Dishwasher that really washes?

[Janeway]

Our current dishwasher is awful. It is not even very old. But it does not wash and it has failed already. It would cost a few hundred to fix (the board thingy-ma-jingy is broken and would need to be replaced..computer board thingy).

 

Before I run out and buy a new one, and wonder if I should even bother, would love to know if anyone has a dishwasher they love? Or at least like and feels does the actual job of washing. Oh, and I do not expect to be able to just put dried on food in the dishwasher. But I would like to be able to put dishes in that have been rinsed and just came from the table. 

[Selkie]

Our Bosch does a good job. Before this, we had a Kitchenaid that was downright awful and barely cleaned the dishes.

[Bootsie]

I thought my Whirlpool washed well and I liked the silverware rack in the door.  I am now in a rental with a Bosch--which probably cleans better than any dishwasher I have had (although I am in an area with softer water than I had in the past so that is probably a factor), but I cannot stand loading it and I find that many of my items will not fit well.

[edelweiss]

No.  I tell everyone that ours just is really a sterilizer.  Every speck of food has to be cleaned off of the dishes before they go into the dishwasher.  If not, it is "baked in" during the wash cycle. So, we have to wipe off our dishes throughly until they appear clean and then just use the dishwasher to sterilize them.  

 

I feel your pain!

[Ottakee]

Please tell me what you have that you don't like? I am looking for a dishwasher today and need to know.  One of the issues is that some of the newer dishwashers are just 1/2" taller and too tall for many spaces.

I will say my Bosch did clean very very well at my old house.....and it held a lot of dishes.

[Pawz4me]

I've never had a dishwasher that didn't clean well, including our current Bosch. It is the most difficult by far to load efficiently, though. Something about the way the racks/prongs are arranged is just awkward and clunky. I feel like it holds about half as much as our previous dishwashers.

[Ottakee]

1 minute ago, Pawz4me said:

I've never had a dishwasher that didn't clean well, including our current Bosch. It is the most difficult by far to load efficiently, though. Something about the way the racks/prongs are arranged is just awkward and clunky. I feel like it holds about half as much as our previous dishwashers.

And funny, I am missing my Bosch so much as it held so much more.  Then again I have Corelle dishes so thin ones.

[Pawz4me]

2 minutes ago, Ottakee said:

And funny, I am missing my Bosch so much as it held so much more.  Then again I have Corelle dishes so thin ones.

We use Correlle, too. And they stack fine in the half of our bottom rack that seems to be made for dishes. But the other half--neither nor DH can figure out how to make more than three of our smallest bowls fit so that they're exposed to enough spray to get clean. It's absurd how close together the prongs are. I really wish I'd paid closer attention to that before we bought.

[fairfarmhand]

I have a whirlpool that was pathetic. I took it apart and cleaned the spray arms. Good grief. So nasty but it wasn’t really food. It was soap scum mineral deposits types of junk. Of the 16 spray holes in the two arms only 4 were open. So I cleaned that out. Then I started usIng 1/8 teaspoon of trisodium phosphate in the washer with the detergent. And it’s like it was brand new. You can get the TSP at home improvement places like Lowe’s.  We have hard water and every dishwasher I’ve owned only worked well for about 3 years before slinging crud everywhere until now. 

[May]

When we were having our ice maker repaired, we asked the repair person what type of dishwasher he recommended. Ours is 10 years old and I’m expecting to replace it soon. Anyway, he said Bosch but the one where the controls are outside the unit. It was his opinion, the moisture messes up the control panel if it’s inside.

[Spryte]

Love our Bosch.

 

[Katy]

The last one I loved was the high-end whirlpool from the previous year.  As cheap as the medium one, ultra quiet, and great at cleaning.

[happypamama]

I love my GE Adora!

[Angie in VA]

We have a KitchenAid that's been in our house for about 10 years. Truth told, we most likely bought it a year or even two before it was installed since we built our house and bought bargains as we went along. 

It's louder than DH likes and the run cycle I use the most is 90 minutes or more. It cleans well and after Dana K. White talked me into stopping rinsing dishes first, they still come out clean. I alternate between Cascade Complete pods and Finish pods (w/ the little red dot in the middle) - both only bought on sale at Costco. 

DH wants a quieter one when this one dies. I love the ones that pop open when they're done. OK, I've only seen one that did that and it's a Miele. That thing is so quiet! A friend has one. I don't think I'd like to put the utensils on that top rack, though. I like the baskets. It's probably out of our price range anyway. 

