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Dishwashers
detail of CR tester loading dishwasher with soiled dish for testing
Photo: Scott Meadows/Consumer Reports
DISHWASHERS LAB

We test thousands of products in 63 labs at our headquarters.

Data is the basis for virtually all the work that Consumer Reports does—ensuring that our state-of-the-art tests and reliability surveys reflect how consumers actually use products.

Inside the labs

CR’s lab technicians spend a total of 28 hours evaluating each dishwasher.

Join CR lab technician Michael Berkowitz for a tour of the Dishwashers Lab and a demonstration of some of the tests that are performed there.

Did you know?

CR staff shoppers buy every product we use as a test sample from retail stores, helping maintain our objectivity and independence.

Meet the Dishwasher Team

Larry Ciufo headshot

Larry Ciufo

Senior Testing Project Lead

Leigh Druckenmiller headshot

Leigh Druckenmiller

Assistant Testing Project Lead

Michael Berkowitz

Michael Berkowitz

Laboratory Technician

Stacy Canova Turner headshot

Stacy Canova-Turner

Analyst

Consumer Reports Senior Multimedia Content Creator, Pang-Chieh Ho

Pang-Chieh Ho

Home and Appliances Writer

Dishwasher Testing

Dishwashers undergo performance assessments for washing, drying, noise, and energy efficiency.

A good dishwasher should get your dishes totally clean and dry them well—without making too much racket or running up your energy bill.

Washing

Washing

Our testers apply a consistent amount of starchy goop—a proprietary recipe, but it involves cocoa—to 10 white ceramic plates. They bake each plate to dry the substance on, then load the plates into the dishwasher (without pre-rinsing) and run the default cleaning cycle. Then, our imaging software compares before and after photos of each plate to analyze the difference.
Drying

Drying

Our testers run ceramic, glass, and plasticware through a wash and dry cycle, then meticulously inspect how dry each item is. They take an especially close look at plastic items, which dishwashers have a harder time drying than other materials.
Dishwashers undergo performance assessments for washing, drying, noise, and energy efficiency.
Models are assigned an Overall Score—a combination of test and consumer survey results—and ranked in relation to how they perform within a group.

Bosch / Consumer Reports

Energy Efficiency

Energy Efficiency

Testers measure the amount of water a dishwasher uses and its energy consumption in its default wash cycle. Many machines have an Energy Star from the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency, which measures water and energy consumption, but CR also has its own Green Choice designation that takes into account factors like a dishwasher’s shipping footprint, its interior materials, and brand reliability.
Noise

Noise

A panel of judges listens to an entire dishwasher cycle to identify not just the usual operating sound but also any loud intermittent noises, like clanging or gurgling. The dishwashers that make the least overall amount of racket throughout the cycle get the highest scores for noise.

Our testing also gives you insight into best practices for getting clean, dry dishes.

child loading dish into dishwasher with parent in background drying bowl
How you load matters. Overcrowding your dishes or blocking the spray arms will prevent your dishwasher from cleaning its best. Plus, you can also help your dishwasher dry better. Our testers have noticed that machines whose doors pop open automatically at the end of the cycle allow for drier dishes. Opening your machine's door at the end of a cycle manually can allow steam to escape and fresh air to circulate.
Consumer Reports Recommended
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Look for the CR Recommended mark when shopping in stores or online for easy access to rankings and reviews of products that meet our high standards for safety, performance, value, and reliability.

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PREDICTED RELIABILITY & OWNER SATISFACTION

Every year, we survey tens of thousands of consumers to learn about their real-world experiences with products they own.

Our reliability estimates for specific dishwasher brands are based on a statistical model that predicts the probability that a dishwasher will develop a problem by the end of the fifth year of ownership.

75,114

Member Responses

86,853

Dishwashers Assessed

10 years

Ownership Data

Survey chart

About 23% of dishwashers that members purchased since 2013 broke or stopped working as well as they should.

View Dishwasher Brand Reliability Ratings

The two most commonly reported dishwasher problems were related to issues with cleaning or drying.