What would you guess is the most common question asked when someone is picking out a dishwasher?
How well does it clean?
What colors does it come in?
Does it sanitize?
These would all be good guesses, but if you added up every one of the people that asked all those questions they would still only combine to be about one third of the people who ask:
How quiet is it?
Surprised? That is the biggest selling point in dishwashers now and it has been for probably 7 or 8 years.
With that said, let me tell you what I would be looking for in dishwashers, and keep in mind that I am not selling them on this site. I’ll give you my frank, honest opinion and enough information to let you form yours.
The factors you should look at are cleanability, efficiency, sound level, loadability and aesthetics. How you rate these traits in importance will largely determine what dishwasher you should buy. There are also some special features that may dictate what you choose to do as well.
Cleanability -- I would want something that would clean the dishes well enough that I wouldn’t have to clean them before they go in, or after they come out. Do they exist? By the hundreds. Today’s dishwashers wash better than they ever have. Then why are my dishes cloudy, you ask—because of legislation, not wash action. Detergent manufacturers were prohibited from putting phosphates in the dish soap a couple years back, because it was deemed harmful to the environment. The dishes will get cleaned of foodstuffs, but if you don’t want residue or film on them you’ll probably want to add a half cup of white vinegar when you do the dishes, to break it down. You should also make sure to use rinse aid every time you do the dishes, depending on how the dishes come out, you may need to adjust it to the maximum level. Give the soap manufacturers a couple years and they will develop something which makes this step un-necessary, but in the meantime it is kind of essential for the cleaning process. What brands wash well? Bosch, Kitchenaid, Jenn-Air, Asko, Miele, GE Profile, Monogram, Thermador, Whirlpool, LG, Samsung, Kenmore, Maytag, Electrolux….frankly speaking if you buy a dishwasher from one of these manufacturers that costs over $500, you can be assured it has a good wash action, much better than the 12 year old unit you have now. If you ask me from strictly a cleanability standpoint and nothing else, I would put in a Jenn-Air, Kitchenaid, Bosch, Asko or Miele. For those of you say I have an old Jenn air and it is terrible, look at their new JDB3600 model, which got the highest cleaning score AHAM (Association of Household Appliance Manufacturers) has ever given out. Whatever you decide, make sure to get something with a stainless interior, as the walls of the plastic tubs erode over time, and because of its porous nature, become a breeding ground for bacteria.
Efficiency. In a dishwasher this is gauging the effective use of water and electricity. Here Bosch is the undeniable leader, as every single model they produce is Energy Star qualified. In fairness to the competition, however, Bosch’s excellent rating in electrical use is due in part to the fact that with only a couple of exceptions (notably Asko & Miele), every other manufacturer offers a heated dry cycle and is tested using that feature if they possess it; so of course Bosch rates best. Among major brands most premium line dishwashers will use less than 5 gallons on a normal cycle, a key exception being the GE Profile which averages closer to 7—although it sounds bad by comparison, a 10 year old dishwasher is probably using twice that.
On to sound level…I personally credit Bosch with pushing this factor so hard that it has become the driving force in dishwasher marketing. Quieter is better… to a point. My rule of thumb is anything which hits 48 decibels or less is quiet enough. At 48 db if the air conditioning or heat is on in a house, the sound of the air moving through the ducts is enough to mask the sound of the dishwasher. At 48 decibels most people would place their ear to the door to hear it, or hand on the door to feel the vibration. I won’t say anything quieter is overkill, because you may have more acute hearing than mine, but I will say as you get down to 43 or even 40 (the quietest rating out at the moment in a dishwasher) you would probably have to hook the unit up to a machine in order to be able to distinguish the difference in sound levels. By comparison, a 15 year old GE PotScrubber, one of the best selling dishwasher series of all time, checks in at about 75 db.
Loadability…this may be the most important aspect for large families. You want to get in as much as you can without having to do a second load, or having them packed in so tight that they don’t get clean. How do you rate this? Open the dishwasher and look inside. Does the tub itself seem tall? Some are 2-3 inches taller than others—even though overall external dimensions are the same. Is the upper rack adjustable up or down depending on what is getting put inside? Do the tines (prongs) fold over so you can make more space when you need it? Are the tines packed very tightly together so the manufacturer can claim it holds more place settings—be careful on this one, 17 place settings is with plates so thin they may as well be see-through, so if you use stoneware, make sure the racking can accommodate thicker plates. Does the design of the rack prohibit you from putting large items like frying pans or stock pots inside it? I have had hundreds of people come in over the years with sacks full of pots and pans to make sure the dishwasher would accommodate the way they do their dishes. It may sound silly, but they are never disappointed about what it will hold, because they know before they ever buy. As a last note in the loadability consideration, some dishwashers come with a third (or even fourth)rack for either flatware, cutlery or oversized utensils, while this seems great on paper—and they really do a wonderful job cleaning those items, remember they also take away from usable space and your ability to put large items in the dishwasher.
Aesthetic appeal…sex sells and sexy dishwashers sell better than plain ones. Appearance is the number two determining factor in deciding which dishwasher gets selected. Units with clean faces, integrated controls on top of the doors are selling better now than ever before, it has become the rule rather than the exception. If you prefer to have a wood panel conceal the fact that there is a dishwasher in the kitchen, there are a plethora of models available from almost every manufacturer who makes a dishwasher. Stainless still outsells black, black still outsells white, and bisque sales are few and far between.
Now for some feature notes that may determine which dishwasher you choose.
Top Rack Cycle – This shuts off water flow to the bottom wash arm and cuts water consumption to between 2 and 3 gallons on most models that offer this feature. This allows you to do small loads more frequently instead of big loads every couple days, and still conserves water and electricity. This is one of my personal favorite features.
