Vintage KDA-5 Portable Dishwasher - $50 (berkeley north / hills)

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Awww, they built a little cubby for it

Wish this were closer; that sad, abused laminate top would be easy to replace. I liked these dishwashers, and, unlike a lot of KA's this one is too small to have the external heater so, until one of you tells me I'm mistaken, the user gets the added benefit of heated water.
 
We had a neighbor years ago

<span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;">with a Mobile Maid that hid under the counter like that.  If I remember correctly that cubby probably would have accommodated a built-in.  Seems that would be a pain in the butt to have to slide it all the way out every time you want to access the dishwasher.  I am in and out of mine so many times a day that I'm afraid that would get old quickly.</span>
 
Weclome to my world

You wonder why top loading dishwashers vanished never to make a return. Well there are many reasons but the main annoyance to my mind is having to take things off the top each time to get at the insides.

Suppose if one can manage without using the thing as extra counter or other space it would be fine. However I keep my Maxim convection oven on top of the MM. It sat on top of the Frigidaire dw before it and have no use for something that cannot perform double duty as it were.

So yes, each time one wants to load or unload the MM everything on top must come off then are put back when done. I solve this by really loading after meals. It is enough to make you weep after doing all of that to find a plate or glass left.

On balance top loading dishwashers aren't that convenient IMHO, especially if one is living in tight quarters. If and when a front loading portable like a good Kitchenaid comes my way....

Being as all this may having cubby is probably the best alternative. At least then all one must do is pull the unit out to load or unload.
 
In a report on dishwashers in The American Home from 1960 or 61, they showed a MM in a cubby under a counter. A neighbor had a MM that was almost brand new that they took to their new house and instead of a paying for a builtin, they used the space as a garage for the portable.

Laundress, is there a way of mounting a shelf to the wall above your machine to hold the oven or the possibility of using some of that Metro Shelving sold at the Container Store and other places to put etagere-type shelving above your MM with the poles resting on the floor at the sides of the MM so that you would not have to lift the oven off the cover to load the machine?
 
Parking Garage

After we got our first dishwasher, the uber BOL 1970 Frignature toploader, the only space where it could live was next to the stove across the kitchen from the sink.

 

When my dad did a DIY replacement of the tile counter tops, he also removed a set of drawers that were adjacent to the sink and moved them to the space next to the stove.  The Frignature moved to where the drawers were, in the opening that was created under the new counter top.  Yes, it had to be rolled out for loading, but since it was a cheap model it had the hoses up front, so if desired it could be rolled back into place before running it.

 

What my dad didn't do was consider the height of the counters, and when the first built-in machine was installed, it had to be on skids made of 2x4s to close a large gap between the machine and counter top.  Every dishwasher since has required these spacers.  Only the Thundering Thermador was a little different, requiring 1x4s instead.
 
Perhaps there would be a way to anchor the lower back poles to the wall to give the shelf some stability. Or, while expensive, it might be possible to take a rack to a metal working place and have the front bar and the ribs that form the shelf cut out then you would have a frame on three sides at floor level that would help with stability.
 
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