Why is my dishwasher not drying dishes?

The answer depends on which drying system your machine uses, and most advice assumes one. Machines with a heating element dry by heating the air. All Bosch dishwashers instead use condensation drying and have no heating element at all, so "check the heating element" is advice for a component that is not in the machine.

How do I know if my dishwasher has a heating element?

Take the lower rack out and look at the floor of the tub. A heated-dry machine has a visible element running across it. If there is nothing there, you have condensation drying — which Bosch states is what all of their dishwashers use.

Why does plastic never dry properly?

Because plastic does not hold heat. Whirlpool's wording is that plastic does not conduct heat like glass or ceramics, and both drying systems rely on the dishes themselves being hot at the end of the cycle. Glass and porcelain retain that heat and dry; plastic does not.

Should plastics go on the lower rack?

It depends on the machine, and the two manufacturers say opposite things for good reason. Whirlpool says not to put plastic items on the lower rack. Bosch says plastics are safe in the lower rack precisely because their dishwashers have no heating element there.

Dishwasher Not Drying? Bosch Machines Have No Heating Element

Most advice for this problem starts with “check the heating element.” All Bosch dishwashers do not have one.

That is Bosch’s own statement:

All Bosch dishwashers use a condensation drying process. Instead of utilizing a heating element at the bottom of a dishwasher, condensation drying involves a number of dishwashing elements that work together to efficiently dry your dishes.

So before anything else, find out which kind of machine you own — because the two systems fail differently, are fixed differently, and are loaded differently.

Which one do you have?

Two different machines. The heated-dry element sits under the lower rack, which is why Whirlpool keeps plastics off it. Bosch has no element there at all, which is why they say the lower rack is safe for plastics.

Take the lower rack out and look at the floor of the tub.

A heated dry machine has a visible metal element running across the bottom, usually a loop. Most Whirlpool, KitchenAid, Maytag and GE machines work this way.

Condensation drying leaves the bottom of the tub clear. Every Bosch uses it, as do most Miele machines and many other European-designed dishwashers.

That single look decides which half of this page applies to you.

How condensation drying actually works

Worth understanding, because it explains what you can and cannot fix. Bosch’s description:

The final rinse uses high-temperature water to make the dishes very hot. The stainless steel tub of the dishwasher cools faster than your dishes because stainless steel cools faster than glass and porcelain. Condensation occurs when the moist air in the dishwasher comes into contact with the cooler stainless steel tub, and turns into water droplets. These water droplets trickle down to the bottom of the dishwashers and are drained.

The machine does not blow warm air at your dishes. It makes the dishes hot and the tub cool, and the moisture moves from one to the other.

Two consequences follow directly, and they are not faults:

Plastic will never dry well. The whole system depends on the item holding heat. Plastic does not. Whirlpool puts the same physics plainly — “plastic does not conduct heat like glass or ceramics” — and it applies to both systems, but it is unavoidable on a condensation machine.

The dishes need to be hot at the end. Anything that reduces final rinse temperature reduces drying. That is why Bosch’s own fix is to add heat:

Select models have an Extra Dry option, which adds extra heat to the final rinse to enhance drying results. The Sanitize option on select models increases the time and temperature of the final rinse.

The rack instruction that flatly contradicts

Here is the clearest illustration of why generic advice fails on this symptom.

Whirlpool: “Load them in the third-level rack for the best dry performance. Don’t put plastic items on the lower rack.”

Bosch: “Since Bosch dishwashers do not use a heating element, your plastics are safe in the lower rack.”

Those are opposite instructions and both are correct. On a heated-dry machine the element is at the bottom of the tub, so the lower rack is the hottest place and thin plastic can warp there. On a condensation machine there is no element, so there is no hot spot to avoid.

Follow the one that matches your machine. Following the other gets you either melted plastic or worse drying than you needed to accept.

If you have a heating element: test it for free

Whirlpool publishes a check that requires no tools and no disassembly:

Run a cycle using the Sanitize option selected. If the Sanitize LED is on steady (not blinking), the heating element is working properly.

A blinking Sanitize light means the cycle did not reach the temperature it was supposed to, which points at the element or its control. Steady means the element is fine and your drying problem is elsewhere — loading, rinse aid, or water temperature.

Also confirm the obvious: is heated dry actually selected? Whirlpool’s own first step is to ensure a heated dry cycle or option is chosen, and their Extended Dry option adds about 15 minutes. Energy-saving cycles frequently turn heated dry off, and a machine set to an eco cycle is doing exactly what it was told.

What applies to both systems

Rinse aid. The one fix that works regardless of which machine you own, and both manufacturers give the same mechanism — it lowers the surface tension of water so droplets slide off rather than sitting.

Whirlpool’s dispenser holds 5 oz (150 mL), which “under most conditions, will last 1 to 3 months.” If you have never filled it, or filled it a year ago, that is very likely your answer. Many people stopped using it because detergent pods contain some — that is not the same as a full dispenser.

Hot water supply. Whirlpool specifies a minimum of 120°F (49°C) at the supply line for best wash and dry performance. Both systems depend on the final rinse being hot; if your water heater is set low, or the dishwasher is at the end of a long pipe run, the machine starts at a disadvantage it cannot recover from.

Loading for drainage. Angle flat and concave surfaces so water runs off rather than pooling. Whirlpool adds a specific one: “Place glasses in the upper rack between the wire tines, not over the top of the tines.” A glass sitting over a tine holds a puddle in its base.

Space. Bosch’s first step is to ensure there is enough space between dishware and cutlery, because “the space allows water to drain off.” An overpacked machine washes badly and dries worse.

Unload the lower rack first. Both manufacturers say it, and it is the single most common self-inflicted version of this complaint. Upturned items in the upper rack collect water in their bases; pulling the top rack out first tips all of it onto the dry dishes below.

When it is actually a fault

If the rinse aid is full, the right dry option is selected, the water is hot, the load is spaced and you are unloading bottom-first — and the dishes are still soaking — then it is worth looking at the machine.

On a heated-dry machine, a blinking Sanitize LED points at the element or its control. On a condensation machine there is no element to fail, so the fault sits in the final rinse temperature — a thermostat, a sensor or the control.

We are not publishing part numbers for any of those. They differ across model families and the route to the right one is your model number, from the sticker on the edge of the door, through a parts retailer’s fitment tool.

And before spending anything, it is worth knowing that a dishwasher is the appliance with the weakest case for replacing — the energy saving from a new one is around 115 kWh a year, so a working machine that dries imperfectly is rarely worth scrapping.

Water left in the bottom of the tub. Often normal — see a dishwasher that is not draining, which starts with how much standing water is supposed to be there.
The machine will not run at all. See a dishwasher that will not start.

The likely cause, by symptom

An empty rinse aid dispenser. The most common cause on either system, and it costs a few dollars.

Plastic that never dries. Physics, not a fault. Nothing will fully fix it, and on a heated-dry machine the plastic should not be on the lower rack anyway.

Eco cycle selected. Heated dry is often off by default there.

Water heater set low. 120°F at the supply line is Whirlpool’s minimum.

Unloading top rack first. Free to fix, and more common than anyone admits.

A Bosch, and advice about a heating element. That advice was written for a different machine. Yours dries by making the dishes hot and the tub cool, so everything useful you can do is about heat at the final rinse.