Is Your Dishwasher Not Drying Dishes?

It turns out getting your crockery and cutlery dry could really be more arduous for your machine than removing the dirt. Dishes and glasses have multiple crevices that can trap dishwater making it more difficult for it to evaporate, and as your appliance cools water droplets form out of the humid air.

Dishwashers also make use of a number of methods to dry your dishes. Some will use a heating element to warm the inside of the dishwasher and help with evaporation, some heat up the water more approaching the final rinse, some employ a fan, and certain models use a mix of all three. There are therefore a number of explanations why your dishwasher might not be drying plates fully and a number of things you can do to rectify the situation.

Plastic is 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 isn’t drying properly you can enlist the help of a dishwasher repair service or first utilize this troubleshooting guide to figure out what the problem is and with any luck fix it.

Top Explanations Your Dishwasher Isn’t Drying Plates

Few things are more irritating than a home appliance that isn’t working 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 the dishwasher to wet plates there are a few places you can look to help you figure out the problem.

Not all appliances are built to the same spec and you will find that some dishwashers perform to a superior standard compared to others. But if you notice a change in how well your dishwasher is working one of these faults may be the problem.

Inspect the Placement of Your Dishes

It might be that there is no fault with the dishwasher. Before assuming the machine is faulty you should look at how it has been loaded, ensuring it isn’t too full. Also be aware that plastics don’t dry as well as metal, glass or ceramics.

Inspect The Rinse Aid Dispenser

Rinse aid plays a key role in drying your dishes thus, if you’ve forgotten to top up or your rinse aid dispenser is faulty this can mean wet plates at the end of the cycle.

The best thing to do is check the rinse aid dispenser for damage and ensure that it’s full.

Inspect The Heating Element

Without enough heat your dishes will not dry so a broken heating element could be the reason your dishwasher is not working as it should. If your crockery and cutlery aren’t hot 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 you will need to unplug the machine, locate the heating coil, you could need the manual to do this, then check for continuity using a multimeter.

Have a Look at the Thermostat

The thermostat stops your appliance overheating, regulating the temperature of the water and the drying part of the cycle. Therefore, if it’s faulty this can mean your machine doesn’t heat up at all.

If the heating element seems to be working as it should but there’s still no heat, then the thermostat might be at fault. Again you can make sure using 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 appliance. If either of these elements are faulty then the steam will form droplets on the plates instead preventing them from drying.

You can employ your instruction manual to ascertain if your appliance has a fan and find its location. Don’t forget to make sure the dishwasher is unplugged before trying to access the fan.

You can look at the fan and vent to ascertain if anything is blocking it that would stop it from operating as it should. If there is nothing obvious you can then test for continuity using a multimeter.

Ways to Increase Drying Power

There are a number of methods you can use to boost how well your appliance dries your dishes and prevent you needing to dry them by hand as little as possible.

Don’t cram the dishwasher. Overloading the dishwasher inhibits the circulation of both water and air decreasing the effectiveness of your appliance when it comes to both washing and drying your dishes. Although it’s appealing to try and stuff everything in, your appliance will be more effective if you leave sufficient space so that plates are not touching.
Employ rinse aid. Some detergents already have this but even so, adding a separate rinse aid to the appliance will do no harm. Rinse aid helps reduce marks and gives your glasses a streak-free shine but it also breaks the bond between water molecules and your dishes helping the water to run off them and consequently speeding up drying times.
Open your machine as soon as the cycle has completed. Some new dishwashers do this automatically, but many do not, thus, opening the door at the end of the program can help allow the water to escape thus stopping water droplets forming as the machine cools down.
Check if your machine has a heat feature and use it. The higher the temperature the better the drying and it could be possible to choose which points in the cycle you add more heat.
Unload the lower level first. 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 you have checked all the above it could be a good idea to phone the professionals or even buy a new dishwasher.