Need a new dishwasher. Looking for reviews

[Kev Williams]

Our GE isn't cleaning worth a darn, and whenever I fling open the door as fast as I can while it's running, all I see is water dripping. Most dishwashers when you do this are still spraying water halfway decent for a split second. Not this one.

In the old days I'd tear into it and see what the problem might be. It's about 12 years old, so I'd rather just yank it and put in one that works.

So, which ones work? And don't?

Don't need a bunch of frills, just needs to wash, rinse and dry, reasonably quietly...

Thanks in advance!

[Adam Herman]

Run a few cups of vinigar through it, may help.

we like our kitchen aid branded ones, they seem to work well. find a used place around. I paid 60 of one of them, and 200 for another, put them in my rental and our own house.

[Al Launier]

I was a 34 year GE employee who enjoyed the employee discounts when purchasing major appliances. However, when it came to dishwashers we decided to go with BOSCH and couldn't be happier. runs so quiet we can't hear it; it loads/unloads easily; cleans exceptionally well; and looks great.

[Scott Brandstetter]

Bosch, Bosch, and Bosch. Like Al said, can't hear it run, and you don't have to rinse one dish at all, in fact, they discourage it.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

We bought a Miele last year. I can stand next to it and hold a conversation while it's running.

[Brett Luna]

Our Kitchenaid has been a good one. Not deathly quiet but quiet all the same. We strongly considered a Bosch but the KA had better organization.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I have two dishwashers: one named Amy, and the other named Petra. I can't really say they are very quiet, and they can be rather costly, but they do a great job.

[Eduard Nemirovsky]

I have two dishwashers: one named Amy, and the other named Petra. I can't really say they are very quiet, and they can be rather costly, but they do a great job.

but they use much more water ))

[Brian Elfert]

I don't currently have a dishwasher, but I have a spot for one. I rarely used the one in my previous house so I eventually opted not to get one for now since I live alone.

I was thinking about buying a dishwasher when a big appliance retailer here in town was having their big warehouse sale. I started looking at reviews online and just about every model, even expensive ones, have lots of negative reviews. After reading the reviews I decided to skip spending $600 to $800 on a dishwasher. The reviews were mostly it broke shortly after warranty or it doesn't clean well. Now, I know people are more likely to write bad reviews than good ones, but there were so darn many of them. I had planned that I was probably going to get a Bosch, but even those had a lot of bad reviews.

[Bruce Page]

We've been very happy with our 4 year old Kitchen Aide. It does a great job of cleaning and you can't even hear it running. Our old Kenmore wasn't much quieter than my shop compressor. . .

[dennis thompson]

We bought a Bosch last month to replace our old Bosch, works great and is so quiet they had to put a light on it so you know it's running.

[Kev Williams]

Our GE is a 'whisper'-something, it's always been pretty quiet. Always worked pretty good too, until the past few months. I should probably look at the thing, probably something stupid like a loose hose clamp...

I wouldn't mind a higher-end unit, but $800+ is a bit much. There's just 2 of us, and it only gets used maybe 3 times a week..

[Stephen Tashiro]

We should discuss fundamental dishwater dichotomies. For example, which is best - a chopper or a strainer ?

[Morey St. Denis]

Best suggestion is to insist that your candidate new dishwasher have a stainless steel interior liner, then whatever features and price range best suits your budget. A lot of product can be eliminated based on what exterior color you need to match any existing kitchen decor. A lot of the "bisque" or "almond" hues have been eliminated with the unfortunate popularity of stainless exterior cladding. You need Hot water to properly clean and sanitize your dishware, utensils, pots & pans. Time was when I had to build an in-line on-demand 240V 3KW electronic water preheater immediately before the dishwasher just to get the water supply line up to fully 180 degrees by the start of every wash & rinse cycle. The older models just took the water at whatever temperature happened to be in the lines and with fill volume relatively small, if your water heater was any distance from the kitchen, each fill would complete just around the time cooled water finally got purged from the lines. Most now have resistance coil heaters inside to preheat the fill water and provide steam assist drying. Plastic liners can't take that heat proximity and after a few years will too soon develop cracks and begin to leak.

You will want an insulated stainless steel liner for long term heat and leak resistance. Miele and Bosch are certainly the preferred European imports when budget allows, but keep in mind that our domestic funds have to go though a monetary unit exchange in terms of dollars to euros. Miele is without quality comparison, but hardly looks competitive just considering their substantial burden of prevailing exchange rates into Euros or Deutschmarks. Chinese and Korean currency is kept artificially devalued by their respective governments so their appliances always vigorously compete at the economy pricing level.

[Jim Koepke]

We have had a Bosch for over 7 years and are quite happy with the quality.

One suggestion I have often heard about shopping for a dishwasher is to take some of your kitchen ware along to see how it fits. There are different methods used for loading silverware, glasses, cups and other items which can have an effect on usefulness in different situations.

In the old days I'd tear into it and see what the problem might be. It's about 12 years old, so I'd rather just yank it and put in one that works.

I would at least make sure the spin arm wasn't blocked or jammed and if it is attached to the shelf that the point where it plugs in is in order. It might be simple enough to give you another year or two of service while you shop around.

jtk