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  • Introduction

  • Design & Usability

  • Features

  • Performance

  • Conclusion

  • Science Introduction

  • Cleaning Performance

  • Efficiency

  • Introduction
  • Design & Usability
  • Features
  • Performance
  • Conclusion
  • Science Introduction
  • Cleaning Performance
  • Efficiency

Introduction

Despite its small size and low price tag (around $175 online), this compact washer did a great job getting dishes clean while using very little energy and water—certainly a lot less than you'll use washing dishes in the sink.

Design & Usability

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If you can hook it up, it'll save you time and effort.

Outside, the Koldfront PDW60EB’s door looks quite cheap, with glossy black plastic and an obvious gap between the door and bottom panel. It’ll definitely attract fingerprints. Inside, however, you get a stainless tub and room for four full place settings in a single, roll-out rack.

This dishwasher is meant to hook up to a faucet with a threaded fitting at the end, where the aerator usually goes. If you have trouble hooking it up, be sure to make measurements, take pictures and bring parts with you when you get to the hardware store, as there's usually a way to MacGyver it up. We had to purchase a 15/16 inch to 55/64 inch adapter in order to hook ours up onto the sink in our test laboratory.

{{photo_gallery "Front Closed Photo", "Fingerprints Photo", "Controls 1 Photo", "Controls 2 Photo", "Front Open Photo", "Interior Detail Photo", "Top Rack Photo", "Top Rack Detail Photo 1", "Top Rack Detail Photo 2", "Top Rack Detail Photo 3", "Bottom Rack Photo", "Bottom Rack Detail Photo 2", "Bottom Rack Detail Photo 3", "Cutlery Basket Photo", "Cutlery Basket Detail Photo 1", "Cutlery Basket Detail Photo 2", "Cutlery Basket Detail Photo 3"}}

Features

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Small is a feature, right?

Controls consist of plastic membrane keys for on/off and start/stop. There’s also a dial for selecting among five full cycles. A ten minute rinse option will come in handy after a full cycle if you’re planning on storing this portable dishwasher, as it rinses out most of the crud that a full wash leaves behind. Also, be sure to manually clean the filter to avoid redeposits (when food particles get washed back onto clean dishes).

Performance

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Some dishwashers take hours to complete a load. This is not one of those dishwashers.

The Koldfront PDW60EB’s cycles range from under an hour for a quick wash to just over an hour and a half for a heavy duty cycle.

You may not be able to fit a lot of dishes in the Koldfront PDW60EB, but those that make it inside will end up clean.
You may not be able to fit a lot of dishes in the Koldfront PDW60EB, but those that make it inside will end up clean. It had some trouble cleaning items in the back corners, but even hardened lasagna and a burnt crème brûlée were no match for the Koldfront PDW60EB when set to Heavy Duty. The Normal cycle only marginally outperformed the Quick cycle, which did quite well and only took 45 minutes. The Koldfront PDW60EB draws warm water, and its wash cycles don’t get above 147ºF. That means it doesn’t need to use a lot of energy to heat water internally. In an average year of washing dishes, the operating cost of the Koldfront PDW60EB would be a mere $18.23. Compare that with the time spent cleaning dishes by hand, and it may seem like a pretty good value.

Conclusion

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Small dishwasher, big time saver.

Washing dishes by hand because your kitchen is just too small for a dishwasher? For just $175, you could say goodbye to your sink full of dishes and prune-like fingers. The Koldfront PDW60EB is compact, requires no permanent changes to plumbing and actually does a pretty good job getting dishes clean.

In fact, dishes emerged just as clean as they would from a full sized model—if not cleaner. Just make sure to load items properly, and clean the filter after each wash.

Science Introduction

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The {{product.name}} is a compact washer that possesses the cleaning abilities of dish washers twice its size.

Cleaning Performance

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Make sure to load items properly, and clean the filter after each wash.

In 45 minutes, the Koldfront PDW60EB's Quick cycle got most dishes pretty clean. We’d recommend using this cycle for most light washes, as it performed nearly as well as the Normal cycle, which took one hour and 25 minutes, but only produced marginally better results.

The Heavy cycle took one hour and 49 minutes, and did a great job. It did have a little trouble with cheese, however, which we attribute to a relatively low wash temperature of 147ºF.

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Efficiency

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No matter what, it uses less water than washing by hand.

The Koldfront used between 2.5 and 4.2 gallons of water per wash—depending on the cycle—which is definitely a lot less H2O than you'd use to clean dishes by hand. Most wash cycles used between 0.26 and 0.48 kWh of electricity.

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Meet the tester

Keith Barry

Keith Barry

Former Editor in Chief, Reviewed Home

@itskeithbarry

Keith was the Editor in Chief of Reviewed's appliance and automotive sites. His work has appeared in publications such as Wired, Car & Driver, and CityLab.

See all of Keith Barry's reviews

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