Customer Reviews

KitchenAid Architect Series II KUDE70CVSS 24 Full Console Dishwasher - Stainless Steel

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Washing your dishes used to be a non-issue. Even with my "builders" model (read: under $250) dishwasher, pretty much everything got clean. Unfortunately this is no longer the case.
By regulatory action in most states, dish-washing detergents may no longer contain phosphates. With my original dishwasher, the side effects of this change included white, pasty residue over dishware, as well as a coating of ground-up grit evenly distributed and baked-on over everything. These are well-documented problems with phosphate-free detergent.
I'd already tried different premium detergents, and cranked my hot water up to 185F- neither of these issues helped at all. I put in a separate little water heater under the sink so the dishwasher would get its hot water right away- still no change.
The KitchenAid KUDE70 solves these issues very well. Its internal filtering gets rid of all- and I do mean ALL- crud, and I do NOT pre-rinse anything. No more white gunk, either. I turned my hot water temp down to normal, with NO reduction in cleaning quality.
There's a lot more capacity inside, with three spray arms, and an upper flatware tray. There is a "power scrub" mode with special sprayers for cleaning pots. I tested this by burning an egg and leaving the pot set for a day. After washing once- All Clean!
Ah, it's really nice to have clean dishes once again! This unit is definitely worth the cash.
Conditions for this review:
- Length of ownership- about 1 month
- Price Paid: $1239
- Incoming water temp 135F with water tank located near dishwasher
- Detergent used: Cascade powder with Dawn "Shine Shield"
- Rinse Aid: Jet Dry

We purchased this KitchenAid to replace a disappointing new Miele G2143 dishwasher that (despite the hype) cleaned terribly, didn't fit dishes well, and wasn't especially quiet. This Kitchenaid, however, is just fantastic in every respect. Every dish and utensil comes out clean, with rare exception. And it is super quiet. At times it makes a soft, swishing noise, but other times you simply cannot hear it at all. The capacity is also great: we can fit an entire day's worth of dishes no problem. It also has more silverware space than any other dishwasher we've owned, including a bottom-rack utensil holder plus a complete third rack exclusively for utensils. Somebody really did their homework when designing this dishwasher. We've owned it for only a month, so no data on repairs/reliability yet.

UPDATE Feb 2011: This dishwasher still rocks after 5 months. Love it, love it, love it.

UPDATE Oct 2011: The third rack started sticking and not rolling out properly. The culprit was a tiny $2.00 part (a track stop) that Kitchenaid replaced under warranty. It was easy. We still LOVE the dishwasher and it's still cleaning great.

We ordered this dishwasher based on all of the positive reviews and we have not been disappointed. It is extremely quiet, does a fantastic job cleaning, and dries everything very well. Additionally, there is more space and a better rack layout for all of your dishes than most other comparable dishwashers currently on the market. We love it!

We were undecided between this dishwasher and the somewhat less expensive Maytag MDB8959. This one looks very nice. As best we can tell good cleaning an reliable. The third rack looked very promising.

We decided to try out our actual plates and glasses at the store. The culinary rack is adjustable on this one, as is the top rack. We could not find an adjustment where everything fit in well. The tall glasses bumped up against the culinary third rack. If we put them on the bottom rack, the spacing and holders weren't right.

We now have the Maytag on order. Everything fit into it on the second try.

If your stuff fits into the Kitchenaid, it looks like it will be good, but do an actual test first.