Dishwasher - is this normal?

[TrixieB]

We run the dishwasher every night just before bedtime - settings: high temp wash, heated dry.

 

Every morning the dishes are clean, but wet. 

 

I figured something is wrong with the dishwasher.

 

But... this morning dd went to empty the dishwasher, and realized we'd forgotten to run it last night.  So she turned it on, same settings as we always use.  It finished the cycle about 10 minutes ago.  I opened the door and...  the dishes are clean and dry.

 

???

 

Is this a normal thing for dishwashers, if you let them sit overnight after the cycle has run, that the dishes are wet in the morning due to... condensation?  Or ???

[Butter]

I turned off the heated dry option because I found the dishes were ending up the same with or without.  They air dry pretty fast.  Now I wonder if they were still wet in the morning even after being heated dry because of condensation.

[Miss Tick]

(Cue floral music and birds tweeting)

Just like morning dew on the grass, hmm-hmm-hmm, tra-la-la.

 

Really, it is as you say. The warm air can hold much more water vapor than cool. So overnight, as the air in the dishwasher cools, the moisture settles it onto the dishes.

Edited February 29, 2016 by SusanC

[SparklyUnicorn]

I wonder if that steamy hotness is causing some sort of condensation?  That's the only thought I have.  Kinda like if you put hot food into a bowl and put the lid on and in the morning there is tons of water on the lid inside. I do notice sometimes stuff is wetter than other times, but I never really read too much into that. 

 

 

[redsquirrel]

I think it is the sitting in the hot moist air that is causing the dishes to be wet.

 

I hardly ever use heated dry because it uses extra energy, so extra $$, to dry dishes, when it is just as good to air dry. Every now and then, dh will use it because it's a holiday, such as thanksgiving, and we need to run the dishwasher twice in one day.

 

I run my dishwasher at night, without a heated dry, and the dishes are just a little wet in the morning. It doesn't bother me. I just shake them off and put them away. Just pull out the bottom before the top and it's fine. If you pull out the top first, the wet dishes drip down on the bottom ones.

[clementine]

Ours does that if we are low or empty on rinse aid.  

[Cinder]

I also suspect condensation. I have never found the dry cycle to be useful, personally. So if I don't run it right after dinner, I try to run it in the wee hours and time it to where it finishes washing as close as possible to when we get up so I can open it to air dry. It seems to dry faster if I open it right after the cycle while it's still steaming hot.

[TrixieB]

Hmmm... okay, now I have a new plan.

 

Dh gets up super early, so I'll ask him to run the dishwasher then.  That should get rid of the condensation issue.  The inside of the dishwasher gets pretty yucky, so maybe that will go away if the condensation goes away. 

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

Hmmm... okay, now I have a new plan.

 

Dh gets up super early, so I'll ask him to run the dishwasher then.  That should get rid of the condensation issue.  The inside of the dishwasher gets pretty yucky, so maybe that will go away if the condensation goes away. 

 

My DH wakes up early and simply cracks the machine open (it runs in the evening/night).  Things are dry by the time I get up an hour or two later.  

[Pawz4me]

I never run the heated dry cycle.  It seems like a total waste of energy and money to me.  I turn our dishwasher on after breakfast every morning and unload it before lunch.  The only things that will still be damp are plastic items on the top rack.

[kitten18]

I don't use the heated dry cycle.

 

I try to run the dishwasher right after dinner and then open the door right before I go to bed. Then the dishes are dry in the morning.

[TrixieB]

Rinse aid makes a difference on the dryness of the dishes.

 

I just filled up the dispenser - thanks for the reminder.  It has been way too long... maybe that's part of the problem.   :)