1) It can't be Green if it's built with "planned obsolescence"
2) Buying new racks for your dishwasher is a real racket.
3) Let's not Tip-Toe
4) Not all change is good- Tall Tubs
5) Prong Spacing Changes Ahead: Beware
6) Optical Illusions Happen- Don't Believe Everything You Read
7) How to Stem Wine  Drinking - A New Goal in Dishwasher Design?

1) It can't be Green if it's built with "planned obsolescence"
 Our house & thus dishwasher are 6 years old this October. We already need a new dishwasher. This really bugs me because I grew up with the same dishwasher that worked for over 10 years for a family of 8. That means it ran  fully loaded, 3 times a day. Today's dishwashers, and I expect tomorrow's dishwashers cannot and probably will not keep up with that kind of performance. I'll tell you, if "green" is really important to these companies then they will stop building appliances with planned  obsolescence. An appliance should last more than 6 years. Our 6 year old Whirlpool was used at most twice a day and often only once a day. That tells you that the appliances built today have about one third the life( and that's being generous) that they could have or used to have. We need to change that  to be a green, sustainable society.

2)Buying new racks for your dishwasher is a real racket.
 If a dishwasher is  going to break down by year six, you can expect the decline to start earlier and our Whirlpool dishwasher was noticeably deteriorating after one year. The plastic on the dishwasher racks started to come off and the prongs eroded away leaving a rusty stumps. We had the low end version of Whirlpool put in  by the builder Wilshire Homes. Thanks again, Wilshire.

 I looked into replacing the racks, but found they cost in the vicinity of $200! Please! The dishwasher probably didn't cost much more than that... so we waited till it stopped doing a reasonable job of cleaning to replace the whole thing.

3) Let's not Tip-Toe Around it:

Tip#1: Tip #1 is very important, but like the manufacture and probably you, I forgot it.
 It is this: of all the appliances you use in your house, this one is probably the one that is used the most and is the most labor intensive. Because of this you should plan on looking even a little longer for and  being prepared to pay a  little more on  this particular item than you might with other appliances. Make sure it fits your needs and you will be happy with it. You are going to be spending a lot of time with it, hopefully ( kind of like a spouse- you probably don't want the first thing that comes a long, right?)
Tip #2: Don't by the low end product. In a year you will wish you spent a bit more.
Tip #3: Buy a model with the nylon racks; they last longer
Tip#4:If you are building, pick out a better dishwasher than what the builder will put in or hold off having the builder put one in & have it put in later. Don't forget that if you have the builder put in a higher end model you will pay dearly for it, but you'll never see the price tag. You will just pay interest on it for the next 30 years. 
Question:What is the interest on a $700 dishwasher paid over 30 years?
Answer: I don't know, I am still wondering how much I actually paid for the cheapo- version plus 30 years interest.
Tip#5: bring a tape measure on your shopping trip.. Measure your dishes and wine stem diameters before shopping if you plan on buying an LG and/or possibly other brands. Be sure and write them down because you will most surely forget such forgettable information.
Tip #6 really goes without saying: but I'll say it anyway : don't believe everything the salesman tells you, even if he is really nice& really knowledgeable. Check for yourself
Tip#7: Is as important as Tip #1: shop at a store that has a good return policy just in case, because unlike your spouse, you can't divorce your dishwasher.

4) Not all change is good- Tall Tubs
Dishwashers today have changed since 6 years ago and not for the better!
 I can tell from the design of today's dishwashers that the people who design them either
 a) never do the dishes or b are midgets! (no offense to midgets) They have designed what is call a "tall tub" which is  on average about 4 inches taller than the previous tub. Sounds like a good idea until you actually use it, or for that matter stop to think about it.
 Here's the problem:  4 inches means having to bend over another 4 inches and not just once, but every time you put something on the bottom rack. They have also made dishwashers deeper  ( which is actually a good idea).( Hey, I am not all about complaining. I can recognize a good idea and give credit where it is due)  The dishwasher of yesterday held about 12 place settings  I was told... I really think they are wrong about that though. I suspect it was more like 8, based on my family's usage. None the less, I was told that today's dishwashers hold between 16 and 24 place settings. Again I don't know if that is actually true, but you get the picture. They are suppose to hold more.* However, adding 4 inches to the height of the tub doesn't really increase the number. It is the depth to the back of the tub which is responsible for the increase in number. The depth has changed from 20 inches to 22 inches. The width has remained stable.
* I checked the booklet-- even the drawing shows only 11 dishes of one kind. Point taken. It holds more but it does not hold 16-24 place settings. (See tip #6)

 Here is what adding 4 inches of height does:  it provides 4 more inches of space vertically and you could conceivably put a platter or larger cutting board in the dish washer.