Exposed heating element – this feature is listed simply to give fair warning to anyone interested in a Bosch. Bosch dishwashers rely on condensation drying…which simply ends up meaning drip drying, which can take up to 5 or 6 hours. If you put your dishes in and start the dishwasher before you go to bed, you will love their dishwasher; they have some truly outstanding products. If, however, you prefer to do a load and put it away before bed, or want to do two loads at night, with Bosch that is really not going to happen. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve written up a salesperson for not explaining the drying time to a customer. It’s all about expectations…if you need quick dry, buy something else. On the topic of time, most of the nicer dishwashers out now will take between 1 1/2 to 3 hours to complete the wash, depending on the cycle selected...the main reason they are be able to be more efficient on water use is they operate for about 40% longer than they used to.
Water Softener – There are a few dishwashers out now that have a built in water softener which you can add special dishwasher softening salt to in order to avoid sludging up the interior of your dishwasher, if you live in a hard water region. If this is a concern you can always go to Miele, who started this feature, as well as Bosch or Kitchenaid, depending on the model you select.
Steam – In Dishwashing terminology used two ways, GE uses it as a heavy duty prewash to penetrate through baked on foods, where the other manufacturers use it as a finishing technique to make your glass sparkle when the cycle is over.
AquaSense – To borrow one manufacturer’s term—most dishwashers now are going to use less than five gallons in a wash, but they will usually not have more than 1 ½ gallons in the unit at a time. Because the amount is so small, the units with this type of feature continuously measure the amount of water circulating within, so if a bowl or cup got tipped over and filled with water, they would add that amount of water back into the wash to make sure the dishwasher has an ample supply of water to get your dishes clean.
AquaBlock – Again, borrowing one manufacturer's term is about a self monitoring system that determines if there is a mechanical failure, and if so pumps out all the water in the unit. Units with this type of feature often have a drain pan which is capable of holding a complete fill of water, so in the event of a failure, a single drop of water should never hit your floor.
Drawer Models – Fisher & Paykel is the original manufacturer of drawer style dishwashers and still gets the best ratings, although you can find products in Kitchenaid, Jenn-Air and even Maytag. The beauty of a two drawer system is that you can stage your dishes, and do smaller loads more frequently. Since many dishwashers now feature Top Rack only cycles, the drawer models have lost a bit of their edge. Because you can still have one drawer with clean dishes and another empty, it does give you a place to hide your dirty dishes if you haven’t had a chance to put the clean ones away yet—rather than piling them up in your sink. Quite frequently we sell a single drawer unit in a bar area, but if space isn’t the problem, you can get a comparable full size dishwasher for the price of a single drawer—and the full size will have a stainless tub, where the drawers are plastic. The full size tub also lets you wash tall items like stock pots or a large punch bowl. I like these units and give F & P credit for making the other manufacturers respond to the need for smaller loads without wasting water, but in most cases I still prefer full size units. One notable exception, if someone has issues bending, or has accessibility difficulty because of a wheel chair, you can not beat a layout which features a single drawer on each side of the sink. Give me another 15 years with my back the way it is, and you will see me using that application in my own house.
My parting comment on dishwashers is simple, and hopefully not inflammatory. On this category of products, throw consumer magazines out the window. Why? In a given year you may find that said magazines test six different models from one manufacturer, and sometimes the only differences from one model to the next are racking variations and a delay, yet one model places thirty spots away from the other, or gets a worse cleaning rating when they both have an identical wash system. There was an instance about a dozen years ago where Viking’s dishwasher placed 2nd, and Asko placed 26th – the problem with that, Asko made the Viking and it had the same feature pack and yet got terrible ratings while the Viking’s were glowing. This isn’t an isolated instance, it happens every year, and to those of us in the industry, who know what manufacturer is actually making what dishwashers, and under what names, the ratings are ridiculous. In the current ratings for instance there is a Hotpoint model which retails for around $359 that places far above many one thousand dollar models, and I can tell you from using that Hotpoint, it isn’t even in the same ballpark, hell, it isn’t even in the same sport. You can also look at Miele, which most people would argue is in the top three, if not the best quality dishwasher on the market, and see where a prominent current consumer ratings company has them occupying the bottom two positions out of what seems like a hundred dishwashers-- and yet J D Powers rates them highest customer satisfaction rating of any dishwasher on the market. From the outside looking in, those organizations always seem to penalize higher priced products with lower ratings. Just take any info you get from them with a grain of salt, and in the case of dishwashers, a pillar of salt.
If someone pinned me down right now and made me list what I feel are the best products out there right now taking into account quality, features and price I would have to recommend:
JDB3600AWS from Jenn-Air
KUDE60SXSS from Kitchenaid
SHX68E05UC from Bosch
D5253XXLHS from Asko
G 2872 SCSF from Miele
These units all have excellent cleanability, excellent sound level, excellent efficiency, styling and loadability--you will have to decide for youreslf, but I would be very happy to have any of these units in my home.
By the way if you are still rinsing your dishes, stop! You are wasting more water on average rinsing your dishes than your dishwasher uses to clean them. The wash systems on most of today’s dishwashers will get the dishes clean. I know it’s hard, put down the dish and step away from the sink. The bulk of the dishwashers out there operate at temperatures much hotter than you can get from your faucet, because they have internal water heaters. If you are still determined to wash your dishes before you wash your dishes, start with the dishwasher, and then if something still didn’t clean all the way, finish in the sink, instead of washing everything twice.
Happy hunting. If you want my advice on your particular needs, just let me know the important features for you on a dishwasher and I will try and make a recommendation for you.
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