up the water further nearing the final rinse, some make use of a fan, and some have a combination of all of these. There are consequently a variety of reasons why your machine may not be drying dishes fully and a variety of options to rectify the situation.

Plastic is less likely to dry fully than other materials 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 dishes are coming out wet you can enlist the help of a dishwasher repair service or first utilize this troubleshooting list to help you identify and rectify the problem.

Top Reasons Your Dishwasher Isn’t Drying Crockery and Cutlery

There is nothing more irritating than a home appliance that isn’t working properly, regardless of whether its a smartspeaker, washing machine or dishwasher we expect them to do the job they were made for. If you open the dishwasher to wet plates here are a number of places you can look to help you figure out why.

Not all makes and models are built to the same spec and some makes and models perform to a higher standard compared to others. However, if you notice a change in how well your machine is working one of these areas may be the cause.

Check How Your Machine Has Been Loaded

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

Have a Look at 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 your rinse aid dispenser is faulty this can stop your plates coming out properly dry.

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

Check The Heating Element

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

To check the heating coil first disconnect the dishwasher, then locate the heating coil, you could need the owners manual to do this, then use a multimeter to check it’s working.

Check the Thermostat

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

If the heating coil seems to be working as it should but there’s still no heat, then the thermostat could be the issue. Once again you can make sure with the help of a multimeter.

Have a Look at The Drying Fan and Vent

Many machines 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 steam will form droplets on the crockery and cutlery instead preventing them from drying.

You can employ your user manual to find out if your appliance uses a fan and find its location. Again you need to double check the machine is unplugged before attempting to access the fan.

You can visually inspect the fan and vent to check if anything is blocking it that would stop it from functioning correctly. And again testing for continuity using a multimeter.

Ideas to Increase Drying Power

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

Allow sufficient space between dishes. Overfilling the dishwasher inhibits the circulation of air and water making cleaning and drying your crockery and cutlery harder. Although it’s appealing to try and stuff everything in, you will get better results if you leave sufficient space so that crockery and cutlery are not touching.
Use rinse aid. Some dishwasher tablets include a rinse aid but even if the brand you use says it does, adding a separate rinse aid to the dishwasher will do no harm. 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 machine as soon as the program has ended. Some newer models do this automatically, but if yours doesn’t, opening the dishwasher at the end of the program allows warm air to escape and prevent water droplets forming as the appliance cools down.
Have a look to see if your dishwasher uses a heat feature and make use of it. Setting a higher temperature will result in better drying times and it might be possible to add more heat at different points in the program.
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 dishes below.

If you have checked all the above it could be a good idea to call in an engineer or perhaps upgrade your machine.