Good luck. Let us know what you end up buying, please. 

[gardenmom5]

I had a general profile. With really flexible racks, that cleaned great. When it died,  I wanted quiet...  

Quiet isn't all it's cracked up to be. Top of the line kitchen aid.  Save. Your. Money.   Do not buy it.

[Farrar]

We got a Bosch a little less than a year ago. I had no idea it was possible to love a dishwasher. Or that some dishwashers really clean things.

[Ottakee]

46 minutes ago, happypamama said:

I love my GE Adora!

That is the one I almost bought tonight but then there were so many negative reviews I hesitated.  It is about 1/2 the cost of the Bosch though.  Wonder how well it holds up long term

[happypamama]

2 hours ago, Ottakee said:

That is the one I almost bought tonight but then there were so many negative reviews I hesitated.  It is about 1/2 the cost of the Bosch though.  Wonder how well it holds up long term

Hmm, I don’t know.  I only got it in June, and it had tons of good reviews then. 

[mumto2]

16 minutes ago, texasmom33 said:

Brand aside, I will say that using good detergent makes a massive difference.

I used to cheap out and by the Finish brand of dishwashing detergent and use Jet Dry along with it. One day I got a free sample of Cascade Complete Platinum and tried it and oh my word. Night and day difference. Worth every penny. So whatever you buy, don't skimp on the detergent.

I think as they reduce the amount of water these machines use every year, the detergent becomes even more important because there just isn't the same amount of water running through machines made in the last 18 months as compared to those made 3 or more years ago...... the standards have changed too much lately on water consumption, so it's not really a fair comparison brand wise if you aren't comparing similar year models. 

The detergent makes a huge difference, I also dislike Finish after using it for years.  When I changed the difference was immediately noticeable.  I think the tabs with the gel are the best, but name brand in the platinum.  It’s worth it.  I also wipe around the door and under the paddles gently,  every couple of weeks with a wipe like Lysol brand) and get quite a bit of gunk.  My dishwasher is a cheap one and small, the only one that fit the space.  No complaints,  I normally run a quick cycle and my dishes are really clean!

[Ellie]

9 hours ago, Janeway said:

Our current dishwasher is awful. It is not even very old. But it does not wash and it has failed already. It would cost a few hundred to fix (the board thingy-ma-jingy is broken and would need to be replaced..computer board thingy).

Before I run out and buy a new one, and wonder if I should even bother, would love to know if anyone has a dishwasher they love? Or at least like and feels does the actual job of washing. Oh, and I do not expect to be able to just put dried on food in the dishwasher. But I would like to be able to put dishes in that have been rinsed and just came from the table. 

I have been very happy with my Whirlpool. When this one dies (it's about 14 years old) I plan to buy another Whirlpool.

I use Amway dishwasher pods.

[Katy]

7 hours ago, happypamama said:

Hmm, I don’t know.  I only got it in June, and it had tons of good reviews then. 

 

That's why they change the models every year and for each individual store. The negative reviews never last long.

[Pippen]

I bought a GE Profile about five years ago and it was terrible at getting dishes clean and shiny. After about four service calls from the warranty guys, I brought in my old repairman and he had me switch to Quantum Finish tablets. He said the change to more environmentally friendly detergents and more energy efficient machines was causing a lot of problems, but the consensus at repair training classes was this was performing better. 

I switched--even though cost was much higher--and it's cleaning well now. The machine has other problems. Both wire racks started rusting and falling apart at the 18 month mark and needed replacing. The silverware  basket broke apart as well. But it cleans well. 

Currently using these with great results;  https://www.amazon.com/Finish-Dishwasher-Detergent-Powerball-Dishwashing/dp/B075G629WV/ref=sr_1_2_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1540979888&sr=8-2-spons&keywords=quantum+finish+max+powerball&psc=1

 

 

[Zebra]

14 hours ago, Pawz4me said:

I've never had a dishwasher that didn't clean well, including our current Bosch. It is the most difficult by far to load efficiently, though. Something about the way the racks/prongs are arranged is just awkward and clunky. I feel like it holds about half as much as our previous dishwashers.

I'm so glad you said this!   My Bosch cleans if the dishes are loaded EXACTLY RIGHT.   It feels like mental gymnastics every time I load the dishwasher.   My last dishwasher sounded like a train, so this one is much quieter.   But it's very hard to load.

I was also told you need to run dishwasher cleaner through your empty dishwasher (monthly?) so it continues to wash effectively.   YMMV.

