The best dishwasher you've ever bought

SamSpade

SamSpade

Well-Known Member
Was a what?

We're on several dishwashers here over many years. Most of the time, they don't outright FAIL - they just perform so badly that
we decide it's time to replace it.

SOME of it is due to a feature that the newer "efficient" washers have - they don't internally heat the water at all, relying solely on the
heated water pumped in - worse, they spray the same filthy water repeatedly until it drains. Over time, the sprayers become impossibly
choked with hardened goo from previous washings.

To compensate, some of these "efficient" washers have MUCH longer washing cycles - 2 to 3 hours. So - great. After 3 hours, it's still
not clean. I've had some dishes so painfully poorly cleaned that a single wipe gets it up to snuff after a dish is removed. Like a sprayer
couldn't do that.

What do you like?
 
GWguy

GWguy

*
I have a Maytag, going on 20 years now. I got it for the good reviews at the time, very quiet and it has 3 racks. The bottom rack is flat and great for things that don't fit in the normal racks. Door handle broke on 2 occasions, but ordered the parts online from Sears (which is where I bought it). Cheap and easy to fix. I always use the pot scrubber and sanitize settings, so my wash time is about 3 hours. Everything is always perfectly clean. More recently, it doesn't dry completely, I need to shake the standing water off.

I've considered replacing it, but the new ones are so cheap and flimsy. I test them by twisting the door. If it flexes very easily, I pass.
 
G

General Lee

Well-Known Member
Another problem is things just aren't made to the quality they were back in the day. That makes it hard in picking anything to replace.
 
glhs837

glhs837

Power with Control
Ours is seven years old, Whirlpool Gold series, just trucks along like a champ. Just like the fridge and the stove. Got them all when we moved in, and other than an issue with a poorly designed freezer drain line that could clog and cause ice buildup under the bottom freezer drawer, which I replaced with the updated part myself since it was $30 bucks and while WP would cover the part, they would not cover the labor, it's been fine ever since.
 
R

ReadingTheNews

Active Member
SamSpade said:
Was a what?

We're on several dishwashers here over many years. Most of the time, they don't outright FAIL - they just perform so badly that
we decide it's time to replace it.

SOME of it is due to a feature that the newer "efficient" washers have - they don't internally heat the water at all, relying solely on the
heated water pumped in - worse, they spray the same filthy water repeatedly until it drains. Over time, the sprayers become impossibly
choked with hardened goo from previous washings.

To compensate, some of these "efficient" washers have MUCH longer washing cycles - 2 to 3 hours. So - great. After 3 hours, it's still
not clean. I've had some dishes so painfully poorly cleaned that a single wipe gets it up to snuff after a dish is removed. Like a sprayer
couldn't do that.

What do you like?
Click to expand...


Four and a half years ago we had to get a replacement, and went with Bosch. It is sooo quiet, and only takes about an hour on the 'Normal Wash' cycle. Definitely a fan of this brand!:D
 
glhs837

glhs837

Power with Control
135311
 
PeoplesElbow

PeoplesElbow

Well-Known Member
I too got a Bosch and really like it. My old GE from the 90s worked really good but it sounded like a 747 taking off.

You just have to remember that solids do not dissolve with water and detergent alone.
 
T

TheRadargod

Active Member
We have a Bosch. 5 years of excellent and quiet dishwashing. One complaint... the wheels on the lower level cart jump off every time I pull it out. But it cleans.
 
SamSpade

SamSpade

Well-Known Member
You know, I've seen a lot of other recommendations for Bosch elsewhere, but the reviews mostly talk about noise.

Our problems with our dishwashers have been the same - they don't CLEAN! I have to wash them going in, and
rinse them coming out. I identify greatly with that little kid in the commercial who says "so what does the dishwasher DO?".

If it cleans, I wouldn't care if it sounded like a baby screaming in the night - just clean the damned stuff.
 
jazz lady

jazz lady

~*~ Rara Avis ~*~
PREMO Member
I have a Whirlpool dishwasher. It gets everything clean but a cycle lasts about 2 hours. :faint: But it is very quiet.

I did find you MUST use Jet-Dry along with the normal dishwasher detergent, else the dishes remain soaked even using the heat drying option. I use Cascade Platinum pods and they seem the highest rated of all the brands.
 
glhs837

glhs837

Power with Control
Well, if you let stuff dry before washing, it's never gonna
jazz lady said:
I have a Whirlpool dishwasher. It gets everything clean but a cycle lasts about 2 hours. :faint: But it is very quiet.

