Ever Wonder Why Dishwashers Don’t Dry?

With Thanksgiving finished, and Christmas around the corner, dirty dishes pile up faster than we can remember using them. With that, comes a bigger need for a dishwasher to be working properly. What happens when the dishes aren’t dry? Why don’t dishwashers dry dishes?

Especially during the holidays, it’s important to have a working dishwasher, and that all dishes become clean and dry. I have found a few reasons why dishwashers won’t completely dry dishes, and how to fix it before calling a repairman or buying a new dishwasher.

Water Temperature

Water temperature is one of the biggest reasons why dishes are not dry after being in the dishwasher. The temperature of the water during the cycle, is what will dry the dishes during the drying cycle.

One way to ensure that your dishwasher will use hot water during the cycle, is turning on your kitchen sink water before starting your dishwasher. With most dishwashers, pipes from the kitchen sink and dishwasher are connected. So, by turning on the water in the kitchen sink, and leaving it on until it gets hot, will flush out the cold water from the dishwasher and will leave hot water for the dishes.

Use Rinse-Aid

Not using Rinse-Aid is another big reason why your dishwasher is drying properly.

What is Rinse-Aid?

Rinse-Aid is a surfectant. In a simple way, Rinse-Aid helps reduce hard water stains and water spots. It helps make water “wetter” by creating a film on your dishes, and makes water fall off of dishes easier.

Rinse-Aid will reduce the time needed to dry dishes, and will dry them more effectively, than without.

What’s in Your Dishwasher?

Depending on the dishes you have put in your dishwasher, they will not come out dry, not matter what. For example, plastic ware dishes do not dry. This is because plastic dishes don’t hold the water temperature as well as dishes made from metal, glass, etc. (Remember, the water temperature is what dries the dishes, so this is very important.) You can notice this the next time you use the dishwasher. When the dishwasher is completed, open it up and touch something that is glass, then touch something that is plastic. You can feel the temperature difference in the two dishes.

When wanting plastic dishes clean and dry, the best suggestion that I have is to had wash them. No, dishwasher new or old, will be able to completely dry plastic dishes.