Which dishwasher cycle do you use most often & why?

[lavamat_jon]

Sensor wash for most general loads with soiling that's dried on.  Lightly soiled loads I tend to use either Energy Save 45*C or Light Soiling 50*C (depending on my mood lol), and heavily burnt-on pans etc get Pots & Pans 75*C.

My parents just use Sensor wash for everything, and they have no complaints.

Jon

 

[passatdoc]

"Normal" on Bosch DW

I only have three cycles: PowerScrub Plus, Normal, and Quick. 90% of the time, Normal cycle does exactly what I need it to do. Note: my machine is from 2001 and does not have a sensor. If there is a lot of baked-on or dried-on stuff, I use PowerScrub. I might use Quick for glasses/cups or after baking (flour or sugar-coated measuring cups, bowls, etc.).

 

[laundromat]

I never use any cycle other than the sani cycle because the main factors to get dishes real squeaky clean in a dishwasher are:

1. Hottest water available between 160 and 180F
2. Finish tablets
3. Jet Dry Liquid wetting agent
4. cool dry

When I had one of GE's cheapest built in "potscrubber" models in the mid 70's,we used the items mentioned above and had our water heater set at 170F.I would always bleed the faucet until the water coming through was steaming. Then, I would set the cycle on "potscrubber" and never had to rewash or pre rinse anything.All of it came out clean and sparkling and my stepmom liked me to run it,nobody else because I loaded it properly and never had to put anything back or rewash it.Handles up in the silver ware and all the dishes,bowels,saucers,casseroles and cookware were loaded facing the spray.The model we had was converted later to a built in. It had the cycle dial built in to the front ppanel and had nothing but a pushbutton to choose either heated or cool dry.No upper spray arm at all. Just the funky little whirlybird that had a telescopic kind of mechanism to bring the tube up to wash the upper rack.As much as I hate that type of dishwashing mechanism,it did fine and lasted from 1973 to 1987 when I bought Mom and Dad a new Whirlpool Quiet Wash plus for Xmas.It is still in use. My nephew, Richard, now owns the old house and is almost ready to replace it only because the other appliances he now has are Stainless Steel.

 

[appnut]

I did a bunch of baking this pasf riday evening and into early Sat. morning. I turned up the water heter to 130 and ran two baking utensil loads of stuff on Quick Wash and everything was fine. Very light soil in my books. I've probably used that cycle a couple of other times and that's about it.

 

[peteski50]

Cycle Selection!

On my GE TT 7700 I mostly use normal wash and when I have extremly soiled loads I use the added heat option. I do have good hot water. The normal wash will add extra prewashes if necessary. 99.9% everything comes out spotless. I have been using cascade with dawn packets and have great Luck with them. One packet in the main cup 2/3 of the time, but with very dirty loads I put a bit of powder in for prewash. Only on a few occasions have I used the cookware cycle. Occasionally I will use the speed cycle and china crystal for lightly soiled loads.
Peter

 

[amyswasher]

Pots and Pans

only because I get 2 rinses, instead of a purge and 1 rinse.

 

[ronhic]

Dishlex......last of the Australian made ones....

...before Electrolux sent the manufacturing off-shore.

"Normal" here....so that means:

- Rinse
- Wash @ 65c
- 2 Rinses with the last heated to 65c
- Dry....

Everything comes out clean

 

[whirlcool]

This sounds OCD but I do try to use other cycles because on the Maytag we had, we had pushed "normal wash' so much that the touch pad wore out and a new one is NLA.

Fortunately on our Maytag the DW "remembers" the last cycle setting you used and will start it again when you press the start button. This saves wear & tear on the "buttons".

 

[lovestowash]

Maytag TT also...

The majority of the time I use the Heavy Wash, with the High Temp option, and Heated Dry...
I used to select the Auto Clean cycle, but it seldom changed the water after the pre-rinse...instead, it dumped the detergent, resulting in the "wash"...I assume the sensor is supposed to operate in that manner...however, I much prefer a pre-rinse and a fresh wash...once I put in a saucepan with spaghetti sauce residue, thinking it would change the water after the rinse, but didn't, and found a badly stained orange tank the next day...Heavy Wash is the only assurance for a pre-rinse before the wash...
Heated Dry always...that's one thing this Maytag does well...I never use rinse additives...

George

 

[gelaundry4ever]

normal and high temp wash

I always use normal and high temp wash whether it's on my mom's Kenmore or my dad's Whirlpool Gold dishwasher with food grinder.. I don't use heated dry. I do use cascade complete in citrus breeze and its sister rinse aid.

 

[liberatordeluxe]

65C mostly. Glasses on 35C.

 

[washer111]

Seeing as this Thread Popped Up

Typically Heavy or Heavy Eco. 1 wash, three rinses. Main-Wash at 158ºF (70ºC) {So "NSF Sani"} or 150ºF (65ºC), with rinsing at either 150ºF or 140ºF (60ºC). 

