Tips for improving your dishwasher’s drying capabilities

Dishwashers have become one of the most valuable appliances in our kitchen – especially at a time when so much in the world is demanding our attention. They save us hours per week that we can spend on other valuable things like endlessly scrolling on social media, watching trashy TV or solving the 5,000-year mystery of Stonehenge.

No matter how you spend these free hours, you’re probably glad to have them in a fast-moving world. But, at some point, your dishwasher’s performance may start to dip. You may be finding glasses that are full of soapy water or dishes that aren’t properly dry – causing you to have to re-wash them in the sink. This is no good. After all, what’s the point of a dishwasher if it isn’t drying dishes properly?

Thankfully, Repair Aid is here to help with some tips that can improve the performance of your dishwasher without the need to spend money by getting one of our repairers in to solve the problem.

And when it comes to dishwashers, dishes that aren’t drying properly is the first indication something is going wrong. This isn’t surprising as a dishwasher has to work harder when drying than washing. And every dishwasher is also different too as they often have different ways in which they clean dishes. You can have fan-powered driers that circulate air around the dishes, drying that utilises boiling hot water at the end of a cycle, drying through the use of an electric coil, or drying through some sort of mash-up of the above methods.

Then there are the new sorts of tech features that individual manufacturers have developed to help with the heating process. Nevertheless, there are some general tips and tricks we can give that can aid your dishwasher in their drying efforts.

The first of these is to make use of a rinse aid

While not an essential for dishwashers, many whose them nevertheless report a boost to drying performance. Why does rinse aid help during this process? It’s simply a matter of chemistry. The water brushes of the surface thanks to the surfactants changing the relationship between your dishes and the water’s molecules. And less water on the surface equals a faster drying process.

Another simple tip is to keep space between the dishes and glasses

If the machine is overloaded and there’s not enough space, the air and water can’t move around as intended. Without that, dishes can’t dry properly so this is some good advice to be aware of in the long-term. You can also keep the dishwasher door slightly ajar when the dry cycle starts to allow moisture to escape and reduce the water that is left to be dissipated.

If your make of dishwasher has a special ‘heat’ feature, you should try and give that a go

This will allow heat to be added during one or all of the cycles which will help to reduce the amount of water left standing at the end. Also, don’t start by emptying the top rack. Start from the bottom as this will avoid the chance that you let water drip all the way down to the middle and bottom shelves. Lastly, turn your glasses down the way. While you probably already know this one, it’s worth stating that if a glass is upside down, it can’t collect any water. Simple!

Problem with your dishwasher?

If you try all of the above and you’re finding that nothing has changed, then this might indicate a problem with your dishwasher. The most common issue that causes dishes to not dry is an issue with the heating element. You can check yourself to see if anything looks untoward by removing the lower panel of the dishwasher (with the power off, of course). If nothing seems obvious, one of our engineers at Repair Aid can come out with a multimeter to test if the elements are working as intended.

However, there may be other problems with the thermostat, the timer or even the rinse aid cap. Our engineers will test all of these components and elements to get to the bottom of the problem. If you’re in the London area, simply call us on 020 7183 6944 or book an appointment online to get the problem sorted as soon as possible.