Is Your Dishwasher Not Drying Dishes?

It may not be the primary function but getting your dishes dry may in actual fact be harder for your machine than cleaning them. Plates and cups have lots of nooks and crannies that may trap dishwater making it more difficult for it to dry out, and as your machine cools water condenses from the humid air.

Different machines also utilize a number of approaches to dry your crockery and cutlery. Some will use a heating element to warm the air in the machine and assist the water to evaporate, some heat the water further nearing the end of the cycle, others make use of a fan, and others have a combination of all three. There are thus a variety of reasons why your machine may not be drying dishes optimally and a number of things you can do to improve the situation.

Plastic items are more difficult to dry than glass or ceramics as it cools down more quickly hindering 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 doesn’t seem to be 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 Dishes

There is nothing more frustrating than an appliance that isn’t working properly, regardless of whether its a tv, tumble dryer or dishwasher we expect them to do the job they were designed for. If you open the dishwasher to wet plates there are a number of places you can look to help you figure out why.

Not all makes and models are built to the same spec and some makes and models do a better job of drying your dishes than others. But if you notice a change in how well your machine is working one of these areas may be the problem.

Check How Your Machine Has Been Loaded

It might be that there is no fault with the appliance. Before assuming the dishwasher 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 are more difficult to dry than metal, glass or ceramics.

Have a Look at The Rinse Aid Dispenser

Your dishwasher needs rinse aid to properly dry your dishes thus, if you’ve forgotten to top up or the rinse aid dispenser is broken this can mean wet crockery and cutlery at the end of the cycle.

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

Check The Heating Element

Without enough heat your plates will not dry so a not working heating element could be the explanation your dishwasher is not drying plates. If your plates aren’t 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 appliance, locate the heating coil, you may need the manual for this, and use a multimeter to check it’s working.

Inspect the Thermostat

The thermostat ensures your appliance doesn’t get too hot, determining the temperature of the water and the drying part of the cycle. However, if it’s not working this can result in your dishwasher not heating up at all.

If the heating coil appears to be in working order but there’s still no heat, then the thermostat might be at fault. Once again you can make sure using a multimeter.

Check The Fan and Vent

Many appliances will use a fan and vent to remove the warm moist air out of the machine. If either of these elements are broken then the steam will condense on the dishes instead leaving them wet.

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

You can visually inspect the fan and vent to ascertain if there is anything lodged that could prevent it from operating correctly. And again testing for continuity using a multimeter.

Ways to Increase Drying Ability

There are a number of things you can do to increase how well your dishwasher dries your dishes and prevent you needing to dry them by hand as infrequently as possible.

Don’t cram the dishwasher. Overloading the machine limits the circulation of air and water decreasing the effectiveness of your machine when it comes to both cleaning and drying your dishes. It might be appealing to cram in as much as possible but you will get better results if you leave sufficient space so that water and air can circulate freely.
Use rinse aid. Some dishwasher tablets already have this but even so, adding a little extra to the dishwasher can only improve matters. Rinse aid works by breaking the bond between water molecules and your dishes, helping water run off quickly, speeding up drying time and giving a spot and streak free finish.
Open your appliance as soon as the cycle has finished. Some newer dishwashers do this automatically, but many do not, thus, opening the machine when the program completes can help allow the water to evaporate thus stopping water droplets forming as the dishwasher cools down.
Find out if your appliance uses a heat feature and use it. The higher the temperature the better the drying and it may be possible to add more heat at different points in the program.
Think about how you empty your dishwasher. This doesn’t affect how effective your machine is, but it stop and water spilling that has collected in the concave bottoms of cups and glasses.

If you have checked all the above it might be time to phone the professionals or even buy a new machine.