Dishwashers: What To Look For

Dishwasher odors

Run a Google search for "smelly dishwasher" or "why does my dishwasher smell," and you'll find dozens of pages on this issue, with tips on removing the smell that some say has a sulfur or sewer quality. It can happen in all brands of dishwashers. In our research, we found that the problem has less to do with the dishwasher and more to do with installation, particularly with the placement and height of the drain hose in relation to your sink drain and its garbage disposal.

If you notice a rotten-food smell from your new dishwasher, installation and the hoses are the first things to check. Dishwashers can also smell due to caked-on food if you don't use them every two or three days. We found several suggestions for refreshing a smelly dishwasher. Although commercial products are available, many owners report success from running the washer with a cup of vinegar every few weeks. Another suggests adding lemon peels or a few capfuls of bleach to a load.

Dishwashers, especially high-end models, often have an impressive list of features. Some, such as a stainless-steel interior and custom door insert, are purely cosmetic. Others, like numerous wash settings, are rarely utilized by owners after the first few weeks. Experts say to look for the following features when shopping for a dishwasher:

• As a rule, the more places within the dishwasher that spray water, the cleaner the dishes get. This is expressed as the number of wash levels or tiers. The dishwashers included in the ConsumerSearch Best Reviewed section all have three or more wash levels. For the best washing, there should be spray coming at least from the bottom, top and under the top rack. Whirlpool Gold and Kenmore Elite dishwashers also have jets mounted on the back of the wall as a pot-scrubber or "extreme wash" option. It is best to avoid the kind of bargain-basement dishwasher in which the water only sprays up from the bottom. These units, known as builder's grade, may be installed in your brand new home, so be sure to check with your contractor.

• Sensor washing can help save water and reduce the length of a wash cycle. This feature works by measuring the turbidity (cloudiness) of the water and using the information to determine whether additional rinse cycles can be skipped. This feature is becoming more commonplace, even on budget models.

• Features such as folding tines and adjustable top racks give you more ways to position dishes. Another helpful feature is a self-cleaning filter with a hard-food disposer. Without it, any food particles left on plates will wind up accumulating at the bottom of the dishwasher, and you'll need to empty the filter manually. A high-temperature wash option is a hedge against germs, and a few extra cycles, such as china wash or quick wash, give you a way to protect fragile items or avoid wasting large quantities of water cleaning a lightly soiled load.

• Other than ending up with dirty dishes, what's most likely to annoy people about their dishwasher is the noise it makes. Price seems to correspond with noise level, say reviewers, so more expensive models usually have better insulation. The lower the decibel level, the quieter the machine. Budget dishwashers may crank out levels as high as 60 decibels or above, while high-end dishwashers are comparatively quiet at 45 decibels. The $1,550 Bosch SHX98M09UC measures a noise level of only 42 decibels.

• A time-delay setting is handy, because it allows you to load up the dishwasher and set it to run when nobody's around to hear it. However, fire-prevention advocates say you should not run your dishwasher while you're away from home or asleep, for obvious safety reasons. All the models included in the ConsumerSearch Best Reviewed section offer a delayed-start option.

• A good detergent can make a world of difference. Today's enzyme-containing detergents are a great improvement over cleaners of the past, according to ConsumerReports.org. Enzymatic detergents, which use non-toxic, biodegradable chains of amino acids to break down food residue, are also much more environmentally friendly than traditional dishwashing detergents that contain phosphates. Bans on phosphate-containing detergents are in the works in several states because of damage to local ecosystems that occurs when phosphates leech into lakes, causing overgrowth of algae -- a danger to marine life.

Appliance manufacturers change model numbers frequently and often add numbers or letters to the end of the model number, indicating colors or other options. The vast majority of dishwashers sold in America come from only three companies: Whirlpool (which also makes KitchenAid, Jenn-Air and Roper, as well as Maytag, Amana, Admiral and many Kenmore and Kenmore Elite dishwashers), GE (which also makes Hotpoint) and Electrolux, which makes Frigidaire dishwashers. Keep in mind, though, that the cheaper labels reflect low-end lines, so a Hotpoint dishwasher may not perform as well as a GE, despite having the same manufacturer. However, many models differ very little from others made by the same manufacturer within the same price range, so you may be able to locate comparable models by comparing features and price.

Dishwashers have become increasingly better at conserving water, with many using a scant four gallons per load. Yet the biggest water waste, according to Consumer Reports, lies with consumers themselves. Editors say that more than half of dishwasher owners pre-rinse dishes before washing, a step they say is completely unnecessary as it wastes water and makes little to no difference in cleaning performance. Most dishwashers had no problem handling stuck-on oatmeal and spinach-smeared dishes without pre-rinsing in professional testing -- even when left overnight to congeal.