Is Your Dishwasher Not Drying Dishes?

It may not be the primary function but getting your crockery and cutlery dry could actually be harder for your machine than removing the dirt. Dishes and glasses have multiple crevices that may pool water preventing it from evaporating, and as your appliance loses heat water condenses out of the humid air.

Dishwashers also make use of a number of approaches to get your crockery and cutlery dry. Certain models will have a heating element to warm the air in the machine and help with evaporation, some heat the water further nearing the end of the cycle, certain models use a fan, and others employ a combination of all of these. There are consequently a variety of reasons why your dishwasher may not be drying dishes fully and a number of options to rectify the situation.

Plastic is more difficult to dry than glass or ceramics as it cools down more quickly hindering 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 call a dishwasher repair service or first employ this troubleshooting guide to help you identify and rectify the problem.

Top Explanations Your Dishwasher Isn’t Drying Crockery and Cutlery

There is nothing more annoying than an appliance that isn’t working as it should, regardless of whether its a tv, air conditioner or dishwasher we expect them to do the job they were made for. If you open your dishwasher to discover wet plates here are a number of troubleshooting tips to help you figure out the issue.

Not all makes and models are created equal and you will find that some makes and models do a better job of drying your crockery and cutlery than others. But if you notice a change in how well your machine is working one of these issues could be the problem.

Inspect How Your Dishwasher Has Been Loaded

It might be that there is no fault with the dishwasher. Before assuming the machine is broken you should look at how it has been loaded, ensuring it isn’t too full. It’s also worth noting that plastic items don’t dry as well as metal, glass or ceramics.

Have a Look at 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 your rinse aid dispenser is broken this can mean wet crockery and cutlery at the end of the cycle.

Visually check the dispenser for cracks and ensure that it’s full.

Check The Heating Element

Heat is essential for drying your plates so a faulty heating element may be the reason your dishwasher is not drying plates. If your plates aren’t hot to touch when they come out of the machine this can be a good indicator that the heating element isn’t working as it should.

To check the heating element first unplug the machine, then find the heating element, you could need the owners manual to do this, then use a multimeter to check it’s working.

Inspect the Thermostat

The thermostat prevents your appliance overheating, regulating the heat of the water and air during drying. However, if it’s not working this can mean your machine doesn’t heat up at all.

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

Inspect The Fan and Vent

Many dishwashers will make use of a fan and vent to suck moist air out of the appliance. If either of these elements are faulty then the steam will condense on the dishes instead preventing them from drying.

You can make use of your manual to check if your dishwasher uses a fan and find its location. Again you need to double check the appliance is disconnected before attempting to make repairs.

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

Ways to Boost Drying Ability

There are a number of things you can do to improve how well your machine dries your dishes and make sureyou need to get the drying up cloth out as little as possible.

Don’t overload the machine. Overloading the dishwasher limits the flow of air and water making removing the dirt from and drying your plates harder. It may be appealing to stuff in as much as possible but you will get better results if you leave sufficient space so that crockery and cutlery are not touching.
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 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 plates helping the water to run off them and therefore allowing them to dry faster.
Open your appliance as soon as the program has finished. Some new dishwashers have this as an automatic function, but many do not, thus, opening the door when the program finishes allows warm air to escape thus stopping water condensing on the dishes as the appliance cools down.
Have a look to see if your machine employs a heat feature and utilize it. The higher the heat the better the drying and you may be able to add more heat at different points in the cycle.
Unload the lower level before the top. This doesn’t affect how effective your dishwasher is, but it prevent and water spilling that has collected in the concave bottoms of cups and glasses.

If none of the above solves the problem it could be a good idea to call in the professionals or even buy a new dishwasher.