I have an Asko, mid range in price and about a 5 yr old model. Although I don't do plastics in large amounts, my Asko dries them fine. I do find that older Tupperware/Rubbermaid solid type plastics dry better than the cheaper disposable ones, and there will be some standing water on top of plastic glasses (as well as glass) if they are standing flat and not tipped, same with some of the other plastic/glass.

I have used just my fan dry as well as heated dry and have no problem with drying on either. I put plastic on the bottom rack and have never had anything melt or warp, including lids. I usually only put large to med. size on the bottom.

I use the normal wash temp and very, very occasionally use pots and pan cycle which I think is hotter as well as longer. Have never had a problem with plastic on either cycles.

Our Miele Excella has a Plastics program that has a lower temperature than "normal". We've also used other programs for loads that contain some plastic, & it's still works well. Everything comes out so clean, & no warping. One thing I really like about the Miele is that we can load anything anywhere, since there's no exposed heating element to melt anything.

Miele's Excella and LaPerla both have a plastics cycle (click the link named "programs" under Standard Features). Miele will also be releasing its new models later this year (so they say) and their new G 2002 La Perla has one of the following features:

Unique Advanced Drying Features
â¨MieleÂs drying process is the most innovative of any dishwasher made today. The Clean Air drying system circulates room air around the exterior cavity in the machine. This pulls moisture from the dishware to the walls of the dishwasher where it drains away. To assist this process, the new Sensor Dry feature measures room temperature so that it can adjust the heat of the water, rinse aid distribution and drying time to maximize performance. Drying Plus opens the door automatically at the end of the cycle to let out moisture and provide superb results, especially for plastics.

We currently have an eleven-year old Asko that does plastics just fine. We do intend to replace it with the new Miele LaPerla when it is released.

I think the salesman is full of it. In our domestic DW,s you havd to be careful of where you put your plastic cups / bowls / etc or they would get melted from the drying heating element.

In the Euro DW's that is not an issue - you can put your plastic cups / bowls / etc anywhere and no risk of any melting.

As to the water in Euro DW's being hotter melting plastic, well I certainly haven't found that to be the case

Most plastics that have lids (such as chinese soup containers) will never get totally dry. Sure, plastic plates and bowls should get dry with almost any dishwasher. But any plastic with areas to collect water won't completely dry. I view this as a very minor issue. I am far more concerned about the DW's convenience andcleaning ability.

Greg

We run plastic Tupperware through the Normal cycle of our Miele all the time. Definitely no melting. It tries pretty well too. As others have said, the only standing water is generally on top of cups or mugs or lids that stand upright so the water has pooled, whether they're plastic or ceramic.

I have never had any problems with plastic in my Bosch, and it can be placed anywhere - lower rack as well as upper rack. I melted stuff in the old Maytag though.

The only trouble I've had with plastic melting in ANY dishwasher, was in the 1980s Frigidaire in my first house. A Mr. Coffee tea pitcher in the lower rack warped from the exposed drying element.

My next dishwasher in that house was a KitchenAid with forced-air drying and no expose element. Plastic could go pretty much anywhere in that machine. Next (now) after that is a Fisher & Paykel DishDrawer, which doesn't have a drying heater at all. It has a hidden water heating element, gets up to 163°F on the most intense cycle. No melted plastic thus far.

Your salesman is definately full of it!!

We have a Bosch and have no problems with plastic at all.

Enjoy the journey.
eal51 in western CT

I'll elaborate on your salesman not knowing what he was talking about. In Domestic DW'ers, there is an element at the bottom of the DW that heats water for Wash, Rinse, and Drying if you so choose. the Drying feature can get hot enough to melt plastic if the item is in close proximity.

On a European DW, the water is heated via a small water heater for Wash and Rinse. There is no way to heat for drying therefore, no melting issues. Hot water can not melt platic.

I don't understand this at all. Isn't the DW temp controlled first by the hot water heater? If a WH is set to 120-140 degrees or so, is that hot enuf to melt plastic? Or do DWs heat up water beyond what's in the hot water heater?

In Europe most of the connections are cold water so the DWs and washers are designed to heat the water. Some models sold in the USA, at least Miele, can be connected to cold water and it will heat the water it draws for the wash and last rinse to the temperature it needs so it doesn't care what's in your hot water heater, plus this may be more efficient than setting a big tank of a water heater to a higher temp just for a dishwasher.

If you have incoming water of 110F and the cycle you are using needs 167F it will heat the water to that temp. If you are using the china cycle which uses a temp of 115F it will heat the water to that temp. However many brands made for the USA market tell you to run the water at the sink and make sure it is 120F because they are not expecting to heat cool water and in fact their manuals state that if you use the sanitize cycle and the water is not 120F the sanitizing will fail.

Most plastic nowadays, even plastic wrap, can withstand the temperatures in a microwave so I don't think melting plastic from hot water is a danger.

I have a relatively inexpensive Frigidaire Gallery model (which I think works very well actually). I wash lots of plastic and put it anywhere, but I don't use the heated dry. That does melt plastic that is on the bottom or is particularly flimsy. I wouldn't use the heated dry anyway. I just wash at night. In the morning the dishes are clean and dry and it saves energy.

- Jim

many of the new,better domestic models will heat the water once it's in the machine when chosing a Sanitize or similar model. They can't do it with cold water because the heating elements are not powerful enough, but they will heat 120f water, and will usually wait a while for the heating to take place (hence a longer cycle time).

Our 2002 vintage KA of course has a heating element (for drying) and a food disposer in the bottom of the unit. Small plastic lids from restaurant kid cups sometimes fall through the upper rack and down to the bottom of the unit, where they melt and are "disposed" down the drain by the food disposer. The salesman we have just dealt with recommended several of the European units or F&P Dish Drawers without heating elements or disposers for use in drying plastics. We are going with the F&P double dish drawers in our kitchen renovation.

I wash plastic all the time, mainly glad food containers, and they do fine in my kitchenaid.

quadman, F&P DishDrawers DO have a water heating elment, but it's not exposed and not used for drying. The main wash and final rinse are *always* heated to specific water temps per the cycle selection. F&P drawers can work with a COLD water connection.