Buying a dishwasher....advice needed!

Hello all,
I've been away for many reasons but mainly lack of time. Anyhow, my situation is that 9 months ago I stopped using the Kenmore dishwasher that came with our house because everytime I used it, I would detect a light plastic burning smell. Then it stopped draining the water well, leaving a small puddle at the basin which would then create a bad smell in the kitchen. I'm very tired of doing dishes all the time & although I've never been fond of dishwashers, well, I'm ready for a new one. With three kids & a new volunteer job thats taking up more time than I expected & since I am expecting my fourth child, I feel I do need to get a new dishwasher & use it more.
My main problem with dishwashers is that I hate "washing" the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. Perhaps we've always had the cheapest of dishwashers so I was wondering if a higher priced one would wash the dishes better? We prefer the brand Maytag since the other appliances we've just bought a few months back are Maytag. Any suggestions on how to decide on which one will work best? Do we really need to spend all that money on the highest priced one? Any advice from any of you who've gone thru this ordeal would be greatly appreciated!!!! THANKS!,
Gemila

I forgot to mention that my DH is already fussing about having to spend $$ on a dishwasher but atleast he finally gave in. He HATES dishwashers, he prefers dishes being hand done but seriously, with his long hours he's working, he doesn't help me with dishes anymore so I think his guilt helped a bit but I guess I'm thinking of one in the medium price range.

Gemila: the kind that have the water spinny things (technical term, lol!) on top and bottom make a huge difference. That's what my MIL has, and she doesn't get those food particle bits on the top rack cups like I do with mine.

I don't appreciate having to "wash" my dishes before I wash them, or afterward either. Next time, I'm going for a "double spinny!" I understand they have triple spinnies now, too! ; ) (I know there's a real word for "spinny" but I'm too lazy right now to find it out!)

Maytags are the best, but have a top-of-the-line price tag as well. Second best is to go to Sears and find out which of the Kenmore models were actually made by Maytag (Kenmore doesn't make their own appliances--they have other manufacturers do it and then put their own brand name on them.) The Kenmore ones are usually cheaper, but you have to ask the Sears people where the item was manufactured. They can find out for you.

Uh, this is assuming that Sears in the US still manufactures its Kenmore products the same way as it does in Canada. This was true at least five years ago when I worked at Sears.

Good luck!

Rhonda

Oh, and the other option is to check out used models. We got a "deluxe" washer and dryer set that is only 4 years old for $180, originally $1000. Works beautifully--just had to give it a good scrub down when we got it 'cause the folks who sold it to us had six dogs and--phew!--you could smell it! : )

Rhonda

|Don't assume that the brand name ie, Maytag, Kenmore, GE, etc., is actually the company that made the machine. DH worked at General Electric for 30 years and all the time GE would get contracts from other companies to make their machines for them. That co in turn would put their name on it and the consumers never know. The best thing to do is to know what type does the best job, like 2 sprayer arms (someone referred to is a spinney) or 1 sprayer arm, how many cycles etc. Talk to someone who has a model that does a good job and then go buy one with those features, regardless of the brand name. I have an RCA which was actually made by GE which does a good job. Don't have to wash before hand, nor after either. Another tip, buy a good dishwashing detergent, be it a powdered or a liquid. I also use Jet Dry, as it helps eliminate water spots.

Consumer reports had a great article on choosing a dishwasher. It really helped me decide when I was shopping. They also recommended Wal-Mart's "Great Value" brand of dishwasher detergent and Jet-Dry. I echo their recommendation for a model with a tall tub if you want to do pots and pans.

I bought a Maytag MD88750AWW, with a stainless steel interior. I wasn't looking for the SS interior models specifically, but it was too good a deal to pass by: a floor model which was discounted by $100, plus had a $50 rebate on it.

The machine works GREAT. I don't have to rinse dishes before loading them. It is quiet and has tough scrub and sanitize features. I love its capacity, especially for cookie sheets and large pots. Once in a while I have to flick off a little seared-on stuff from the George Foreman plates, but since the temp got to a point where everything was sanitized in the load, it comes right off and I don't sweat it.

Consumer Reports' article on choosing a dishwasher (visible to non-subscribers): http://www.consumerreports.org/main/content/display.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=451595&bmUID=1125863684413

Their article on quietness ratings and how to read them: http://www.consumerreports.org/main/content/display.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=761395&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=333135&bmUID=1125863875204


You can pay monthly at Consumer Reports online -- $4.95/month -- and view complete reports. Even when searching as a non-subscriber, you can see what issue(s) have the info you want, and then get the copies from your library.