Have found these cycles, whilst excessive for only "day old" soils, guarantees washing and drying performance* AND keeps the filters much cleaner for much longer. 

 

Previously, I was using the Delicates cycle, due to the added rinse (for a total of 3).

Having sat and watched the machine through the cycle**, I discovered that while the Normal-Wash is supposed to have about a 40min washing phase (Per F&P service material for the DD60DCX6), it only lasts 26mins, the same as the Delicates cycle. Given that the target temperatures are the same, I saw no use in "Normal" anymore.

 

I also noted that "Normal" needed careful pandering to ensure the final rinse target temp (140ºF) was reached, water too cold (i.e. tub temperature below about 104ºF/40ºC per onboard diagnostic) at start of final rinse would result in the heating "timing out," and not reaching the target temperature, by a significant margin. 

The Heavy cycles are the same, although the higher washing temperatures mean the final rinse temperature is perfectly adequate, should there be no-one to run the tap hot for the rinses. 

 

Footnotes:

* This is NOT an admission of "poor washing/drying" performance. Merely, I am using it to suggest that some questionable, heavily soiled items won't come clean without one of these cycles. Besides, there is LOTS of steam 

These temperatures guarantee drying of plastics, in particular

 

** I think what Bob said above fits perfectly here. I too am guilty of sitting and listening to the action on a number of occasions! 

 

Photo: Example of what usually gets put into the DD, from 2yrs ago, washed on Delicates. Sat for 4 days, Apple pie residue. 

Photo 2: An extreme example (Christmas or New Years load from a while back. Don't have the "Before" examples)

 

 

[toploader55]

Generally Normal/ Full Cycle depending on the machine of choice.

 

If there is a option for Water Heating... It is on.

 

Heated Dry, Yes. Cascade Complete Powder Only, Both Cups filled and Wave Jet Rinse Agent.

 

Soak and Scrub or Pots and Pans when needed.

 

[kimball455]

Auto wash on my Amana with temp boost. Supply water is 140F. It seems to do the job every time. Occasionally, a rinse only ... does a better job that using all that water in the sink. Plates scraped to get rid of the large stuff. That all goes down the disposal.

Harry

 

[brib68]

My KA near-TOL (going on 6 years old): Normal Wash, heated dry. Sometimes I will use the Turbo Wash on crusty baking dishes. Truthfully, though... 1) trying to get a 9x13 pan braced to stand upright to face the turbo jets along the back wall is a pain. 2) half the time, even after rigging the load to support the pan of doom, I forget to push the Turbo Wash button. But the biggest thing, #3: ignoring the turbo wash and tilting the pan at a roughly 45 degree angle with the inside of the dish facing the bottom-rear, the baking dish will usually come out much cleaner than using the turbo.

I have never used the china/delicate cycle on any dishwasher. I will ONLY hand wash my grandmother's antique Noritake, and it only gets used once a year when hubby makes Seder. And my modern (80's) Noritake can go on regular cycle.

Does anyone use Rinse & Hold? I can't decide if its a waste of water or if it would keep the kitchen smelling better.

 

[firedome]

on our past and future KDC17

we only ever used Normal/Full Cycle, supply water at 140, lower rack loaded properly for a 17, blower drying as with all 17s, Cascade back then., The Hurricane did it's thing in a mere 45 min and everything came out sparkling clean.

 

[lordkenmore]

These days, my cycle is, alas, fill dish pan with water, add squirt of detergent, and scrub dishes, while cursing dish pan hands and the pure drudgery of it all. LOL

 

[lordkenmore]

Years back, I had a dishwasher under my control for a brief period. Maybe 5 months at most. (Strangely, it was the first time I ever had a dishwasher to use.) Some might cringe at this thought, but my standard cycle then was a short wash cycle. Some people I knew then certainly cringed at the idea. But it was basically the same as "Normal" as far as I could tell, except "Normal" added one more wash with detergent round at the very start. (This dishwasher was one of those with both a sealed detergent cup, and an open cup that would spill into the dishwasher immediately upon closing the door.) My dishes never really seemed dirty enough to justify the extra round with detergent.

Later, I lived with a roommate. It was her dishwasher, her rules: dishes cleaned up (probably too much before going in), "Normal" cycle, detergent cup filled to brim, and "Sanitize" on (with the switch nailed on if she'd been able to do it).

In the future, who knows? It all depends on the dishwasher and what the loads I have at the time are like... I suppose I'd start by researching the dishwasher, particularly if a modern one (which might play cute games with one cycle like washers do to make regulatory agencies happy). Plus, of course, experimentation. There are worse things one can do than an evening quietly playing with the dishwasher.

 

[abcomatic]

2006 Whirlpool dishwasher. I use normal cycle without heated drying. Bubble Bandit is the detergent that is used. This dishwasher actually uses water to clean. lol Gary