Is Your Dishwasher Not Drying Dishes?

It may not be the primary function but drying your dishes could really be more arduous for your dishwasher than removing the dirt. Crockery and cutlery and cups have lots of crevices that can pool water making it more difficult for it to evaporate, and as your dishwasher cools down water droplets form from the steam.

Dishwashers also make use of a variety of different approaches to get your plates dry. Some opt for a heating coil to warm the inside of the machine and assist the water to evaporate, some warm the water further near the end of the cycle, some have a fan, and some make use of a combination of all of these. There are thus a variety of reasons why your machine might not be drying plates fully and a variety of things you can do to rectify the situation.

Plastic is more difficult to dry than other materials as it cools down more quickly hindering the drying process, so it’s worth taking note whether the items that aren’t drying are predominantly plastic items.

If your dishwasher doesn’t seem to be drying properly you can call a dishwasher repair service or first use this troubleshooting guide to figure out what the issue is and with any luck fix it.

Top Reasons Your Dishwasher Isn’t Drying Plates

There is nothing more irritating than an appliance that doesn’t work as it should, 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 removing the dirt from or drying your dishes. If you open the dishwasher to wet plates here are a few troubleshooting tips to help you figure out why.

Not all makes and models are created equal and you will find that some dishwashers perform to a higher standard compared to others. But if if your dishwasher has always dried your dishes in the past one of these areas might be the cause.

Inspect How Your Machine Has Been Loaded

Sometimes there is nothing actually wrong with the dishwasher. Before assuming the appliance is faulty you should first check that you haven’t overfilled it or accidentally stacked items one inside the other. It’s also worth noting that plastics don’t dry as well as metal, glass or ceramics.

Have a Look at The Rinse Aid Dispenser

Rinse aid plays a key role in drying your dishes and so if you have run out of rinse aid or your rinse aid dispenser is broken this can mean wet dishes at the end of the cycle.

Visually inspect the rinse aid dispenser for cracks and ensure that there is rinse aid inside.

Check The Heating Element

Heat is essential for drying your plates so a faulty heating coil could be the explanation your appliance is not working as it should. If your dishes don’t feel hot when they come out of the machine this can be a good indicator that the heating coil isn’t working as it should.

To inspect the heating coil you will need to unplug the machine, find the heating coil, you could need the instruction manual for this, then check for continuity using a multimeter.

Check the Thermostat

The thermostat prevents your dishwasher getting too hot, regulating the temperature of the water and the drying part of the cycle. Therefore, if it’s broken this can result in your dishwasher not heating 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 might be the issue. Once again you can check this with the help of a multimeter.

Inspect The Drying Fan and Vent

Many dishwashers will make use of a drying fan and vent to suck moist air from the machine. If either of these elements are faulty then the steam will remain in the appliance preventing the crockery and cutlery from drying.

You can employ your user manual to find out if your appliance has a fan and locate it. Again you need to double check the dishwasher is unplugged before trying to access the fan.

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

Tips to Increase Drying Ability

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

Allow sufficient space between dishes. Overcrowding the dishwasher limits the circulation of both water and air decreasing the effectiveness of your appliance when it comes to both washing and finishing your dishes. It may be appealing to stuff in as much as possible but your dishwasher will be more effective if you leave enough space so that crockery and cutlery are not touching.
Employ rinse aid. Some detergents include a rinse aid but even so, adding a separate rinse aid to the dishwasher won’t hurt. Rinse aid helps reduce spotting and gives your glasses a streak-free finish but it also breaks the bond between water molecules and your dishes helping the water to run off them and thus speeding up drying times.
Open the door at the end of the program. Some newer dishwashers do this automatically, but if yours doesn’t, opening the door when the program finishes can help allow the water to escape and stop water droplets forming as the machine cools down.
Check if your dishwasher has a heat feature and make use of it. The higher the heat the better the drying and it might be possible to add more heat at different points in the cycle.
Empty the lower level before the top. This doesn’t affect how well your machine works, but it prevent and water spilling that has collected in the concave bottoms of cups and glasses.

If you have checked all the above it could be time to phone an engineer or even replace your dishwasher.