I switched to a countertop dishwasher. Did it finally end my washing-up nightmare?

I absolutely hate washing up.

That’s not exactly an unpopular opinion, but there’s something about the grinding monotony of scrubbing dishes that frustrates me more than any other household task.

I’ve heard some people say that they don’t mind washing up, and that it becomes almost therapeutic when they stick on some music or a podcast. That could never be me.

Once you experience the joys of a dishwasher, you never want to go back. Between mid-2022 and the start of 2024, I basked in the luxurious glow of a plumbed-in dishwasher in my home.

Unless I was using a gigantic pot or hosting Christmas, washing dishes by hand pretty much became a thing of the past. Reader, I took having a dishwasher for granted.

My three months with a countertop dishwasher have been an eye-opening experience

So, imagine my shock at the rude awakening of moving into a dishwasher-less flat. For 18 months, I toiled in front of that sink, with seemingly no end in sight to the nightly misery. If I dared leave dirty dishes overnight, a relatively quick task became an arduous activity that I procrastinated over for as long as possible.

Upon moving to my current house, I knew this couldn’t continue. There was still no dishwasher and, as it’s a rental, little chance of that changing in the foreseeable future.

So, I had a brainwave. What about a dishwasher…that could just sit on the work surface in my kitchen, and use a separate water tank instead? Did such a product even exist?

As it turns out, they’re known as countertop dishwashers, and are much more common than I thought. Since then, I’ve used one model almost every single day for more than three months, giving me a deep insight into what it’s actually like to use. Spoiler alert: it didn’t quite go as well as I’d hoped.

The model I’ve been using

Initial research regarding which countertop dishwasher to try proved frustrating. Despite sitting on your work surface, it turned out that many models still need to be plumbed in, which wouldn’t work for me.

Luckily, right around the same time, my colleague Emma got an offer to review the new £349.99 Capsule Solo dishwasher from Loch Electronics. It felt like the stars had aligned!

We quickly agreed that the regular Capsule from 2021 would be a better fit – it’s identical aside from a few extra features, yet only costs £50 more.

To be clear, this article isn’t a full review of the Loch Electronics Capsule. Instead, it focuses on how well the dishwasher has integrated into my life and achieved what I was craving – an effective alternative to washing dishes by hand.

Let the experiment begin!

Setup was a breeze – but then a problem arose

When the Capsule arrived on my doorstep, I was a little intimidated. After all, it was a big, heavy package containing an appliance that I’d never even seen before, let alone used.

However, I needn’t have worried. Getting everything set up couldn’t have been easier – you simply take everything out of the box, plug it into the mains and connect pipes from the water tank and sink.

Loch also sent me a spare water tank, which can be used to collect wastewater instead of using the sink. A grey pipe sticking into your sink isn’t a great look, but I doubt my basic stainless-steel basin will be winning any awards either.

However, things didn’t go quite so smoothly with my first few washes. With no dedicated slot for a tablet, I thought buying some basic powder would be the best option, but that proved to be a big mistake.

While the Capsule includes a dedicated container for Rinse Aid, there’s no such equivalent for salt. As someone who lives in an area with very hard water, it turns out that salt is absolutely crucial for effective cleaning. Without it, the first few cycles from the Capsule were very disappointing, with cloudy glasses and plates with a visible coating of god-knows-what.

The first few cycles from the Capsule were very disappointing, with cloudy glasses and plates with a visible coating of god-knows-what

Initially, I tried to pretend they were clean enough to go back in the cupboard with a quick rinse. But let me tell you, one sip of water from the crusty rim of a dirty glass was enough to make me realise the issue was more serious. Eurgh.

Luckily, there was an easy solution: get an all-in-one tablet (or gel, as I discovered). This includes all the necessary salt for each cycle, negating the need to add it separately.

And it wasn’t even expensive. In my experience, the supermarket own-brand tablet cleaned just as well as a big brand name, despite costing less than half the price.

Bugs, bugs and more bugs

Unfortunately, I’d estimate that around 10% of the time I start a cycle, it doesn’t finish it properly. That might not sound too bad, but when at least 15 of the 150+ cycles over the last three months have gone wrong, it becomes a real problem.

The first (and most common) issue I’ve run into is where the dishwasher inexplicably resets mid-cycle, with seemingly no knowledge of what it was doing literally seconds ago. It seems to happen regardless of the cycle you choose – 15-minute, 45-minute, 90-minute or ‘Eco’ (two hours, 46 minutes).

It doesn’t help that it happens with very little warning – unless you’re nearby and hear the singular beep, you’re in for a nasty surprise when you return to the kitchen.

What’s more, nothing can be done to retrieve it, even if the dishwasher has guzzled up nearly an entire tank of water. What a waste!

Any solution relies on the touch controls actually being functional, which is far from guaranteed

Instead, it’s a case of refilling all four litres, turning it off and on again and praying that things go differently this time. That’s assuming it doesn’t want more than a full tank of water for dishes that aren’t very dirty, as happened to me on more than one occasion.

Of course, any solution relies on the touch controls actually being functional, which is far from guaranteed. Turning on the Loch Capsule and starting a cycle has an even lower success rate than a completed cycle. Got moisture on your hands? You can forget about it.

Whatever happened to good old-fashioned physical buttons? It might not match the Capsule’s futuristic vibe, but they’re a damn sight more effective.

The sensors within these buttons feel unstable, too. On multiple occasions, the dishwasher has started randomly beeping and changing settings, despite being in another room upstairs.

Again, the only solution to this was to turn the Capsule off and back on again, then hope everything had reset so I could restart the cycle (wasting lots more water, too). Sometimes, this didn’t work, and I had to sit through a 15-minute UV sterilising cycle before I could actually wash my dishes. I’ll admit that a few profanities were uttered.

When it works properly, the Loch Capsule has been a real asset to my kitchen and saved loads of time

None of these are huge issues in and of themselves. But they combine for a frustrating experience that you simply can’t rely on.

Compact design comes at a high cost

Portability is a key selling point of the Capsule. With a weight of just 12kg and a width of 262mm, it can be moved almost anywhere there’s a power source. As a result, I was able to accommodate it in my relatively small kitchen with minimal fuss.

However, its slender dimensions also severely limit capacity. Loch Electronics claims that the Capsule can fit up to 35 items, though the vast majority of these will be cutlery. And if you add a 31cm pan, as the company advertises, there’s basically no room for anything else.

I live alone, but still found that there wasn’t enough room for a full day’s dishes if any significant cooking was involved. Even if the dishwasher was having one of its good days, I’d still need to spend a few minutes washing up, something I was hoping to avoid.

I’m no expert at dishwasher filling, but I doubt anyone would be able to fit in all the items that Loch shows in its official image (below). I spend far too long playing Tetris with my bowls and plates as it is!

My search for a great countertop dishwasher goes on

My three months with the Loch Capsule have been an eye-opening experience.

What looked like a perfect solution on paper has turned out to be a frustrating experience with plenty of bumps in the road.

When it works properly, the Loch Capsule has been a real asset to my kitchen and saved loads of time. It’s easy to use, looks good and is very effective at cleaning.

But all too often, it needs babysitting through even regular cycles, and there’s a feeling that I can’t go too far in case something goes wrong. It defeats the point of a good dishwasher, which is to set it and forget about it for the rest of the evening.

It’s clear that the Loch Capsule isn’t the right countertop dishwasher for me, at least in its current form. But I’m impressed by what’s possible from such a small appliance, and convinced that there’s another model out there that will suit me better.

Until then, the laborious task of washing dishes by hand will continue to be the most annoying part of my daily life.