Rinse Aid Is Underused Despite Drying Goals and Frequent Wet-Plastics Complaints

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15 quotes
Drying is a common secondary goal, yet most rely only on the main detergent. Wet plastics and concave items are frequent outcomes. Action: Add smart nudges to enable or refill rinse aid when dryness is selected, plastics are loaded, or quick/eco programs are used.

Facets

These facets are broadly related to the theme.

Specific orientations or nesting behaviors the participant uses (e.g., inverting glasses, tilting items, nesting) and reasons given during the rack pan.

Found in 51 of 91 interviews · 84 mentions

Which rack the participant places common item types (plates, glasses, plastics, pots, bowls, etc.) in while panning across top and bottom racks — captures their item-to-rack mapping and any atypical placements.

Found in 90 of 91 interviews · 641 mentions

Answers for the multiple choice question: "What type of detergent are you using for this load?"

Found in 91 of 91 interviews

Captures the participant's motivations for selecting this detergent (performance, cost, ingredients, convenience, recommendation, etc.) so we understand decision drivers.

Found in 89 of 91 interviews · 292 mentions

Answers for the multiple choice question: "For this load, are you also using any of the following? Select all that apply."

Found in 91 of 91 interviews · 91 mentions

Participant-provided motivations or rationale for choosing the specific brand(s) or products for this load (e.g., price, effectiveness, habit, recommendation).

Found in 72 of 91 interviews · 95 mentions

Answers for the multiple choice question: "Looking at your dishwasher’s dial or display, which program are you choosing for this load? Please pick the option below that is closest to the program name you see."

Found in 91 of 91 interviews

Answers for the multiple choice question: "For this load, which of these are most important to you when choosing the program and settings? Select up to two."

Found in 91 of 91 interviews · 170 mentions

Captures the participant’s load-specific reasons for why the chosen program/settings matter (e.g., protect delicates, ensure sanitization for baby items, speed because guests arriving). Use participant wording and link to this particular run.

Found in 90 of 91 interviews · 238 mentions

Quotes

Open quote details
Tracey E.

“I don't use rinse aid.”

Open quote details
Shawn F.

“And then we don't use the additives.”

Open quote details
Jill Plaisted

“No. I think there always seems to be a problem with plastics not coming as dry. I I don't really know what causes it. I could be that I need to add some more Jet Dry. I haven't done that for a while. I have been out of it, so it it could be that.”

Open quote details
Shawn F.

“So I noticed plastic in this one doesn't really dry too much, so it's always usually wet.”

Open quote details
Beth V.

“I don't think it dries very well because a lot of times things will be wet, especially plastic things, and then we have to leave them out on the counter to dry.”

Open quote details
Kimberly Marshall

“The bows came out very wet. I was expecting maybe a couple droplets, but not if it's wet even then. Well, leaking from the top is, like, all the storage bowls are still really wet. The glass has got pretty good. They got nice and clean and dry, so that's not bad. It's just my storage bowls and my glass bowl got dry pretty good. It's just the plastic ware that did not dry.”

Open quote details
Kylie Steele

“So there's just water on top of items, and that's what I have to, like, get that head out. That's pretty typical. Often, the Tupperwares are the worst where they don't get all the way dry, but, otherwise, things look clean and usual.”

Open quote details
Omar Merlos

“Yes. I run normal every time unless on the off chance there's a it has a mode where it's, like, half normal. Meaning, I'm only using the bottom rack or I'm only using the top rack, but I still get the same wet issue.”

Open quote details
Michelle B.

“Alright. So here is the finished load. Everything is still relatively wet. Things don't dry super well. I will say that things don't really dry in the express load. You have to leave them for quite a long period of time, but for the purposes of this, I did open it just now. So the first thing I noticed is that everything is relatively wet still, but everything looks pretty clean. Even this whisk that did have a little bit of food left on it. So everything looks relatively good with the exception again of things being a bit wet.”

Open quote details
Joyvancia G.

“I don't think it was about the placement. I wanna say it was probably just the fact that I did the speed clean, so it was half the time of the regular cycle.”

Open quote details
Kimberly Marshall

“I like that my Whirlpool gets my dishes clean. What holds it back is that sometimes I want to do a short wash, but the short wash does not have a drying cycle. So then if I do a short wash, my dishes will still be wet at the end.”

Open quote details
Joyvancia G.

“So like I said, it it's now 09:22. I'm tired. It's been a long day. I'm just ready to eat my dinner. And so, I want this to finish by the time I'm done with dinner. And I am finished watching my TV shows and videos and things downstairs before I head upstairs to get ready for bed. So I want it to finish quickly. I do want it to save energy and water. And then I do I know I was only supposed to select two, so sorry about selecting the third one. But I do wanna make sure that they come out dry so that way I don't have to dry them again after the load is finished.”

Open quote details
Participant via Respondent

“Yes, it's finished and jet dry, just because it's the only one that they have available at Costco.”

Open quote details
Brandon M.

“Yep. So we use the Finish Powerball Jet Dry. Basically, the rinse aid, you can get a big bottle of that at Sam's Club for pretty cheap, and then it's easy to just load in right to that compartment there.”

Open quote details
Dianne H.

“I do check the machine's indicator. I only obviously fill it when necessary for the rinse aid. And then I use the pod as indicated also and for each load.”