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Dealing With a Dud of a Dishwasher

Posted October 21, 2008

We’ve hated our dishwasher for longer than might seem possible (actually, it’s only been for three or four years, but given the poor performance of this dishwasher and the intensity of our emotions, it feels like an eternity). But we’re stuck in a bind, because there is absolutely no way in this universe that The Whiner could shell out hundreds of dollars or more for a new dishwasher.

So instead, we rely on a two-pronged strategy which is relatively effective.

First, we provide ourselves emotional solace by swearing that we will never again buy a KitchenAid dishwasher. No sale, no salesperson, nothing could convince us to go this route again. (Yes, this does make us feel better.) We don’t blame the store (PC Richard & Sons, where we have gotten many a good appliance deal along the way). We simply hate the dishwasher.

Next, we rely upon a trick that a sympathetic repair person taught us.

Every time the dishwasher starts baking food particles onto our plates rather than cleansing them away, we run one load empty, at the highest possible temperature, using a full cup of white vinegar without any additional soap. This does a pretty good job of keeping the machine functional, at least for awhile.

It’s no substitute for a new machine, but it’s a heck of a lot cheaper. And although the machine smells like vinegar afterwards, that only lasts until the next wash, and the pungent aroma can be a good excuse for returning to our familiar mantra about never buying another dishwasher from you-know-who.

Do you have tricks like this that you rely upon to keep old appliances going when you can’t afford to replace them? Please share them.

Reader Comments

  1. Rose

    I sympathize with you. Why is it that manufacturers can get away with refusing to stand behind their products? I had a bad experience with a Krups coffeemaker a few years ago. It had a thermal carafe with a glass lining that shattered after a couple of weeks. When I called them, they charged me full price for the replacement carafe–more than half the price of the coffeemaker. That one shattered too (Both times we weren’t even in the kitchen when it happened!). So I called Krups again. I got some sympathy from the guy on the phone, but no satisfaction. When he said he’d charge me full price again, I told him to forget it and that I would never by another Krups product. And I haven’t, and won’t. And I’ve told all of my friends and family the story.
    I finally found a good deal on a Cuisinart thermal carafe coffeemaker, got it for about $50 at a half-price sale. The thermal carafe has a stainless steel liner, so breaking glass is not a problem. Also, it actually has worked fine for a couple of years now. I like the coffeemakers with thermal carafes because there’s no burner–I used to forget and leave the pot on. In any case, it’s nice to have something that actually works as it’s supposed to, and to not wrangle with the company.

  2. Holly Clark

    Yes, it’s remarkable the way that some products are just problems from the beginning. My last PC was an H-P and something was always going wrong with it. There were always things that I should have been able to do that just didn’t work. When it finally broke down to the point where I would have really needed to put some money into keeping it going (it was just two years old at this time), I decided to switch to an Apple. Now I’ve got a MacBook Pro and I’m crazy about it. So, some stories do have a happy ending. I probably never would have made the move to an Apple if that PC hadn’t been as terrible as it was.

  3. Annee

    Handwashing ASAP. In the sink I keep a plastic container 7×3x3 with soapy water and an IKEA dish brush. All the adults in the house wash up their cooking and eating utensils and put them in the self-draining dishrack. When I come by, I put the dry items away. OUR dishwasher is used for major events. Our dishes are always in use. We are aware of our lives and reinforce good habits.