This message was edited Sep 4, 2005 2:57 PM

Sprayer arm! Thank you, defoecat! : )

Rhonda

One word about Kenmore's...They don't stick with the same manufacturers all the time for their various appliances. From what I've heard from a 30-year veteran of applicance repair, they change manufacturers and consistency is not always there even within the same product lines.

I chose a Kenmore last time around (late 90s), and detested it. (Yeah, it was stainless on the outside and looked snazzy in my stainless appliance kitchen), but its much-touted capacity was not as great as my one-step-up-from-builder's-grade-quality I picked out for our first house. (The Kenmore model wouldn't hold my broiler rack, which is a minimum threshhold all dishwashers must pass. I also had to move the top rack up to its highest position to get larger plates and platters to fit on the bottom rack, which meant tall and/or stemmed glassware wouldn't fit on the top rack. And when you host a dinner party or holiday dinner, you have platters AND lots of glassware, so I was constantly washing half the dishes by hand or running two loads. Grrr.)

My newer dishwasher is a GE and after 5 years, I can't say I particularly love it either. I have had problems with water not draining properly, lots of left-on cruddies (and I'm *pretty good* about rinsing/scraping first) I would definitely look for a stainless interior if I were buying again. And I'd probably trust Consumer Reports rundown on best-buys.

I just got a new dishwasher last month from Sears. It is a Kenmore in the mid range in price with a stainless steel interior and the extra heating cycle for the wash. I have done several loads in it and I LOVE IT. Looked them up on Consumer Reports and this model was a best buy and had a great repair ratio too. The Maytag had a terrible repair ratio comparitively so I opted for this model. I got it when they had a sale so I got it for $100 less than usual so the total price was about $600. It can fit lots of pots and pans and cookie sheets and will hold almost double what my old Maytag could hold and does a much better job of getting the dishes clean too. It is quiet and has the option of doing either a heat dry or a air dry.

The shelves are adjustable so I can put in tall dishes or move thing around and do a very tall item.

Good luck finding your dream dishwasher. I highly recommend the Consumer Reports online subscription. It is 4.95 a month or you can get a years subscription for about $26. I thought it was well worth the investment for that.

Lani

I have had Maytag the last three dishwashers, good flexibility in loading, and the most recent one has larger capacity. The number of spray arms is critical to overall cleaning, and like the sanitize cycle, especially when washing jars for canning or jelly making.

Yup love that sanitize cycle too. When I had strep throat it sure came in handy as well as when I canned some stuff last week. I would say that one thing you would really want to look at is how flexible the racks are because some dishwashers you can raise and lower the racks in many ways to fit different size dishes in but some have the old standard fixed racks. One of my other considerations was I decided early on that I didn't want a rack with the steel with coating as the only reason I had to toss my Maytag was because the racks wore out and I couldn't find new ones reasonable enough. The new racks are made of nylon or a synthetic that never rusts out.

Thank you all so very much for all your advice & great info. Don't think I had forgotten about your help. Just had a lot of searching & thinking to do.

Well, last weekend, my DH surprised me by taking half the day off (right now because of the tomato season, he has to work 14 hrs+/7 days a wee). I had done lots of research & kept him up to date. I looked for the sales. Since his favorite place to buy any appliance is Sears & they happened to have the one I wanted on sale, we went to buy it. I chose the Kenmore Elite w/ Turbozone;
http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=APPL&pid=02216052000&subcat=Built-In+Dishwashers
It has the large stainless steel tub, energy efficient & noise reduction. We got it for the $100 off plus another $50 rebate, $99 rebate for installation which we only ended up paying about $20 for. We also went ahead & bought a 3/4 hp food disposal since that too decided to die at the same time. We just had the dishwasher installed Thursday & LOVE IT! We've done three loads & everything came out clean except for my spaghetti pot. I've got some more trials to run on the other cycles to see what works for the mess I put in but DH is really happy with it too cause now he can still watch tv & be able to hear it. Plus he likes that the dishes are finally coming out clean.
Thanks again to all of you for your help,
Gemila

I hope you bought the service contract too....with new appliances and their failure rate these days, it is well worth the few extra dollars. I just replaced my 4 yr. old Maytag dishwasher after two failures and repairs that would have amounted to over $200. Didn't buy the service contract on that one, but did on the new Kenmore. It's not as well designed rack wise as the Maytag was, and only has one spinner arm, but it's working!

Edited to add: we stripped the insulation off the Maytag and added it to the outside of the new Kenmore for extra sound reduction. Good old Duct Tape!

This message was edited Sep 17, 2005 7:24 PM

I agree about the service contracts. My DH has always worked on all my appliances until just recently, but with today's moderan ones ... you really need to get that. Grrrr everything is like that now.