[KungFuPanda]

I’m beginning to wonder how big a difference your local water makes. My washing machine is speed queen, but before that was a cheap top loader I had for about 17 years. My current dishwasher is a $400 Amana. It doesn’t dry as well and the cycles are much longer than the Kitchenaid it replaces, but the dishes get clean.  I never remember to use rinse aid and I use the Costco pods. 

It seems to be draining slowly these days, so I need to get in there and find the clog, but we’ve had it for about 9 years with Mo other issues. It is cheaper, so it’s loud and the controls are on the outside. I usually program it to wash in the middle of the night. That was great when all the bedrooms were upstairs. DS’s Room has moved downstairs, so I run it at night now and have promised him the next machine will be quieter. 

Edited October 31, 2018 by KungFuPanda

[Pawz4me]

1 hour ago, Pippen said:

I brought in my old repairman and he had me switch to Quantum Finish tablets.

 

That's what I use. They work very well.

 

45 minutes ago, KungFuPanda said:

I’m beginning to wonder how big a difference your local water makes.

I think it makes a big difference for lots of things.

[Carrie12345]

Splurging on our Bosch was the best decision ever.

That said, the 5 kids (well, mostly 4) share dish duty.  They do not clean the dishwasher, nor do they alert me to when it needs to be cleaned. (The filter, the surrounding lip they splatter all over, etc.)  When it's really gunked up, no, it doesn't get things properly cleaned.  When it's well maintained, it's a dream.

[Carrie12345]

Just adding that there was a brand new, still wrapped, low end dishwasher when we bought the house.  I can't remember whether it was GE or Whirlpool. It never worked right, so we quit using it. Eventually, we called in a repair person who cost us a ridiculous (for the value of the machine) $150. It still didn't work right.

Bosch, Bosch, Bosch.  Or at least similar!

[Angie in VA]

14 minutes ago, texasmom33 said:

If you have one locally, I’d highly suggest going to an actual appliance store and not a box store like Home Depot, Lowe’s, Conn’s etc. to look at your options. If they are a reputable store they’re going to have the stats on the service calls they get for each model, as any I’ve dealt with are your direct contact for any repair or warranty work, unlike The Boxes where you are responsible for dealing directly with the manufacturer. 

Online reviews (like rating reviews on box store sites, not like here) are pretty much worthless as they’ve shown time and time again manufacturers have the corner on faked, or at least “subsidized” reviews. They also tend to group reviews together over years, not by more specific year to year model which make it harder to know if the real review you might be reading is even about the same machine. 

I think the appliance shop is worth a drive if you have any reputable ones anywhere close. 

 

ITA!

Our fridge recently died and I was all set to go to just such a store only to learn that it is now closed. There is one like it, but too far away. Hate that. 

[StaceyinLA]

18 hours ago, Selkie said:

Our Bosch does a good job. Before this, we had a Kitchenaid that was downright awful and barely cleaned the dishes.

 

I was just jumping in to say I have a Kitchen Aid that is awesome. Of course, I haven’t had a dishwasher in 25 years, so maybe my definition of awesome is skewed a little.

[mschickie]

We just got a Kitchenaid last year. It is the BEST dishwasher we have ever had.  The dishes are spotless (always had issues with our old GE).  This dishwasher is also so quiet you barely even notice that it is working.   My sister has a Bosch and that is what she recommended to us but due to the height of the space the Bosch was 1/4" to tall at its lowest height.

[TravelingChris]

I love my Bosch.

[KungFuPanda]

2 hours ago, Angie in VA said:

 

ITA!

Our fridge recently died and I was all set to go to just such a store only to learn that it is now closed. There is one like it, but too far away. Hate that. 

I got my meile vacuum and speedqueen washer at a shop like this and it didn’t cost any more than most online pricing. The local service was great. 

[Angie in VA]

8 hours ago, mschickie said:

We just got a Kitchenaid last year. It is the BEST dishwasher we have ever had.  The dishes are spotless (always had issues with our old GE).  This dishwasher is also so quiet you barely even notice that it is working.   My sister has a Bosch and that is what she recommended to us but due to the height of the space the Bosch was 1/4" to tall at its lowest height.

 

I have no idea what we'll end up with when it's our time to replace ours, but I know the decibels are important to DH. Maybe all the newer ones are quieter now? 

