Is Your Dishwasher Not Drying Dishes?

It turns out drying your plates might in actual fact be more arduous for your dishwasher than getting them clean. Crockery and cutlery and cups have multiple crevices that can pool water stopping it from evaporating, plus as your dishwasher loses heat water droplets form out of the humid air.

Different machines also make use of a number of different means to dry your dishes. Some will use a heating element to heat up the inside of the machine and assist the water to evaporate, some heat up the water to a higher temperature approaching the end of the cycle, some employ a fan, and certain models employ a mix of all three. There are therefore a variety of explanations why your machine might not be drying dishes fully and a number of things you can do to rectify the situation.

Plastic items are less likely to dry fully than other materials 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 your dishwasher isn’t drying properly you can hire a dishwasher repair service or first make use of this troubleshooting guide to help you identify and rectify the issue.

Top Explanations Your Dishwasher Isn’t Drying Crockery and Cutlery

There is nothing more annoying than a home appliance that isn’t working as it should, 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 few places you can look to help you figure out the issue.

Not all dishwashers are created equal and some dishwashers perform to a better standard compared to others. However, if if your dishwasher has always dried your plates in the past one of these faults could be the cause.

Inspect How Your Machine Has Been Loaded

Sometimes there is nothing actually wrong with the dishwasher. Before assuming the appliance is not working you should first check that you haven’t overloaded 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.

Inspect The Rinse Aid Dispenser

Your appliance needs rinse aid to properly dry your plates thus, if you have run out of rinse aid or your rinse aid dispenser is broken this can stop your plates coming out properly dry.

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

Inspect The Heating Element

Without enough heat your crockery and cutlery will not dry so a broken heating element could be the explanation your dishwasher is not drying plates. If your crockery and cutlery don’t feel hot to touch when they come out of the machine this can mean that the heating coil is faulty.

To inspect the heating element you will need to unplug the dishwasher, locate the heating element, you could need the owners manual to do this, and check for continuity using a multimeter.

Check the Thermostat

The thermostat prevents your dishwasher getting too hot, determining the heat of the water and air during drying. Therefore, if it’s broken this can result in your dishwasher not heating up at all.

If you check the heating element and do not uncover an issue but your machine isn’t getting hot, then the thermostat may be the issue. Again you can test this with the help of a multimeter.

Have a Look at The Drying Fan and Vent

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

You can use your user manual to find out if your appliance uses a fan and locate it. Don’t forget to make sure the dishwasher is unplugged before trying to make repairs.

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

Ideas to Increase Drying Power

There are a variety of things you can do to boost your appliances effectiveness at drying and prevent you needing to dry them by hand as infrequently as possible.

Don’t overcrowd the dishwasher. Overfilling the appliance inhibits the flow of air and water decreasing the effectiveness of your dishwasher when it comes to both cleaning and drying your dishes. It might be appealing to stuff in as much as possible but your machine will be more effective if you leave enough space so that crockery and cutlery are not touching.
Make use of rinse aid. Some detergents include a rinse aid but even so, adding a little extra to the machine will do no harm. 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 dishes helping the water to run off them and thus speeding up drying times.
Open the door at the end of the cycle. Some new models have this as an automatic function, but many do not, thus, opening the machine when the cycle completes can help allow the water to escape and prevent water droplets forming as the appliance cools down.
Check if your appliance employs a heat feature and make sure it’s turned on. Setting a higher temperature will mean improved drying times and it could be possible to add more heat at different points in the cycle.
Unload the lower level before the top. 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 this trouble shooting guide hasn’t worked it might be a good idea to phone the professionals or even buy a new machine.