I did find you MUST use Jet-Dry along with the normal dishwasher detergent, else the dishes remain soaked even using the heat drying option. I use Cascade Platinum pods and they seem the highest rated of all the brands.
Click to expand...

That matches our experience with our Whirpool.
 
PeoplesElbow

PeoplesElbow

Well-Known Member
This reminds me.

I had this pretty attractive, but quite dumb, girlfriend in college. One night she got totally wasted and barfed all over herself, the next day she expects me to buy her some laundry detergent. I come by her place with a jug of Ajax. She throws her barf covered clothes in the (community) washing machine, puts in twice the normal amount of detergent. When the cycle is done her clothes are clean, except the washer is still full of the chunks of food that were all over her. She calls me up blaming me for buying cheap detergent for not dissolving the half length french fries and god knows what else.

I try to tell her she needed to scrap off the solids, she insists she doesn't need to do that with Tide....

I see the dishwasher as saving the majority of the effort but you still have to prep stuff that goes in it.
 
SamSpade

SamSpade

Well-Known Member
PeoplesElbow said:
I see the dishwasher as saving the majority of the effort but you still have to prep stuff that goes in it.
Click to expand...

Oh I absolutely get this, trust me. I have kids who are loading the dishwasher these days, and it is amazing
what they think will go in there. Ditto the washing machine, where items soiled with smeared dog feces
I tell them to CLEAN FIRST lest they spend the afternoon scrubbing a washing machine clear.

All my life, most dishwashers have only ever needed to have dishes rinsed. It's ok if there's dried gravy
or a trace of cheese or grease on the plate. If it requires utter sterilization BEFORE it goes in, all I am doing
is using the dishwasher as a drying rack - which is where I am at.

Here is what I have seen - manufacturers of dishwashers, in an attempt to be "green" are now dropping
any attempt to heat the incoming water and instead moving towards other "improved" methods of
cleaning, which do nothing. What exasperates me most about my washer is, the cycle collects food materials
near the bottom, re-uses the soapy water through the sprayers repeatedly over hours - and eventually, since
the water is NEVER very hot, the soapy food water that is re-used coats the sprayers with goo which hardens
rendering them useless. I have to spend a good hour or two every month scraping out every sprayer tube
and part of that process - a process that would be unnecessary if it simply "wasted" hot water and electricity
to do it right the first time. Worse, if it isn't clean, it's either done again or I use that hot water anyway to wash
by hand.

So much for "efficient" - it's like those low-flow toilets - if you have to flush TWICE to get the job done, you're
not saving a damned thing.

I'll probably be getting a new dishwasher in a few months.
 
PeoplesElbow

PeoplesElbow

Well-Known Member
Sam

First off i didn't mean to insinuate you were dumb like my ex was, so if you took it as that I apologize.

I got the Bosch that was just under $700 at Lowes a couple years ago. I am really not sure if it heats the water itself or not because I don't see an exposed heating element. I do open it up sometimes almost an hour after it completes and some steam comes out.

I have always rinsed the dishes pretty well before putting them in. I am a very thorough dish washer when I do it by hand so it takes me a while to wash dishes by hand (most women tease me "are you sure it's clean?")

I have not had a problem with cleanliness of dishes and use the Finish tablets, they seem to do well.

On the other hand I have never had good luck cleaning glass baking dishes in a dish washer, they would come out clean but not crystal clear so I usually do those by hand.

I have seen the reviews complaining about food particles accumulating in the bottom of the dishwasher and causing an odor but in the 2-3 years I have owned it this has not been a problem. Every few months I do clean it out and my washing machine out with Affresh which I believe is just citric acid powder.

The normal cycle on my Bosch is 2 hrs, if I add sanitize it adds another 20 mins.

I will say the old GE kept my pipes cleaner because with the Bosch it just trickles out but the GE shot it through like a fire hose and you could hear it emptying anywhere in the house. Infact with the GE you couldn't run it and hear the TV.

I am a Bosch tool geek, but other than the dishwasher I tend to only buy GE appliances because I have had good luck with them and an appliance repair guy I know told me he gets less calls for GE than most consumer brands. He also told me to stay away from Samsung.
 
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