Kenmore 68102 Dryer Review

Design & Usability

Keep it simple.

The design of the 68102 carries few extras. However, that reduces control panel clutter and makes for a straightforward user experience. The handle spans the entire top of the door for easy grip, and the cycle selector knob has clear indicator lights to cut down on confusion. Also, having a 7.6 cu. ft. capacity helps insure that even your bulkiest items can fit. There's a drum light as well, allowing you to do your drying in the darkest of basements.

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Performance & Features

Power where it counts

There are dryers with smart meters, there are dryers that have more buttons than your phone, but most importantly there are dryers that get your laundry dry. This Kenmore is one of those dryers.

The Normal and Delicates cycles both took about an hour and got test laundry completely dry. Just as impressive, these cycles stayed away from super-high temperatures that could damage your clothing.

The 68102 also did well with bulky items. In about an hour, our test comforter got 87 percent dry. That's really good. Most dryers recommend you run a Bulky cycle twice, flipping the comforter in between the two cycles. Most users ignore this advice.

If you're in a hurry, the Express Dry didn't disappoint either. It got a small load of test laundry half dry in 13 minutes. Run that cycle twice and you've got a wearable shirt in under a half hour.

For in-depth performance information, please visit the Science Page.

Conclusion

It's a dryer that dries your clothes.

The Kenmore 68102 doesn't impress with features. However, it did well in all of our core performance tests. Despite a steep MSRP, sale prices hover around $650, and you're getting a lot of dryer for a little money. The cycle selection gives you a good deal of control without overwhelming. It's versatile, likeable, and good at what it does. We told you it was just like Tom Hanks.

By the Numbers

Objective testing is the basis of our reviews. For dryers, this means analyzing temperature and humidity data. Sensors were placed in the Kenmore 68102 during Normal, Delicate, Bulky, and Express Dry cycles.

Normal & Delicates

The Normal and Delicate cycle tests involve wetting an approximately eight-pound load to 1.7 times its weight. These loads are placed in their respective cycles with temperature and humidity sensors.

The Normal cycle lasted, on average, about an hour. Test loads came out completely dry. Our sensors picked up a max temperature of 153.3°F, just to the correct side of good behavior. Any hotter, and it might hurt your clothes after a lot of dry cycles.

The Delicates cycle also finished in an hour. It reached a maximum temperature of 133°F, which is a little higher than we like to see. But more importantly, even at these lower temperatures the test laundry still got dry.

Express Dry & Bulky

The Express Dry cycle takes a four-pound load of towels, bedsheets, and pillowcases and wets them to 1.7 times their weight. After 13 minutes, we measured laundry that was 50% dry—not bad considering the short time.

A Bulky test utilizes a comforter wetted to 1.5 times its weight. After 55 minutes, the comforter came out 87% dry. That's very good considering the fact it's common practice to a flip a comforter and run a Bulky cycle a second time.