# Dishwasher - what features? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 19, 2016, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishwasher-what-features/746511 "2016-02-19T01:45:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2016, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishwasher-what-features/746511/21 "2016-02-23T13:28:09Z")
I’m confident you’ll like it. My machine is an LG, but it is the same European style that leaves the dishes damp. The down side is a little bit of wiping off occasionally. The up side is that you don’t run the risk of melting plastic containers and having piping-hot glass containers self destruct when you fill them with cool water. Sanitize is good. Silent operation is good. Do keep a weather eye on the filter–not necessarily a daily cleanout, but every few weeks. I recently had to pull our machine because of a clog from months of neglect. But once I put it back in its space it started working like a champ. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2016, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishwasher-what-features/746511/22 "2016-02-23T14:05:14Z")
Our dishwasher is an inexpensive one, in the $250-300 range, if I recall correctly. Probably five years old. It’s not a quiet model, but, you know, I’ve never found its noise objectionably loud - and our house is an open floor plan, so the kitchen and living space are one. We used to have a problem with it not cleaning as well as it might, but since we switched from liquid detergent to the newer “dishwasher blobs” we have no complaints about its performance. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishwasher-what-features/746511/23 "2016-02-24T03:23:34Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I have a ca. 2012 Maytag dishwasher. > > The sanitize cycle was pretty slick when our children were babies and we were cleaning a lot of bottles. I don’t know how handy it really is these days- I tend to run it for sure if I’m washing cutting boards or other things that have been in contact with raw meat, and I tend to run it a lot of the time anyway. > > Otherwise, the features are fairly basic- 4 basic wash modes (jet clean, “auto”, quick and normal), and some modifier/add-on cycles- high temp wash, steam, sanitize. There’s also a rinse & hold function. > > Mine is a top-controls model, so I have to crack it open to see if it’s done- there’s a ‘finished’ LED that indicates that it has completed the cycles, and a “sanitized” LED that indicates that the sanitizing cycle ran effectively (long enough and hot enough). Forgot to mention a downside; it’s apparently designed to use rinse aid and doesn’t work nearly as well at drying dishes without it, heat or not. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishwasher-what-features/746511/24 "2016-02-24T11:37:53Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > A friend had a dishwasher with controls on the top edge. What I don’t understand is how you know the cycle is complete? With the old style knobs, you could see that it was at the end of the cycle. A few things have already been noted but the Bosch machine also beeps four times when it is finished (as well as the visual display). We have had a Bosch for the last ten years and the OP will not regret it. Ours has the third shelf for cutlery and if you get the really top line dishwasher tablets you are supposed not to need rinse aid- you can just set the machine to not require it. As we live in a hot climate the heating element is never a problem. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dishwasher-what-features/746511.md?page=1)