Is Your Dishwasher Not Drying Dishes?

It turns out getting your crockery and cutlery dry may really be more difficult for your dishwasher than cleaning them. Crockery and cutlery and cups have lots of nooks and crannies that may pool water preventing it from evaporating, thus as your appliance loses heat water condenses from the humid air.

Dishwashers also utilize a variety of approaches to dry your crockery and cutlery. Certain models opt for a heating coil to heat up the air in the machine and assist the water to evaporate, some warm the water further approaching the final rinse, some make use of a fan, and certain models use a combination of all of these. There are thus a variety of explanations why your machine may not be drying crockery and cutlery fully and a number of options to improve the situation.

Plastic items are more difficult to dry than other materials as it doesn’t retain heat in the same way which helps with the drying process, so it’s worth noting 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 employ this troubleshooting guide to help you identify and rectify the issue.

Top Explanations Your Dishwasher Isn’t Drying Crockery and Cutlery

Few things are more frustrating than a home appliance that doesn’t work as it’s meant to, regardless of whether its a smartspeaker, tumble dryer or dishwasher we expect them to do the job they were designed for. If you open the dishwasher to wet plates there are a number of troubleshooting tips to help you figure out why.

Not all makes and models are created equal and some appliances perform to a superior standard compared to others. However, if if your dishwasher has always dried your dishes in the past one of these issues 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 faulty you should look at how it has been loaded, ensuring it isn’t too full. Also be aware that plastic items are more difficult to dry than metal, glass or ceramics.

Check The Rinse Aid Dispenser

Your machine needs rinse aid to properly dry your crockery and cutlery thus, if you have run out of rinse aid or the rinse aid dispenser is broken this can stop your crockery and cutlery coming out properly dry.

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

Check The Heating Coil

Without enough heat your dishes will not dry so a faulty heating element could be the explanation your machine is not drying crockery and cutlery. If your plates aren’t hot at the end of the cycle this can mean that the heating coil is broken.

To check the heating coil you will need to unplug the machine, find the heating element, you might need the owners manual to do this, then check for continuity using a multimeter.

Inspect the Thermostat

The thermostat stops your appliance getting too hot, determining the heat of the water and air during drying. Therefore, if it’s not working 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 your dishwasher isn’t getting hot, then the thermostat may be the issue. Again you can check this with the help of a multimeter.

Inspect The Drying Fan and Vent

Many appliances will make use of a 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 water vapor will condense on the plates instead preventing them from drying.

You can use your instruction manual to check if your appliance has a fan and locate it. Again you need to make sure the machine is unplugged before trying to access the fan.

First visually inspect the fan and vent to see if anything is blocking it that would prevent it from functioning correctly. And again testing for continuity using a multimeter.

Ways to Increase Drying Power

There are a variety of things you can do to boost how well your appliance dries your dishes and ensure you need to get the drying up cloth out as little as possible.

Allow sufficient space between dishes. Overcrowding the machine inhibits the circulation 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 stuff everything in, your dishwasher will work better if you leave sufficient space so that plates are not touching.
Use rinse aid. Some dishwasher tablets include a rinse aid but even so, adding a little extra to the machine can only improve matters. Rinse aid helps reduce marks and gives your glassware in particular a streak-free shine but it also breaks the bond between water molecules and your plates helping the water to run off them and consequently making them dry more quickly and evenly.
Open your appliance as soon as the cycle has completed. Some newer dishwashers do this automatically, but if yours doesn’t, opening the dishwasher at the end of the cycle allows warm air to escape and stop water condensing on the dishes as the machine cools down.
Check if your dishwasher employs a heat feature and use it. The higher the heat the better the drying and it could be possible to add more heat at different points in the cycle.
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 may be time to call in the professionals or even buy a new machine.