Is dishwasher insulation essential?

Notice the blanket-like protective layer on your dishwasher? It’s not a packing material to be thrown away. It’s the dishwasher insulation – a necessary element that ensures that your kitchen appliance performs its best. 

The insulation around a dishwasher serves a variety of purposes, including muffling the sounds during its wash cycle and protecting you from the surface heat. While not strictly necessary for a dishwasher to function, thermal insulation plays a vital role in protecting your kitchen and creating a quieter environment. 

Keep in mind that the intense heat and steam from the dishwasher can damage your wooden kitchen cabinets or kitchen flooring – resulting in costly home repairs. 

Furthermore, as most dishwashers are built-in, thermal insulation helps to dampen any vibrations or rattling between the cabinets and the dishwasher. 

Therefore, dishwasher insulation functions as a barrier – preventing the appliance from making too much noise, scratching the surrounding surfaces, and letting the heat escape.

Why is Dishwasher Insulation Important?

Thermal Insulation Benefits

Dishwashers generate intense heat and steam during their wash cycles. Without proper insulation, this heat can escape, potentially damaging wooden cabinets, countertops, or flooring around the appliance. Thermal insulation acts as a protective barrier, reducing the risk of costly home repairs.

Sound Absorption and Noise Reduction

A key advantage of dishwasher insulation is its sound-absorbing properties. Dishwashers can be noisy, especially during the wash and rinse cycles. Insulation muffles these sounds, making your kitchen more pleasant and peaceful. It also dampens vibrations and prevents rattling between the dishwasher and surrounding cabinets, which is particularly important for built-in models.

How do you insulate around a dishwasher?

As we’ve established, insulation decreases the amount of noise your appliance makes. Moreover, an insulating layer helps reduce the amount of shock caused by splashing water and buzzing from the dishwasher parts. 

To insulate the appliance, you could use fiberglass or foam insulation, moving blankets, or sound deadening mats.

Most modern and high-end dishwashers already come with a protective insulating blanket, but, if yours didn’t, you can insulate your dishwasher easily. All you need is a couple of common tools such as a screwdriver and a knife to cut the insulating mat into size. Also, plastic sheeting will come in handy in containing the mess and help your machine slide out easily. 

Here are the steps to carry out dishwasher insulation:

• Disconnect the dishwasher’s power supply.
• Remove the door panel from the frame.
• Take accurate measurements.
• Place the soundproofing material, insulation, or sound-absorbing panel in place.
• Screw the panel in place. 
• Remove the water pipes and drag the dishwater away from the wall.
• Wrap an insulating blanket around the dishwasher.
• Use soundproofing mats.
• Reassemble the machine and put everything back where it belongs.
• Reattach the hoses and plug in the power supply. 

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Types of dishwasher insulation

Foam felt, and fiberglass insulation are some of the most common types of dishwasher insulation. Furthermore, today, a newer insulation material is available on the market – ceramic fiber. This material helps to provide good sound, heat, and vibration insulation. And of course, there’s always the good old insulation blanket that’s draped around your machine.

Why is the insulation in my dishwasher door wet?

Keep in mind that faulty dishwashers may leak through the door – making the insulation wet as a result. If you’re facing this kind of problem, thoroughly check your appliance for any damage. It’s common to find the heat and soap suds of the dishwashing inflicting structural or chemical stress on the adhesive and rubber seal over time. 

This stress can result in tears, wear, and loosening of the door panel seal, which could be the root reason for a leaking dishwasher. Or, the wash arm housing may have a small hole. Although a rare occurrence, another reason could be a ripped or torn-off door gasket. You can also check the soap cup and the rinse aid dispenser, and replace them if necessary.

Read more: Best time to buy kitchen appliances

Last thoughts

No one likes a noisy and scorching hot dishwasher in their kitchen. Dishwasher insulation is a good defense against sound, vibration, and heat. The insulating layer provides sound reduction, reduces vibrations, and gives you heat, steam as well as water protection. Simply put, the insulation technology helps in making your dishwasher safe and silent. 

Read more: The best time to remodel a kitchen

Written by Ramona Sinha. March 10, 2022

Ramona is the Senior Content Writer for Kukun. This experienced blogger uses simple and succinct words to decipher the complex phenomenon called life. She has written articles covering a broad range of topics, such as real estate, lending and mortgage, finance, business, taxation, home designs, home improvement projects, decor concepts, and more. An avid traveler, she’s a digital nomad at heart and an animal lover from the depth of her soul.