Why isn’t my dishwasher drying?

Why your dishwasher isn’t drying your dishes

Dishwashers can have a hard time drying the dishes – it’s not like they can tumble the dishes around like a clothes dryer does. As the drying cycle heats up the dishwasher and, in some models, blows air around, condensation can gather at the top of the dishwasher and then settle on the dishes.

Several factors affect how well a dishwasher dries dishes.

• Stacking: Stacking dishes too tightly can make drying harder. The more space there is for air to circulate during the drying cycle, the dryer your dishes will be.
• Cycle: Using eco-mode is a good choice for your wallet and environmental footprint. However, the trade-off is this mode often cuts back on drying times, doesn’t heat the water as much or skips the last rinse cycle.
  
• Temperature: Anyone who has hand-washed dishes in a sink knows a hot plate dries faster. So, a hot final dishwasher rinse is important for quick drying.
  
• Faults: Water pooling in the bottom of your dishwasher at the end of a wash is a sign there’s a fault with your dishwasher. It might be drainage or pump related. If clearing the drain of any blockage doesn’t solve it, you’ll need to call in a technician.

How to choose a good drying dishwasher

Our test results are a great way to see which dishwasher models are good at drying. We check how dry the dishes are 30 minutes after the normal cycle has finished. We leave the door closed unless the dishwasher has an automatic door opening feature.

Most dishwashers in our test range from OK to excellent at drying dishes, but there’s a few models that will leave you reaching for the tea towel. You can sort our test results based on drying performance.

Fan-assisted drying is a feature where a fan helps move the hot air around the dishwasher. While it can help drying performance, our test results show that models without this feature can dry just as well as those with it. So, it’s more of a ‘nice to have’ than a ‘must have’.

One thing to keep in mind is that a dishwasher that dries really well could use more energy. This is because the drying part of a cycle can be the most energy-intensive part. Try out different wash cycles of your dishwasher, such as auto wash, to find one that dries your dishes to your liking but doesn’t cost a fortune.

Tips to improve dishwasher drying

If your dishwasher doesn’t dry well, here are a few tips to give it a helping hand.

• Use rinse aid: This is actually a drying aid as it breaks the surface tension of water, making it easier to drip off dishes during the drying cycle.
• Don’t overload and stack well: Less space for warm air to move around means dishes will take longer to dry or not dry fully. Make sure you leave enough space between dishes and angle containers, bowls and glasses downwards to stop water collecting.
• Open the door to release steam: Opening the door can release the condensation before it settles on your dishes. Some models even have a feature to automatically open the door after the cycle is finished. Check your manual first as some models don’t recommend this. If you’re worried about the steam increasing moisture in your house, put a tea towel at the top of the door. Then push the door back up (don’t close it fully). The tea towel will absorb some of the moisture.
• Empty the bottom rack first: Water often collects on plastics and in the dips on the base of mugs on the top rack. Empty the bottom rack first to stop the top rack items dripping onto nice dry dishes.
• Hand-wash hard to dry items: Plastic items can slow drying as they don’t retain heat like crockery does. If possible, hand-wash plastic items instead. Hand-washing will likely help them last longer as well.