The Viral Dishwasher Hack That Can Cut Down Drying Time

One household task most people disdain on their never-ending weekly to-do list is doing the dishes. According to Cision, Americans spend nearly 30 minutes each day performing this unexciting task, which besides being a drag, also causes arguments in homes across the U.S. In fact, 1,000 Americans were surveyed, and shockingly, the outcome showed that most U.S. residents would go so far as to give up being intimate for an entire year if it meant not having to do dishes every day.

While cleaning dishes in the dishwasher has made the task easier, there's still the loading and unloading of the machine that causes people to want to avoid the job altogether. And, oftentimes, dishes come out still wet, so you have to dry them by hand before putting them away. Fortunately, there's a hack we've come across on TikTok that significantly cuts down the drying time. Keep scrolling to find out what it is, so you can cross off this chore on your list even faster.

TikTok influencer @brunchwithbabs has a brilliant, game-changing hack for when your dishes don't get fully dry once they've gone through the entire cleaning cycle. First things first, you're going to want to open the dishwasher at the end of the cycle, grab your favorite microfiber dish towel, place it half inside and half outside the top of the door, and then close it. Once that's done, you only have to wait five minutes for your dishes to dry thoroughly!

As the influencer known as "everyone's grandma" points out, you won't be doing any hand drying, which will please the many Americans across the country that detest this chore. You'll be convinced that it works, too, thanks to the one million likes it's received on the popular app. Some users were astonished at this hack, with @thatsme777321 saying, "What? I never knew this. I literally wait until the next day to unload, so I don't have to dry them off." Another follower, @lindz1980, said, "I saw this a while back and tried it, and it works! The towel soaks up all the steam/wetness."

For this hack to work, several followers said they would need to know when the cycle ends and wondered what the best way to figure this out was. According to Whirlpool, a general dishwashing cycle takes around 2.5 hours to complete, which is a good rule of thumb; however, you will want to check your particular washing machine's instructions to see how long it takes for a given cycle to end. The company also notes that a flashing light generally indicates when the process is finished, so that's something to pay attention to when attempting this viral dishwashing hack.

As Finish explains further, a cycle's end time can also depend on a machine's age and factors like its energy efficiency. That being said, most cycles range from one to three hours. Once you've figured out the timing, this viral hack will have your dishes dry in no time!