Dealing With Wet Dishes
Dishwasher owners often find plates, cups, bowls, glassware, and plastic dishes still damp at the end of a cycle. That leaves dripping bowls and wet glasses that need one more round of hand-drying, and that extra chore can become routine.
Plastic items are often the worst offenders because, unlike ceramic or glass, plastic doesn’t hold heat well. As a result, these pieces tend to stay damp even after the drying program finishes.
A Simple Fix: Use a Roll of Toilet Paper
This hack uses ordinary toilet paper’s absorbency. The steps are straightforward.
Once the dishwasher finishes, leave the door open for about 15 minutes to let the initial steam escape. Then place one unused roll of toilet paper on the upper rack or tucked between the dishes, and close the door. Wait around 30 minutes while the toilet paper soaks up the remaining moisture. By the end of that time, the dishes should be dry to the touch and ready to go straight into the cupboard.
Why It Works: The Tech Behind It
Most dishwashers use a method called “condensation drying,” which relies on the leftover heat from the wash cycle. As steam cools and condenses on the cooler interior walls, that moisture often ends up on the dishes. Toilet paper, because it is highly absorbent, soaks up that excess moisture and prevents it from settling back onto plates and cups.
This method is especially helpful for items that are hard to dry. Using an ordinary, unused roll of toilet paper turns a common household item into a quick drying aid.
Benefits and Alternatives
There are a few clear benefits to trying this lifehack: your dishes should come out dry, so you won’t have to toweling them off by hand, and overall drying times can be faster. The idea may sound odd at first, but it has been shared on social networks by users who say it works.
If you don’t want to use a full-size toilet paper roll, alternatives include a kitchen roll cut in half or even an empty toilet paper roll (which can help by improving airflow). Each option offers similar moisture-absorbing or airflow benefits.
Small changes like this can make a noticeable difference to your dishwasher routine.
