The invention relates to selected surface-active substances of groups a) and b), the surface-active compound a) being selected from compounds of general formula (Ia), wherein M represents a group CH2—CH2 or CHR—CH2, R, R′ or R″ independently represent saturated, unsaturated, linear or branched alkyl groups or alkenyl groups with 6 to 22 C atoms, and the indices n and m independently can have values between 1 and 40, and/or compounds of general formula (Ib), wherein R″′ and R″″ independently represent saturated, unsaturated, linear or branched alkyl groups or alkenyl groups with 4 to 22 C atoms, and the indices n and m independently can have values between 1 and 40 and X′ and X″ independently represent H or saturated, unsaturated, linear or branched alkyl groups or alkenyl groups with 1 to 18 C atoms. The surface active substances of the invention, either on their own or combined with other nonionic surfactants, lead to dishwashing agents with an improved drying performance, especially in multifunctional agents for automatic dishwashers.