[Ottakee]

I am struggling here as I can get a GE Adora for about 1/2 the price of the Bosch.  Will I regret it?  Or should I save money?  My goal is clean dishes.  The noise level doesn't really bother me but I would like energy star or close and one that WORKS.  I don't need bells and whistles and stemware racks and 16 cycles, etc.  I just want one that holds a lot of dishes and gets them clean.

 

[itsheresomewhere]

Just bought a middle of the line kitchenaid a few weeks ago.  What an awesome dishwasher.  I almost went with a Bosch but I buy based on parts availability and noticed they had a wait on certain parts.  I repair our stuff so this might not matter to you. 

[BarbecueMom]

I’ll be that person and say that I despised our Bosch.  Part of the problem was that it had no heated dry cycle.  Energy efficient I guess, but we have to run it 2-4 times a day and it was always a slimy sauna in there, even if we left the door open between cycles.  I guess I could have wiped the whole thing down, but I can’t bend over like that without vomiting (and that would have probably been cleaner than whatever was growing in there daily).

We had to replace the sprayer arms yearly.  And when the dishwasher guy pulled it out to put in a new one, the pump was busted and starting to leak.  Which apparently makes it turn on and off randomly on its own like a haunted appliance.  We only had it about 5-6 years, but didn’t even use it for about two years at the end.

Replaced it with a Maytag and it’s fine.  Heated dry + hard food disposal makes me happy.  Only gets stuck on gunk if I forget to top up the vinegar or forget to scrape potato goop or something.

[Carol in Cal.]

We bought a top of the line Kitchen Aide last year, and I've been keeping my fingers crossed that it will last.  I don't expect it to, because nothing does right now except the Miele, and Miele's require too much ongoing finicky maintenance and look too sleek for us and for our kitchen respectively.  Our KA is dead quiet, and it gets the dishes very clean.  We have had trouble recently with the upper utensil rack pulling the mail seal out around the top.  This is disturbing.  Very disheartening.  We took the rack out, but I consider this unacceptable.  Have not figured out what to do yet.  Will probably limp along like this until January and then pitch a fit.  

We did buy the extended warranty this time--something I never do.  I just don't trust the current crop of appliances at all.

[MEmama]

On October 30, 2018 at 3:15 PM, Ottakee said:

Please tell me what you have that you don't like? I am looking for a dishwasher today and need to know.  One of the issues is that some of the newer dishwashers are just 1/2" taller and too tall for many spaces.

I will say my Bosch did clean very very well at my old house.....and it held a lot of dishes.

We have a Bosch and it's terrible. I have to wash the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher, there's no guarantee the soap will actually dissolve--and if does, that it will rinse clean--and I frequently have to use a towel after they've been "cleaned" to remove bits of stuff. Goodness knows where it even comes from since everything starts clean to begin with (and yes, the filter etc are clean).

It's an awful excuse for a dishwasher. Of course it will probably never die so I'll never be able to justify replacing it.

[Pippen]

56 minutes ago, MEmama said:

We have a Bosch and it's terrible. I have to wash the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher, there's no guarantee the soap will actually dissolve--and if does, that it will rinse clean--and I frequently have to use a towel after they've been "cleaned" to remove bits of stuff. Goodness knows where it even comes from since everything starts clean to begin with (and yes, the filter etc are clean).

It's an awful excuse for a dishwasher. Of course it will probably never die so I'll never be able to justify replacing it.

When my Bosch was doing that it needed a repair-- I think it was the water pump working only intermittently. Dishes really weren't being fully washed.

[MEmama]

24 minutes ago, Pippen said:

When my Bosch was doing that it needed a repair-- I think it was the water pump working only intermittently. Dishes really weren't being fully washed.

Interesting. I wonder how I might know the difference between a crappy dishwasher (it's been lousy for the 7 years we've lived here) or one in need of a repair? I don't mind getting someone out to look at it, but I'd hate to spend a couple hundred dollars if there's nothing actually wrong with it.

I hadn't actually considered it might be malfunctioning.

Edited November 1, 2018 by MEmama

[Annie G]

We didn’t have a good experience with Bosch. The tines  were weirdly angled and it was difficult to load to capacity. Just a couple of years in it developed a leaking problem and I had an awful time trying to find a service person. And a year later it developed another issue and we just got rid of it. It cleaned well, but so does my replacement that was a lot cheaper. Cascade PLatinum used in both...that’s good stuff. 

[Annie G]

10 minutes ago, MEmama said:

Interesting. I wonder how I might know the difference between a crappy dishwasher (it's been lousy for the 7 years we've lived here) or one in need of a repair? I don't mind getting someone out to look at it, but I'd hate to spend a couple hundred dollars if there's nothing actually wrong with it.

