Before anything else, note where the water actually shows up, because that is the most useful diagnostic information you have and it is free.
Water Running Down the Outside of the Door
This points at the door seal or at how the load is throwing water:
- Gasket. Run a finger around the door seal. Grease, a hardened crumb or a tear anywhere along it gives water a path. Clean it with warm soapy water and look for splits and flat spots.
- Detergent. Hand dish soap in the dispenser produces a tub full of foam that walks straight out of the door. Only automatic dishwasher detergent belongs in there. If it has happened, run a rinse-only cycle a few times to clear it.
- Loading. A large tray or a baking sheet stood along the front deflects the spray onto the door. Keep tall flat items to the sides.
- Level. A cabinet that leans forward drains water toward the door. The appliance should sit level, checked front to back and side to side.
Water at the Toe Kick or Under the Cabinet
This is more serious, because it means water is escaping below the tub where it can reach the floor and the cabinet base. Common sources are the drain hose connection, the water inlet valve, the pump seal or a cracked sump. A slow leak here can rot a cabinet base and swell a floor long before anyone notices, so treat it as urgent rather than an annoyance.
What to Do Right Now
- Stop the cycle and switch the dishwasher off at the breaker.
- Close the hot water shut-off valve for the dishwasher, usually under the sink.
- Dry the floor and lay a towel so you can see whether it is still leaking.
- If water reached an outlet, a power strip or any electrical fitting, leave the circuit off until it has been checked.
Door seals and loading habits are owner territory. Anything under the tub is not, and running the machine to see whether it leaks again is how a small repair becomes a floor repair. Book a Whirlpool dishwasher repair visit and say where the water appears and at what point in the cycle.