Durable, effective dishwasher?

[moonpalace]

We recently had to replace our dishwasher. Like a good little fledgling mustachian, I did a bunch of research and ended up getting what I thought was a great deal on a highly rated but reasonably priced Whirlpool. I installed it myself a few months ago.

But it doesn't get dishes very clean at all. Like, I run it and at the end some of the plates will have streaks of wet ketchup left on them. And there's dirty water sitting in all the concave surfaces.

We've tried all kinds of different detergents, "rinse aids," different cycles, etc. but none of it has solved the problem. We even had a warranty repair guy come out (free) and he tinkered with a couple things but it didn't help. I'm also cleaning the filters and spray arms regularly, to no avail.

So we're thinking of returning it and getting something better. At this point, we'd rather pay a little more and get something that will last and actually work well. With the daycare it's a major PITA for this not to work well. This one cost $400 but we'd go up to $600 or so for the right thing. Or is that too low to get something high quality?

Thanks for any recommendations!

[Morning Glory]

I had the same problem with a Bosch that I thought was a good deal. Had to manually take it apart and clean it every week or the dishes would come out dirty. See if you can get an older model. New standards meant to be eco friendly cause the newer ones not function as well. I don't remember what year the standards took effect, but it was relatively recent. Currently I have an older Kenmore that works fine.

[Dave1442397]

We have a Bosch from 2010 that works perfectly. Cleans well and is very quiet.

[Cranky]

My Bosch is pretty fabulous! It *is* picky about the dishwasher detergent, though. I actually had a repairman out while it was still under warranty, and he said that if you don't use the right detergent it will oversuds and mess up the sensors. I haven't had a bit of trouble since.

[AccidentalMiser]

I've installed maybe ten dishwashers over the past 30 years in our properties.  We are sold on Bosch, too.  We use the little packets from Costco.  Ounce for ounce, the cost is higher but we use exactly the right amount of soap every time so the cost over time is the same.

[moonpalace]

Thanks for all the responses!

Those who have recommended Bosch - do you have a particular model that you recommend?

After reading online reviews, I was leaning toward Bosch 500 series...

[Dave1442397]

Our Bosch is from 2010, so the model number is probably irrelevant by now, but just in case, it's SHE6AP06UC/06. I seem to remember it costing just over $400 at HH Gregg, who had the lowest price by far at the time.

[Cranky]

I think I bought mine from hhgregg, too. They had much better delivery windows than Lowe's or HD did. At the time they had a free installation special, and when I said I was having our plumber do the installation (because I had some other work to be done at the same time) they knocked $100 off the price.

[moonpalace]

Thanks for the recommendations, everyone.

But alas! Hhgregg is no good to me here in VT - they'll deliver but it costs $160 b/c nearest store is . . . not near. :-)

[lthenderson]

I've had problems with "dirt sensing" modes in dishwashers not doing very well, especially over time. Have you tried a different mode like "pots and pans" or "1 hour cycle" etc. to see if that does any better? I've found that those cycles with pre-programmed lengths seem to do better because they are not concerned with saving water.

[Spork]

We, too, have a Bosch.  Ours is about 1 year old and -- so far, so good.

It DOES NOT hold as much as our previous Whirlpool.  But our previous Whirlpool lasted only 4 years (with multiple repairs over that time frame).

Our Bosch has approximately zero bells/whistles.  The only "feature" is that it is very quiet.  It doesn't even have a food grinder.  It has a filter you manually remove and wash out every day.   The total cost of the Bosch was less than purchasing a new motherboard for the Whirlpool ... which is why we bought it over repairing.

[MrsStubble]

I have one from IKEA which is actually an LG i think.  Very good warranty, quiet, and hides behind a kitchen cabinet door.  Also was very easy to install.

[JJ]

Two hands and a dishcloth? Or is that too old-fashioned? Our last dishwasher broke down because we never used it. We didn't replace it for 7 years until we had to to sell the house.

[moonpalace]

Two hands and a dishcloth? Or is that too old-fashioned? Our last dishwasher broke down because we never used it. We didn't replace it for 7 years until we had to to sell the house.

We did that until my wife opened a home daycare. She's now required by law to wash with a dishwasher.

[JJ]

Two hands and a dishcloth? Or is that too old-fashioned? Our last dishwasher broke down because we never used it. We didn't replace it for 7 years until we had to to sell the house.

We did that until my wife opened a home daycare. She's now required by law to wash with a dishwasher.

Ah - OK. Regulations. In that case, when we sold the house we bought a Bosch (last year) and it did a good job for the month or so we used it. We got an ex-demo one with a small dent in and paid around A$700 for one that normally retailed around A$1600.