Barb's Barb? Well, I rarely have anything that big to put in the dishwasher. My cutting boards are wood and I don't put them in the washer. It's not good for them.
For the rare occasion of putting something  that large in the washer ( and I still haven't figured out what it would be) here is what I have sacrificed:

 My back. I now have to bend over 4 more inches each and every time I put something in the dishwasher. At the extreme end that is 24 large dishes , 24 small dishes, 24 bowels, 24 forks, 24 knives, 24 spoons, & various preparation and serving stainless ware. I 'm not going to do the math, but I can see that's over 100 times of bending over another 4 inches.  So to recap: an extra 4 inches 100 times a day, 365  days a year and let's say at least 6 years!
It doesn't take a rocket scientist nor even an ergonomic specialist to know that that much bending over ( and twisting is always involved too) is bad news for ones back!  And if you don't believe that that actually makes a difference then you might also take note: If you buy a machine with a nice arched handle on it, stand in front of your dishwasher while wearing flip-flops and open the door, it will slap down the tops of your feet( where you have more nerve endings than in your shins. Ouch! I was just getting the hang of not hitting my shins with the door.

 I  am flexible. I can bend over with my hands flat on the floor, knees perfectly straight, but that doesn't mean I want to do it over a hundred times while packing and unpacking the dishwasher!
 It is incredibly annoying. I have spent over $600 on  machine that every time I bend over I am  reminded how much I don't like packing & unpacking the dishwasher. Before I never even thought about it. Imagine how much I enjoy the thankless, never-ending-job of cleaning the kitchen now! And my back is feeling it. If ever there was a recipe for a back injury this is it.  I predict  a rash of repetitive  back injuries9 called dishwasher back , of course) complicated by the emotional  upset  and aggravation of a stupid design by a possibly well-meaning, but thoughtless-and- unhelpful-around-the-house-and-especially-kitchen design engineer, (most of whom I feel fairly certain are men.) Sorry guys... my husband and my dad excluded... I know a lot of you don't help pack the dishwasher. I am guessing the designers don't either. Or perhaps they are just a sadist. In any case probably for the next 402,000 times , that's me packing & unpacking the dishwasher for the next 6 years I am going to think how much I don't like the designer( ooh...bad karma) and since I don't know who he/they is/are, I will just blame LG. You may, of course, insert the name of your dishwasher's maker since they all bought into this stupid idea of a design.

Even the sales man had to agree with me, but unfortunately that is all that is available in the stores, except the low end Whirlpool which I started out to replace! argggh!!!

 Now let us not forget the last  change to which you should be cautioned:

Not All Change is Good-Prong Spacing Changes Ahead: Beware

Hey! Look the prongs on the dishwasher rack are closer together. I am sure the designer thinks that means you can fit in more dishes.Wait! This is the same guy who doesn't do dishes. Should we believe him??? Have you learned nothing?

Most of us who buy dishes  know that dishes come in a variety of thicknesses. I have had dishes as thick as Stoneware in the past, but now own thin, shatters-into a million-tiny shards-when dropped-on-tile-but-otherwise-are-indestructible Correlle. Guess  which fits better (not great) into the prongs that our now closer together?
My LG dishwasher is the one with the close prongs. The others, fortunately,  have not caught onto this short sighted change.( no pun intended) And this is a big reason why my LG is going back to Best Buy. Thank Goodness Best Buy has a great return policy. (See tip #7.) You can avoid this problems if you buy just about any other brand, unless they all get on the same band wagon.

5) Optical Illusions Happen
The picture provide by the manufacturer about how to pack your dishwasher's top rack is very possibly not based in reality. Even though we have all seen a comic book with Superman lifting a train engine, we also know that it does not actually happen. And likewise, you shouldn't be surprised when you are unable to place 10 bowels on the top rack flanked on either side by cups, as depicted by the manufacturer's guide.


6) How to Stem Wine  Drinking - A New Goal in Dishwasher Design?
  Not only does the guy who designed the machine not do the dishes, but very likely does not drink wine because the rack that settles over the wine stem doesn't fit our wine glasses. It begs the question why he put it there in the first place.  Maybe his boss is a wine drinker and told him  to put one in. But again, like the dishes -he didn't realize that not all wine glass stems are not the same diameter.  I actually pulled out a tape measure just now and measured the discrepancy for accuracy sake. I own several styles of wine glasses.. The diameter of the wine stems vary from 3/8ths of an inch to 1/2 inch and sometimes that  variation occurs on the same glass if the stem is tapered, for example. However the slot to hold the wine stem is an incredible 1/4 inch. I dare say I have never seen a wine stem that thin and if  there are they would be broken in short order!

What to Do?
I can't do anything about the "tall tub" except warm up my  back with stretches to keep up with the demands of filling the dishwasher and (continue taking extra vitamin C which helps prevent back injuries and do some EFT to help reduce my anger at the designers), or just have my kids always fill the dishwasher (I like that I idea!)

 I will encourage you however, if you agree with the extra 4 inch problem to complain to manufacturers. I am sending a copy of this letter to several of them.  I'll let you know if they respond Ha!
Not that it will do me any good  anytime soon. They are delivering the new  Kitchen Aide dishwasher and taking away the other new LG dishwasher this Wednesday.

 I  found myself envious of my mom's old Kitchen Aide. It is 6 years old, runs great, does not have a tall tub, doesn't have rusted out stubs for prongs. It was the deciding factor in my replacement dishwasher. I hope they haven't gone the way of Maytag.


Hope that helps( you from making the mistakes I made)
Barb Holistic Health consultant & Frustrated Dishwasher Shopper