Is Your Dishwasher Not Drying Dishes?

It turns out drying your dishes may really be more difficult for your machine than removing the dirt. Plates and cups have lots of crevices that can trap dishwater stopping it from drying out, thus as your dishwasher cools water droplets form from the steam.

Different machines also employ a number of different approaches to dry your dishes. Some will have a heating coil to heat up the inside of the dishwasher and assist with evaporation, some heat up the water to a higher temperature near the final rinse, some use a fan, and certain models have a mix of all three. There are thus a number of reasons why your machine may not be drying crockery and cutlery fully and a number of things you can do to improve the situation.

Plastic items are less likely to dry fully than glass or ceramics as it doesn’t retain heat in the same way which helps with the drying process, so it’s worth taking note whether the drying issue is related to the material rather than the machine.

If your dishwasher isn’t drying effectively 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 Reasons Your Dishwasher Isn’t Drying Plates

Few things are more frustrating than a home appliance that isn’t working properly, regardless of whether its a smartphone, air conditioner or dishwasher we expect them to do the job they were designed for. If you open the dishwasher to wet plates here are a number of troubleshooting tips to help you figure out why.

Not all appliances are built to the same spec and you will find that some appliances perform to a higher standard compared to others. However, if you notice a change in how effectively your dishwasher is working one of these areas might be the cause.

Have a Look at How Your Machine Has Been Loaded

Sometimes there is nothing actually wrong with the dishwasher. Before assuming the machine is not working you should first check that you haven’t overloaded it or accidentally stacked items one inside the other. Also be aware 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 therefore, if you’ve forgotten to top up or your rinse aid dispenser is broken this can stop your crockery and cutlery coming out properly dry.

Visually inspect the rinse aid dispenser for cracks and ensure that it’s full.

Inspect The Heating Coil

Without enough heat your plates will not dry so a faulty heating element may be the reason your appliance is not drying crockery and cutlery. If your crockery and cutlery aren’t hot to touch when they come out of the machine this can be a good indicator that the heating element is faulty.

To inspect the heating coil first unplug the dishwasher, then find the heating element, you might need the instruction manual to do this, and use a multimeter to check it’s working.

Have a Look at the Thermostat

The thermostat stops your appliance overheating, adjusting the heat of the water and air during drying. Therefore, if it’s faulty this can mean your machine doesn’t heat up at all.

If you check the heating coil and do not find an issue but your machine isn’t getting hot, then the thermostat could be at fault. Again you can make sure with the help of a multimeter.

Have a Look at The Fan and Vent

Many dishwashers will utilize a fan and vent to remove the warm moist air out of the appliance. If either of these elements are broken then the water vapor will form droplets on the dishes instead preventing them from drying.

You can utilize your manual to find out if your dishwasher has a fan and locate it. Again you need to double check the machine is disconnected before trying to make repairs.

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

Ideas to Boost Drying Capability

There are a number of methods you can use to boost how well your machine dries your dishes and make sureyou have to hand dry as infrequently as possible.

Don’t overcrowd the dishwasher. Overfilling the machine stops the flow of air and water making cleaning and drying your plates more difficult. Although it’s appealing to try and stuff everything in, you will get better results if you leave enough space so that water and air can circulate freely.
Use rinse aid. Some dishwasher tablets already have this but even if the brand you use says it does, adding a little extra to the appliance can only improve matters. 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.
Open the door at the end of the cycle. Some newer dishwashers have this as an automatic function, but many do not, thus, opening the door when the program completes can help allow the water to evaporate thus stopping water condensing on the plates as the machine cools down.
Find out if your dishwasher has a heat feature and make sure it’s turned on. Setting a higher heat will mean improved drying times and it could be possible to add more heat at different points in the cycle.
Empty the bottom rack first. 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 may be necessary to phone the professionals or even buy a new machine.