How people with no room for a dishwasher are getting one anyway

Updated 2 days ago

If your kitchen doesn't have a dishwasher, you probably decided years ago that it never would. There's nowhere to put one, and a full-size machine costs you a whole cupboard of space plus a plumber.

Here are 5 reasons this worktop dishwasher is changing that.

Reason 1

It's the size of a microwave and holds a whole day's dishes

Compact on the counter with a full load inside

It takes about as much counter as a microwave. Inside: four dinner plates, four side plates, four bowls, four glasses, four mugs, a full silverware basket and a saucepan.

For one or two people that's the whole evening, gone in one load. The roasting pan still gets done by hand — but the pan is once a week and the plates are 365 nights a year.

Reason 2

You pour the water in from the top

Filling the top tank from a pitcher

There's a tank in the top. Fill it from a pitcher, plug the machine into a regular outlet, press start. No plumber, no water line, nothing attached to your faucet.

Which also means it doesn't care what faucet you have — pull-down sprayers, odd threads, none of it matters. Four minutes and it's running.

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Reason 3

It washes hotter than your hands can stand

A dirty load going in and coming out clean

Spray arms above and below the rack, water up to 167°F. Your hands give up around 110°F — which is why baked-on food won't come off in the sink without scrubbing.

Hot air drying after, and a salt reservoir softens the water first. The thing people mention most is how their glasses look.

Reason 4

You load it standing up

Loading the dishwasher standing upright at counter height

A built-in puts every plate in on your knees. This one is on the counter at chest height — no kneeling, no reaching into a low rack.

People buy these for their mothers for exactly this reason.

Reason 5

The sink is empty when you sit down

Running quietly on the counter in the evening

Twenty minutes at the sink every night, for years, and it never gets shorter. This takes that back.

It's quiet enough to run while you sit down, and it costs $159 instead of $600 plus an installer — because it needs none of the expensive parts. If you move, it comes with you.

We recommend a quick measure first

All it needs is clear space under your upper cupboards. Thirty seconds with a tape measure.

Width16.9 in / 42.8 cm
Depth16.7 in / 42.5 cm
Height16.9 in / 42.8 cm
Weight27.6 lb / 12.5 kg
Tank1.3 gal / 5 L

No clearance under a cupboard? Plenty of owners keep theirs on a rolling cart at counter height and wheel it to the sink.

Against the alternatives

A built-in dishwasher

$900+ all in, plus a lost cupboard

Machine
$600+
Install
$300–400
Loading
On your knees
Ready to use
Days to weeks
Comes with you
No

A faucet-hookup worktop

$200–350, and a hose on your faucet

Machine
$200–350
Attaches to faucet
Yes
Fits any faucet
No
Loading
Standing
Comes with you
Yes

The Washly

$159.99, nothing attached to anything

Machine
$159.99
Attaches to faucet
No — fills from top
Fits any faucet
Yes
Loading
Standing
Ready to use
4 minutes
Comes with you
Yes
Washly Worktop Dishwasher
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What buyers say

★★★★★ 4.7 out of 5
★★★★★

Fits more than it looks like it will

Whole dinner for two with the pans in. It's not a toy — it's heavier than I expected and the door shuts properly.

Customer photo
James T.
★★★★★

Better than the built-in one we had

Our old place had a full-size dishwasher and this cleans better. Quiet too — we run it while we're watching TV.

Customer photo
Priya K.
★★★★★

Small kitchen, no space for a real one

Fits under the upper cupboard with room to spare. Pouring the water in takes a few seconds and then you forget about it.

Customer photo
Megan H.

Six things we'd tell you before you buy

The things a salesman leaves out.

Use powder, not tablets

A tablet is dosed for a full-size machine using 3 gallons. This uses 1.3. Loose powder and the measuring spoon in the box — a tablet is too much detergent for the water.

The tank needs emptying

Dirty water goes into a sealed tank you tip into the sink at the end. About ten seconds. Next to the sink, run the drain hose over the edge and skip it.

A normal cycle is 69 minutes

There's a 29-minute quick cycle for glasses and light loads. The full wash takes just over an hour, same as any dishwasher.

A roasting pan won't go in

Dinner plates up to 12 in will. A saucepan will. A large casserole dish or a roasting pan won't.

Keep the salt topped up

Same dishwasher salt a full-size machine takes, every few weeks depending on your water. Skip it and the white spots come back.

If it stops working

60 days to send it back for a full refund, no restocking fee, for any reason. After that it's covered by a warranty, and a person answers the email.