I hadn't actually considered it might be malfunctioning.

When our Bosch water pump failed we just waited until we could hear it try to drain- you can hear it pumping water out of the dishwasher and into the drain- and when we heard it stop washing we knew it was time to drain, and we gave it a few minutes and opened it- and there was the dirty water in the bottom. Sometimes the float gets stuck and doesn’t signal it needs to drain and sometimes the pump itself doesn’t work. 

[mominco]

On 10/30/2018 at 9:15 PM, texasmom33 said:

Brand aside, I will say that using good detergent makes a massive difference.

I used to cheap out and by the Finish brand of dishwashing detergent and use Jet Dry along with it. One day I got a free sample of Cascade Complete Platinum and tried it and oh my word. Night and day difference. Worth every penny. So whatever you buy, don't skimp on the detergent.

I think as they reduce the amount of water these machines use every year, the detergent becomes even more important because there just isn't the same amount of water running through machines made in the last 18 months as compared to those made 3 or more years ago...... the standards have changed too much lately on water consumption, so it's not really a fair comparison brand wise if you aren't comparing similar year models. 

Agree,I have a whirlpool and hate that dishwasher!

 

On 10/30/2018 at 2:54 PM, fairfarmhand said:

I have a whirlpool that was pathetic. I took it apart and cleaned the spray arms. Good grief. So nasty but it wasn’t really food. It was soap scum mineral deposits types of junk. Of the 16 spray holes in the two arms only 4 were open. So I cleaned that out. Then I started usIng 1/8 teaspoon of trisodium phosphate in the washer with the detergent. And it’s like it was brand new. You can get the TSP at home improvement places like Lowe’s.  We have hard water and every dishwasher I’ve owned only worked well for about 3 years before slinging crud everywhere until now. 

This is what mine did,till I changed the detergent to cascade platinum! I will never buy a whirlpool anything I already changed the oven(Was 6 years old).The dishwasher is almost ready to die.Microwave may not be far behind!

Good luck OP

[MEmama]

9 hours ago, Annie G said:

When our Bosch water pump failed we just waited until we could hear it try to drain- you can hear it pumping water out of the dishwasher and into the drain- and when we heard it stop washing we knew it was time to drain, and we gave it a few minutes and opened it- and there was the dirty water in the bottom. Sometimes the float gets stuck and doesn’t signal it needs to drain and sometimes the pump itself doesn’t work. 

Thanks. It sounds like it might be time for me to do some sleuthing. 

[Pippen]

11 hours ago, MEmama said:

Interesting. I wonder how I might know the difference between a crappy dishwasher (it's been lousy for the 7 years we've lived here) or one in need of a repair? I don't mind getting someone out to look at it, but I'd hate to spend a couple hundred dollars if there's nothing actually wrong with it.

I hadn't actually considered it might be malfunctioning.

If it's not cleaning well, it is need of repair,  replacement, or detergent change. I went too long with that problem and when I realized it was the water pump problem and my dishes were really coming out...unclean...it was a big ick factor. 

 

[sassenach]

Our Bosch is amazing. The dishes absolutely sparkle. Do you think maybe yours needs work? Our needed the water pump replaced recently. The dishes were coming out *almost* clean but not quite and I knew something was wrong. 

[MEmama]

2 hours ago, Pippen said:

If it's not cleaning well, it is need of repair,  replacement, or detergent change. I went too long with that problem and when I realized it was the water pump problem and my dishes were really coming out...unclean...it was a big ick factor. 

 

OK. I'm convinced. 

Idk why I hadn't considered it before. Thanks for the advice. :)

[Janeway]

12 hours ago, sassenach said:

Our Bosch is amazing. The dishes absolutely sparkle. Do you think maybe yours needs work? Our needed the water pump replaced recently. The dishes were coming out *almost* clean but not quite and I knew something was wrong. 

The computer board thing that you push the buttons to turn on and off is barely working. The dishwasher itself has never really worked well and it would be costly to replace the board thing. If the dishwasher were otherwise great, I would repair. But it is not so my husband wants to replace.

[J-rap]

Another Cascade Complete detergent fan.  Our dishwasher is nothing fancy, and our water is terrible.  Nothing would get clean if I didn't use Cascade Complete.  I've tried a multitude of other detergents, and nothing else cleans as well.  When I use Cascade Complete, dishes come out sparkling.