Buying my first dishwasher

[Globalpandemicmum]

Never had a dishwasher before so currently researching to find the best value for money product but I have no idea what sort of thing I should be ensuring the dishwasher has.

So, what are your requirements of a dishwasher?

My dishwasher has a built in water softener and I live in a hard water area (London). Despite using the 3in1 tablets, I still use salt and rinse aid.

I prefer cutlery tray because I feel the cutlery basket takes up valuable space. My experience has confirmed this, as I don't have enough space on the lower shelf as it is, even without the cutlery basket.

I have a miele. Love it.

But prior to this I had back to back Bosch and my parents have had Bosch for > 20 years.

I've just bought a dishwasher for my aunt (her carers will use it primarily) and bought her the very basic Bosch model which will clean her dishes with no frills. She has a separate kitchen so noise not an issue.

I'm another cutlery drawer fan. And my door pops open to let the steam out which I love and the machine is very quiet and has a timer so I run it overnight (I know some people hate this) to take advantage of my off peak electricity rate.

We had a tiny bosch dishwasher at the old place that was was in the house for 4 owners (20+ years). We left it behind for the new owners as there was no room for a modern / large one. We bought a second hand bosch one for the new place too but may get the miele because I want a top cutlery tray.

When we bought a new dishwasher last year we wanted one with a cutlery tray at the top of the machine. As we knew that there can be an issue with height in the top basket we took our crockery with us to the showroom (pre covid).

That way we could make sure that our water glasses fit, our wine glasses don't have stems, and made sure our bowls stacked in neatly too on the bottom.

We have now had the dishwasher a year, I absolutely love the top cutlery tray as we can fit more on the bottom rack. I would have loved to buy a Miele but at £1k+ we chose something for less than half that price.

There are plenty of Miele dishwashers for under £1000. Freestanding start at around £600.

Personally I hate the top cutlery tray I've got in my current Bosch (having always had baskets previously.) It takes at least 3 times as long to load, you have to lay each individual piece of cutlery down at an appropriate angle, and there's not enough room for large utensils/knives/ladles etc

Next dishwasher I'm definitely going back to a basket. Far quicker to load and more capacious.

Thank you cutlery rack answers

My Siemens is good except the gaps on the bottom tray/shelf are irritatingly widely spaced and things fall through if you're not careful.

Also we live in London. I've stopped using salt because it was creating pits on the outside of my saucepans. (A kind Mumsnetter told me it was the salt)

@tobee

My Siemens is good except the gaps on the bottom tray/shelf are irritatingly widely spaced and things fall through if you're not careful.

Also we live in London. I've stopped using salt because it was creating pits on the outside of my saucepans. (A kind Mumsnetter told me it was the salt)

What are 'pits'?

I got a new machine and very quickly removed the cutlery tray and put back the basket from my old machine.

The tray seemed a faff and I can make better use of the top shelf without the tray.

The trouble is you won't know till you try which you prefer!

I hated the tray and prefer the basket. I now have a cheap Beko in this house and it works really well. Not sure there is a need to buy the expensive machines.

Pits are tiny craters caused by the salt corroding the metal of the saucepan.

Original Bosch lasted 15 years when parts were no longer available! Bought a neff which is fantastic. Whisper quiet, all of the racks fold flat so you can put anything in it. Eco programmes, cutlery drawer, AAA rated and it has a light that shines down onto the floor so you can see if it's still running before you open it! I would decide what your budget is then look and see what's available. You can also get a free trial to Which magazine and look at the reviews which might help.

If you’d like a suggestion for really good eco friendly tablets, I’m a fan of Smol.

We have a Bosch, cost about £400 and we like it.

@Oddbutnotodd

Pits are tiny craters caused by the salt corroding the metal of the saucepan.

But the salt doesn't make its way into the dishwasher in the first place and shouldn't ever come into contact with any of your dishes or saucepans etc, so this is confusing. Unless of course in the process of filling the salt reservoir, some of it has spilled out.

I love my very quiet Beko. It has a removable cutlery drawer and separate basket, baking tin / rack stand and a wine glass thingy (which I've never used!). The upper rack is height adjustable, so more space for tall glasses etc. if you decide to not use the drawer. Main features for me were low decibels and the hard water adjustment. The low price didn't hurt, either....

I have a Beko with a cutlery tray and an AEG with a basket, the Beko will not take our wine glasses on the top shelf but the AEG won't take the large bowls on the bottom shelf but fits the glasses perfectly so tend to have both running over night. Always use Asda/ Tesco own dishwasher tablets and cheap salt and rinse aid from home bargins topping up monthly

I dislike the top cutlery tray- on mine no what how I position the rack(s) below, the machine will not take the articles to be washed as my previous machine did.

We have a cheapy Hotpoint from AO. We've had dishwashrs fro the last 25 years and this one beats them all. It's so quiet I'm never sure it's actually running, everything comes out spotless and Dh manages to get a days worth of stuff from the family in it each night.

It also holds wine glasses, the top shelf adjusts and it has a fold down holder to slot the necks of the glasses into.