8 best dishwashers for spotless crockery, tested on our dirtiest plates and pans

How we test dishwashers

At the Good Housekeeping Institute, we rate each dishwasher on its performance across a standard, economy and intensive cycle.

To do this, we stain a range of glassware, crockery, cutlery, pots and pans using common and notoriously difficult-to-remove substances – think lipstick on a glass and burnt pasta sauce on a pyrex dish – to judge how well each appliance cleans. Each stain is weighed and precisely applied, and we use the same detergent for every cycle to ensure consistent results.

For normal and economy cycles, we make sure the dishwasher can fit the maximum number of place settings suggested by the manufacturer, while we use fewer in intensive programmes.

We record the water and energy consumption for every cycle, before finally considering the controls, settings, design and instructions in our overall score.

Full size vs slimline vs integrated dishwashers

When you're shopping for a dishwasher, there are two questions you need to ask yourself: how often are you going to use it, and how much space do you have? This will inform whether you pick a full-size or a slimline dishwasher.

As a guide, slimline models should fit into a 45cm-wide gap, while full-size dishwashers are about 60cm wide. In terms of how much washing up these can manage, a slimline model will fit between eight and nine place settings and a full-sized one should accommodate at least 12 – that’s around 120-150 items of crockery and cutlery.

If you want a dishwasher that fits the design of your kitchen, go for an integrated model. This will be installed inside a kitchen unit and have a door that matches your cupboards. Generally, the control panel is hidden on the top lip of the door.

Energy efficiency

All dishwashers are rated to find the best energy efficient appliances. The scale runs from A to G, with A being the most economical. Even models with lower ratings will still be fairly efficient though, as the scale was updated in 2021 to allow for new technological innovations.

Note that the cycle you use at home will impact your machine’s energy consumption too; while an eco wash runs for a longer time, it uses much less water than a standard or intensive wash, and therefore requires less energy to heat up.

Scrape your plates before you stack them to get the most out of your dishwasher, but don’t rinse them, as this also uses a lot of water. Soaking stubborn stains before washing can also help.

Dishwasher settings explained

With minimal settings, dishwashers are generally simple to use. Normal, eco and intensive cycles come as standard, but it’s worth knowing the specific purpose of each to optimise your dishwasher’s cleaning potential.

Normal: Best for daily use, this cycle removes standard dirt and food stains using water that’s around 60 to 65C.

Eco: Best for lightly soiled plates and cutlery, economy cycles take longer to complete but uses less water than other ones. The water is still hot too, at between 50 and 55C.

Intensive: Best for tackling stubborn baked-on food (and cleaning your dishwasher), this runs at temperatures of up to 70 degrees.

Delicate: Best for glassware and delicate china, the water temperature will be lower than normal.

Quick wash: Best for when your dishes aren’t too dirty and you need them cleaned speedily.

Hygiene: Best for items that need sterilising, such as baby products or chopping boards. This programme will wash at a high temperature.

Sensor wash: Found on dishwashers with built-in sensors, the programme time, temperature and amount of water will adjust according to how dirty the dishes are.

Design features to look for

Now you know what cycles you’d like access to, it’s time to decide which additional features you want. Here are the ones we’d consider.

Adjustable racks: Giving you extra flexibility, these racks can be moved up or down to accommodate larger plates on the bottom rack, or tall glasses on the top.

Automatic open-door drying: The door automatically opens at the end of a cycle to allow fresh air in and moist air out.

Child lock: This stops curious children from fiddling with the buttons or opening the door mid-cycle.

Delay start: Allowing you to start the dishwasher at a set time, this feature is ideal for running the cycle during off-peak utility hours.

Fold-down tines: Tines are the prongs that keep your dishes upright and spaced out. Look for ones that fold down flat if you often need room for larger items.

Salt and rinse aid indicators: These alerts tell you when it’s time to top up dishwasher salt and rinse aid – both essential for successful cleans.

Smart features: Some dishwashers connect to WiFi, so you can control them via an app and start, stop or put a delay timer on remotely. With some, you can also download extra programmes, adjust the intensity of a wash and run diagnostic tests.

Which uses less water: the dishwasher or hand-washing?

To a certain extent, your washing up habits will determine whether it’s more economical to use a dishwasher or not.

Using a washing up bowl, for example, will require much less water than if you leave the tap running. If you do the latter, you’re probably washing much more than a dishwasher-load's worth of water down the drain.

Using a dishwasher is undoubtedly a time-saver and will give your dishes a more thorough clean. This is because they reach higher temperatures than your hot water tap and use stronger detergents than even the best washing up liquid, helping to kill bacteria.

To be as efficient and economical as you can, only run the dishwasher when it’s fully loaded. Scrape residue from your dishes into the bin beforehand, and soak heavily soiled pans. All this will help maximise your dishwasher’s cleaning power, without wasting water.

Why do dishwashers need salt and rinse aid?

Salt and rinse aid serve different purposes but produce the best results – aka sparkling dishes – when used together.

Salt: If you live in a hard water area, salt is a must. It softens the water, helping to prevent limescale build-up. It’s worth keeping topped up in soft water areas too, as it helps with rinsing.

Rinse aid: Designed to prevent streaks and leave glasses and other items shining, rinse aid stops water from forming into droplets, which can cause streaks. Instead, it makes water run off your crockery in thin sheets.

The verdict on dishwashers

Miele is our top dishwasher brand, and we have three models at different price points, so you can find the right one for your home and budget. Choose between the Miele G 7191 SCVi AD 125 Ed (just under £1600), the Miele G7460 SCVi Integrated Dishwasher (under £1900) or the Miele G5110SC Active (for less than £800). All three are economical and effective.

If you're on even more of a budget, the Hoover H-DISH 700 dishwasher is less than £430 RRP and scored an impressive 90/100 in our tests.

Why you should trust the Good Housekeeping Institute

Our dishwasher tests are some of the lengthiest we carry out in our lab – our team spends days staining crockery and running cycles on repeat to make sure we get a thorough picture of what each dishwasher is like to use day-in day-out. This is all overseen by our homes testing manager, Blossom Boothroyd.

She then passes the results on to our senior homes and lifestyle writer, Megan Geall, who transforms them into shoppable reviews. Megan has written about hundreds of homes products, and looks after all our appliance buying guides.