Is Your Dishwasher Not Drying Dishes?

It may not be the primary function but drying your plates might actually be more arduous for your dishwasher than removing the dirt. Crockery and cutlery and glasses have multiple crevices that may trap dishwater making it more difficult for it to dry out, and as your dishwasher cools down water condenses out of the humid air.

Different machines also employ a number of different methods to dry your plates. Certain models will have a heating coil to warm the air in the dishwasher and help with evaporation, some heat up the water to a higher temperature nearing the final rinse, some employ a fan, and some make use of a mix of all of these. There are consequently a number of explanations why your machine might not be drying crockery and cutlery fully and a number of things you can do to rectify the situation.

Plastic items are more difficult to dry than glass or ceramics 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 your dishwasher doesn’t seem to be drying properly you can call a dishwasher repair service or first employ 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 a home appliance that doesn’t work as it should, regardless of whether its a smartspeaker, tumble dryer or dishwasher we expect them to do the job they were designed for. If you open your dishwasher to discover wet plates there are a few places you can look to help you figure out why.

Not all appliances are built to the same spec and some makes and models do a better job of drying your crockery and cutlery than others. However, if if your dishwasher has always dried your plates in the past one of these areas could be the problem.

Have a Look at the Placement of Your Dishes

It might be that there is no fault with the machine. Before assuming the appliance is faulty you should first check that you haven’t overloaded it or accidentally stacked items one inside the other. It’s also worth noting that plastic items don’t dry as well as metal, glass or ceramics.

Inspect The Rinse Aid Dispenser

Your appliance needs rinse aid to properly dry your crockery and cutlery therefore, if you’ve forgotten to top up or your rinse aid dispenser is broken this can stop your plates coming out properly dry.

Visually check the dispenser for damage and check that there is rinse aid inside.

Check The Heating Element

Heat is essential for drying your crockery and cutlery so a not working heating coil might be the explanation your dishwasher is not working as it should. If your plates don’t feel 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 check the heating element first unplug the appliance, then find the heating coil, you may need the manual to do 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, adjusting the temperature of the water and the drying part of the cycle. However, if it’s broken this can mean your machine doesn’t heat up at all.

If you check the heating element and do not discover an fault but there’s still no heat, then the thermostat may be the issue. Again you can check this using a multimeter.

Inspect The Fan and Vent

Many appliances will utilize a drying fan and vent to remove the warm moist air out of the machine. If the fan isn’t operating as is should or the vent is blocked then the steam will condense on the plates instead preventing them from drying.

You can make use of your instruction manual to find out if your appliance uses a fan and locate it. Don’t forget to double check the dishwasher is disconnected before attempting to access the fan.

First visually inspect the fan and vent to see if there is anything lodged that would stop it from operating as it is supposed to. If there is nothing obvious you can then test for continuity using a multimeter.

Tips to Boost Drying Capability

There are a number of things you can do to improve how well your appliance dries your dishes and make sure you have to hand dry as infrequently as possible.

Allow sufficient space between crockery and cutlery. Overcrowding the machine inhibits the flow of air and water making cleaning and drying your dishes more difficult. It may be appealing to cram in as much as possible but you will get better results if you leave sufficient space so that dishes are not touching.
Use rinse aid. Some detergents already have this but even so, adding a little extra to the dishwasher will do no harm. Rinse aid helps reduce spotting and gives your glasses a streak-free finish but it also breaks the bond between water molecules and your crockery and cutlery helping the water to run off them and thus allowing them to dry faster.
Open the door at the end of the program. Some newer models do this automatically, but many do not, thus, opening the machine at the end of the cycle can help allow the water to escape thus preventing water condensing on the plates as the machine cools down.
Find out if your dishwasher employs a heat feature and utilize it. The higher the heat the better the drying and it may be possible to add more heat at different points in the cycle.
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 might be a good idea to call in an engineer or perhaps buy a new dishwasher.