Rate Your Dishwasher

I'm a big fan of Kenmore appliances.  Never, ever had a problem with one of my dishwashers from them.  The only reason for a new one is that I moved houses.

 My dishwasher is awesome. Of course that would be because I am the dishwasher. For a few more years that is. Then Samantha will take over washing dishes!

I hate my dishwasher. It does a great job cleaning the dishes but is so noisy that the only time I run it is when we're leaving the house. I know some of the newer types are much quieter, but I'm going to actually need to hear it before I buy another one.

cakana

It does a great job cleaning the dishes but is so noisy that the only time I run it is when we're leaving the house.

That sounds like our old one!  You couldn't hear yourself think it was so loud.  Our new GE, which is a few years old now, is very quiet.  It does a good job on the dishes and it was not the top of the line as far as price but more toward the middle range.  I meant to look at the model number last night but forgot. :(  I too am a fan of Kenmore and I don't remember why we settled on the GE.  Most of the newer models do a much better job than the old ones and they say you don't have to rinse or scrape but I do it anyway (scrape dishes).   The newer models have a built in garbage disposal but I figure it may lengthen the life of the machine if I scrape off any food first.  I don't rinse because that would defeat the water saving point of having  a dishwasher.

JackieG

Most of the newer models do a much better job than the old ones and they say you don't have to rinse or scrape but I do it anyway (scrape dishes).   The newer models have a built in garbage disposal but I figure it may lengthen the life of the machine if I scrape off any food first.  I don't rinse because that would defeat the water saving point of having  a dishwasher.

I completely agree but DH and I are both so neurotic that by the time we've cleaned the dishes to put them in the dishwasher, they really don't need further cleaning. In our defense, we sometimes only run it once a week, so we worry that leaving any food on the dishes that long could either lead to ants (we've had that happen) or food so crusted on that nothing would get it off. We should probably just skip the dishwasher altogether

I've seen some of the newer models that have an independent upper and lower rack, so you could just run small loads thru and that would probably be worth looking into for us but it's probably pricey.

I know what you mean.  We did without our dishwasher for years and swore we didn't miss the noisey old thing after it finally broke completely.  I changed my mind when we got our new one.   Mine has a rinse and hold that uses very little water.  We use it if the dishes are going to sit for more than a few hours. 

 I loved that commercial with the Jack Russell who would come running when he heard the dishes being removed from the dishwasher because the woman was scraping off stuck on food that didn't get cleaned off.  I'm not sure where that came from in my brain but it just popped up and ended up here.  Good to know that a few of those old brain circuits are still in touch with each other.  lol

JackieG

I'm not sure where that came from in my brain but it just popped up and ended up here.  Good to know that a few of those old brain circuits are still in touch with each other.  lol

LOL Jackie - I'm glad I'm not the only one

I have a GE and I love it.  It has a lot of cycles (light, normal, heavy) that I don't use because I only run it once or twice a week and it has to be full.  I just leave it on normal.  It's really quiet.  I can actually talk on the phone in the kitchen.  With the old one, I had to open the door to stop it if I was on the phone in there and then I'd forget to start it up again.

Joyce

 Instead of recommending one, I'm going to post a few thoughts on the purchase of ours. I wish I had thought of these before we bought the new one cause I hate it. We've got a Whirlpool, as does my Mom, and while I like the quality, the design (for me) sucks. We spent about $300 while my parents spent closer to $500 on theirs. Mom's doesn't have the space problem that ours does even though everything else is basically the same.

The house came with a very old model that had the silverware basket in the middle/front of the bottom drawer, as well as a hole in the bottom drawer for the wand to extend upwards through to distribute the water. I hate this design because it made putting large pots in the bottom drawer almost impossible.

So, when we bought our new one, I wanted one that had the silverware basket in the door and a solid bottom drawer. The only problem with this, is that the height of the top and bottom drawers (even though adjustable heights) was to shallow to allow for my dinner plates to be put in there upright. The rotating wands are underneath each drawer, so I have to tilt each plate so that the top wand does not hit the plates. Having to tilt the plates reduces my available space for plates and pots/pans. Therefore, I would advise you to know the height of your plates so that you can determine if the model you like will work.

I do love the silverware basket in the door, and I wish there was a rack in the top drawer for holding large utensils and plastic lids down. We've never used the heated drying cycle since they use so much energy. I also like that the model we bought offers different levels/lengths of wash cycles, and that it is quiet! Our old one made so much noise that you had to turn the TV up really loud to hear it over the noise it made.

Good luck and have fun shopping!

Amy

kle1986

 My dishwasher is awesome. Of course that would be because I am the dishwasher...

LOL  I was going to post the same thing.  Although, ours gets a little behind at times, but that's the price you pay for a mutli-use appliance! 

 OK, so I guess I either try to look at the GE or get Kimberly to come up here to Massachusetts every night after dinner to clean up.

 OH I LOVE MY DISHWASHER!!!!

It is a Bosch, it is SO FREAKING QUIET you do not even know it is running. My dishes come out great, we do not need to pre wash. The only thing is the drying. It dries great but it has special energy saving drying process (I forget what it is called) so if you are the type to take the dishes out the moment the washer stops, your dishes may still be damp. DH and I usually run it when we go to bed since it no longer keeps us awake at night, and in the AM the dishes are dry and ready to be put away. 

We got a lower end Bosch. When we redid our kitchen it was the one appliance that we were replacing I wanted to "spend more" money on. We are not fancy cooks so we did not need fancy stoves or whatever, but I wanted a nice dishwasher and I could not be happier. 

I can honestly say that I don't miss having an automatic dishwasher  They are a pain in my mind.  I'd always forget to start it, or it wouldn't get unloaded and I absolutely HATE unloading a dishwasher.  Especially when I'm wanting to USE it again.

Water saving?  Shoot, I use a gallon of water to do my dishes.  Once in a blue moon I have to use an extra half gallon if I have a lot of pans.  And everything is always squeaky clean.