Is Your Dishwasher Not Drying Dishes?

It turns out drying your plates could really be harder for your machine than cleaning them. Plates and glasses have lots of crevices that could pool water stopping it from drying out, thus as your dishwasher cools water droplets form out of the humid air.

Different machines also utilize a number of different approaches to dry your crockery and cutlery. Some opt for a heating element to heat up the air in the machine and help the water to evaporate, some heat the water to a higher temperature near the end of the cycle, some use a fan, and some have a combination of all of these. There are consequently a number of explanations why your dishwasher could not be drying dishes optimally and a variety of options to improve 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 items that aren’t drying are predominantly plastic items.

If dishes are coming out wet you can call a dishwasher repair service or first use this troubleshooting list to figure out what the problem is and with any luck fix it.

Top Reasons Your Dishwasher Isn’t Drying Plates

There is nothing more frustrating than an 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 plates. If you open your dishwasher to discover wet plates there are a number of troubleshooting tips to help you figure out why.

Not all appliances are created equal and you will find that some dishwashers perform to a superior standard compared to others. But if if your dishwasher has always dried your dishes in the past one of these faults might be the problem.

Inspect the Placement of Your Dishes

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

Inspect The Rinse Aid Dispenser

Your dishwasher needs rinse aid to properly dry your dishes thus, if you’ve forgotten to top up or your rinse aid dispenser is not working 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.

Have a Look at The Heating Element

Without enough heat your dishes will not dry so a faulty heating element could be the explanation your machine is not working as it should. If your dishes 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 you will need to disconnect the machine, locate the heating coil, you might need the manual for this, then use a multimeter to check it’s working.

Have a Look at the Thermostat

The thermostat ensures your machine doesn’t get too hot, regulating the heat of the water and air during drying. However, if it’s faulty this can mean your machine doesn’t heat up at all.

If you check the heating element and do not find an issue but there’s still no heat, then the thermostat might be at fault. Again you can make sure using a multimeter.

Check The Drying Fan and Vent

Many machines will use a drying fan and vent to suck moist air out of the dishwasher. 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 leaving them wet.

You can utilize your instruction manual to ascertain if your machine has a fan and locate it. Again you need to double check the machine is unplugged before attempting to access the fan.

First look at the fan and vent to ascertain if anything is blocking it that would stop it from operating correctly. And again testing for continuity using a multimeter.

Ways to Increase Drying Capability

There are a variety of things you can do to boost your appliances drying ability and ensureyou have to hand dry as infrequently as possible.

Allow ample space between plates. Overfilling the machine stops the flow of air and water decreasing the effectiveness of your machine when it comes to both washing and drying your dishes. It may be tempting to cram everything in but you will get better results if you leave enough space so that water and air can circulate freely.
Utilize rinse aid. Some detergents include a rinse aid but even so, adding a little extra to the dishwasher will do no harm. Rinse aid helps reduce spotting and gives your glassware in particular a streak-free shine but it also breaks the bond between water molecules and your crockery and cutlery helping the water to run off them and thus speeding up drying times.
Open your machine as soon as the program has finished. Some new machines have this as an automatic option, but if yours doesn’t, opening the machine at the end of the program allows warm air to escape thus preventing water droplets forming as the appliance cools down.
Check if your appliance employs a heat feature and make use of it. The higher the temperature the better the drying and you might be able to add more heat at different points in the program.
Think about how you unload 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 dishes below.

If none of the above solves the problem it may be necessary to phone an engineer or even upgrade your machine.