S/O Portable dishwashers

[Muddled]

I did not know these existed and now I am dreaming of all the possibilities. Could you tell me more about it?

How close does it have to be to the sink?
How do you hook it up and how does it drain?
Does it actually clean your dishes so that you don't have to do the double-wash?
How and how often do you have to clean out the dishwasher?

YOu have opened my eyes. I think I might know what we are getting for Christmas this year. Thank you.

[protozoa]

How close does it have to be to the sink? You pull it up in front of the sink when it runs. When its not running you can stick it anywhere.
How do you hook it up and how does it drain? A hose comes out the back and attaches to your faucet. It fills and drains through that hose.
Does it actually clean your dishes so that you don't have to do the double-wash? Yes. At least ours does.
How and how often do you have to clean out the dishwasher? I wipe crap out of the drain every time I run a wash. I don't think DH ever does that. So every other wash?

[Deleted]

FI and his siblings bought his parents one a few years ago for Christmas. I think it's a pain to hall it to the sink and then back to the place it resides out of the way, but from what I can tell it cleans them well and does a good job.

[grey56]

I just sent the link to my DH of the one I found on CL (listed today for $120....it's fate!) but he says he's not interested. Sounds like SOMEONE'S DH is going to do dishes from now on..................

[caitlinbree]

H and I used one for a number of years. Getting it seriously saved our relationship. Lol

It was on casters and you just rolled it in front of the sink and hooked up the hose to the faucet. When it was done you unhooked it and rolled it away.

[winnied]

I'm so glad I learned about this today. Just the other day I broke down telling H I'm so tired of him never doing the dishes/doing it on his own time. When we had a dishwasher this was never a problem.

[Deleted]

We used one for years--so much better than hand washing!

[Muddled]

Ha. Technically dishes are Brad's job, but I end up doing them at least half the time, if not more.

This could really be life changing, assuming I can think of a good place to put it. It would require some serous rearranging, but it could totally be worth it. I haven't had a d/w since 2005.

[justsam]

I had one in my first apartment. It was nice to have, but it got in the way when it was in use. Our kitchen was really small, so it was just awkward. But I certainly missed it when I moved to an apartment without a dishwasher after that.

[Muddled]

Oh, it will definitely be in the way when it is in use, but I think I can avoid my kitchen for the half hour it take to wash the dishes. The bigger problem for me is where to put it when it's not in use. My kitchen is tight on space as it is and we would have to get rid of storage to put one in there.

::looks in the fridge for creative juice::

[livinitup]

I had one in my apartment and loved it. It had a butcher board on the top, so it gave me an additional working surface in a small kitchen. I put a toast oven on it. It rolled to the corner when not in use. You just plug it into an outlet, roll it over to the sink and attached the hose to your faucet and turn the faucet on to hot. Then it runs like any other dish washer. You may need to screw on an attchement to your faucet to make it fit. I just ran it when I went to bed and it never got in my way. I usually rolled it to the corner in the morning and emptied it when it was convenient. Buying new, I thought it was expensive but worth it.

[LauraMoser]

My ILs were generous enough to buy us one as a housewarming gift. I LOVE IT! Of course, after five years of living without a dishwasher, I wouldn't expect not to, lol.

But its easy to use, hook the hose up to the faucet, plug it in, turn the hot water on full blast, and press start. There's enough room in our kitchen that we can maneuver around it still while its running, and it comes in handy to have that extra workspace at times. I decorate a lot of cakes, and due to my kitchen counter tops having a strange, ugly texture to them, I use the butcher block on the dishwasher to roll out my fondant.

Its on casters, so its easy to move. And the way our kitchen is laid out, we have the perfect little space to store it. The only drawback to it is that your sink is pretty much useless while running it. Luckily we have a water/ice maker in our fridge so that we can still get water to drink/cook with while its running.

If you're thinking about getting one and have a spot to store it in, by all means, get one! Dishes are my least favorite chore, and having one makes it much more bearable.

[chessie]

They are a pain..I would go with just a normal one and just get the hose kit to drain.

[Muddled]

A couple more questions.

How long do you keep the water on?
I don't understand how it drains if you only have 1 hose. There must be another that you place in the sink?


A normal d/w is not an option.

[LauraMoser]

There is some sort of mechanism in the connecting valve that switches it from filling to draining. There are two hoses but they both attach to the part that clips onto your faucet. When the water drains, it appears to be coming out of your faucet and through the clip, but really its only coming through the clip part.

You keep the water on until the cycle is complete. The specific time obviously depends on the particular cycle you choose. The water does not continuously run into your sink or dishwasher though, as far as I know. I'm pretty sure there is some type of mechanism inside the hose connection or dishwasher that controls when the water flows into the machine and when to stop it.

[Muddled]

Thanks.

[livinitup]

Sept 7, 2012 15:22:46 GMT -5 Muddled said:

A couple more questions.

How long do you keep the water on?

The hose is attached to the faucet. You turn the water on (to any temp you choose) and leave it on and the mechanism cuts it off internally. You won't waste any water. And mine even had a side button so you could get fresh faucet water (to drink, or cook or wet a sponge) without unclipping the whole thing while the washer was doing its thing - nice feature.

I don't understand how it drains if you only have 1 hose. There must be another that you place in the sink?

There are two hoses, connected at the faucet. The 2nd hose comes up and through the same spot and releases the dirty dishwater into your sink without any extra effort.

A normal d/w is not an option.

[loveday]

We have one in our antique home. I found it for free on Freecycle. It's as old as the hills, but it works GREAT. I refused to move into a house without one. Our kitchen needs a total reno/plumbing/electric overhaul, so this was the solution.

[315bride]

I had one growing up. It seemed to do the job just fine.