Okay, this may not be the question for the ages, but it’s been bugging me for years. Because of career path and financial constraints, I have rented many living quarters: houses, apartments, and mobile homes. In most of these, I have had an automatic dishwasher. Some of them have been brand new, some worn to falling apart. Some were high-end, expensive models, and some were cheap-o models.
Here is my question (please don’t laugh): No matter what kind of dishwasher we have, the plastic items never dry during the dry cycle. Why? All the glass and ceramic items dry, but never the plastic. Now, I’m not talking about if the plastic has a complicated texture resulting in puddles. I mean even smooth plastic. It always comes out wet while everything around it is dry.
At first, I figured it was cheap dishwashers. But I have noticed that it doesn’t matter what kind of machine it is, the plastic is always wet.
Okay, I told you it wasn’t one of life’s most fundamental questions, but it’s been keeping me awake at night. Any dishwasher engineers out there? Help me get a good night’s sleep. Or better yet, help me get the dishes dry!
I’ve seen the same thing…I attribute it to the drying cycle.Mine has two settings…air dry and auto dry…the auto dry cycle uses a heating element to dry the dishes.I think that the glass and ceramic stuff heats up and retains the heat longer after the element turns off.Since they are more dense than the plastic they would cool off more slowly allowing more time for the water accumulated on them to evaporate.
The dishes are washed/rinsed in hot water and so heat up. The drying cycle lets the heat in the dishes evaporate the water. Your plastics have low heat capacity so they have little stored heat, so only a little water evaporates.
After we run our dishwasher, we “tip the glasses” which means to tilt all the cups and glasses to drain the water which pools on the upturned bottoms. I also pick up any plastic items and give them a shake so they will dry properly as they don’t retain much heat, as others have pointed out
In my single days, I found out that if you have no silverware for the basket, then you can wash about 2 pairs of socks along with the dishes. Saves money because you wouldn’t run your washer for a few pairs of socks, but you can always run a full load of dishes and glasses.
Washing socks with your dishes? YUCK!
besides the dish detergent is probably so strong your socks will not last long
Being single I have found I am better off doing the dishes by hand and I also often have the problem of having to wash clothes in loads that are too small for the washer. Sometimes I just do a few items by hand
[In my single days, I found out that if you have no silverware for the basket, then you can wash about 2 pairs of socks along with the dishes…] Bluepony
Hey, you’re supposed to use your Ronco vegetable dryer for that (no kidding, they actually showed this in the commercial!).
Gary
“Master of the uncalled for.”
Homepage: Gary’s Place
If you open the door of the dishwasher after it’s done and leave it open overnight, the plastic items will dry with no additional work on your part. Make sure the cat doesn’t crawl in, though.
