The Farberware FCD06ABBWHA is the right dishwasher if you can't install one. It sits on a countertop, hooks up to any standard kitchen faucet, washes 6 place settings of dishes up to 10 inches, and includes a Baby Care cycle that sanitizes at 158°F. Don't expect built-in cleaning consistency, but for apartments, RVs, and rentals where a permanent install isn't possible, it is the most-reviewed and best-rated countertop dishwasher on the market.
Full review
What a Countertop Dishwasher Actually Is
The Farberware FCD06ABBWHA is roughly the size of a tall microwave — 19.7 inches wide, 17 inches tall, 21.7 inches deep — and sits directly on a kitchen countertop. The water inlet is a quick-connect adapter that snaps onto a standard kitchen faucet aerator, and the drain hose hangs into the sink. No plumbing, no electrician, no cabinet modification. Installation is roughly 10 minutes.
Inside is a 6-place setting capacity tub with a single rotating spray arm at the bottom, a small upper utensil tray, and a heating element for the dry cycle. The control panel is touch-sensitive with a small LED readout for cycle progress and water temperature.
Cleaning Performance
WashDryDazzle's test team rated the Farberware 4.5/5 on cleaning and 4.4/5 on overall performance — high marks for a $340 portable. The dishwasher handles everyday loads (plates, bowls, glasses, mugs, utensils) without complaint. The dedicated Heavy and 90-minute cycles tackle baked-on food with decent results, though they cannot match the spray pressure of a full-size dishwasher. The single bottom-mounted rotating spray arm covers the tub interior reasonably well, and the stainless tub itself helps drainage and reflects spray onto the underside of the upper tray.
There's one real capacity constraint: dishes have to be 10 inches or smaller. Larger dinner plates, mixing bowls, and most cookware don't fit. For households with a lot of oversized dishware this means continuing to hand-wash the big stuff. The 3-layer manual filtration system (coarse, fine, and micro filters) catches food particles effectively, but unlike full-size dishwashers with self-cleaning filters, you do need to rinse the filter manually every few cycles.
The Baby Care Cycle and Sanitization
The Baby Care cycle is the feature that puts the FCD06ABBWHA on Food Network's 'best for baby bottles' list. It heats the water to 158°F (70°C) — the EPA-defined threshold for thermal sanitization — and holds it there long enough to deactivate the bacteria and viruses common on bottles, pacifiers, and breast pump components.
For new parents, this is genuinely valuable. Boiling bottles on the stove every day is tedious; a dedicated cycle that does the same thing while you sleep is a meaningful quality-of-life upgrade. Multiple owner reviews call out the Baby Care cycle as the reason they bought the unit.
Drying and Energy Use
Drying is the weakest part of the system. The FCD06ABBWHA uses a residual-heat dry — no separate heating element fires after the wash — so dishes come out warm and damp rather than fully dry. Plastics in particular need to air-dry on a counter for 30-60 minutes after the cycle ends.
Energy use isn't Energy Star certified, but the small footprint and low water usage (2.85 gallons per Normal vs 3-4 for built-ins) make the per-cycle running cost very low. WashDryDazzle rates energy efficiency 4.0/5.
Noise and Where to Put It
At 54 dBA the Farberware is meaningfully louder than any built-in dishwasher in this comparison — about 12 dB louder than the Bosch 800 or LG LDTH7972S. A 12 dB difference is roughly four times the perceived loudness, so in a studio apartment it's the difference between background noise and 'the dishwasher is running.'
Owners typically run it at night before bed or during the day when they're out of the apartment. Closing the kitchen door, if you have one, knocks the perceived noise down meaningfully.
Build Quality and Durability
The interior tub is stainless steel — uncommon at this price point and a real durability advantage over plastic-tub portables. The exterior is white plastic with a touch control panel; it looks like a 1990s appliance because it is a $340 appliance, but the build is sturdy enough that WashDryDazzle rates durability 4.3/5.
The single most failure-prone part is the faucet quick-connect adapter, which depending on faucet style sometimes leaks at the threads. Owners report fixing this with plumber's tape or a small upgrade adapter from the hardware store.
Where It Falls Short
Capacity is the headline limitation: 6 place settings, dishes under 10 inches only, no large pots or pans. This is not a primary dishwasher for a family of four — it's a primary dishwasher for one or two people, or a secondary unit for a baby-bottle or glassware-heavy household.
The hookup requires a standard kitchen faucet — modern pull-down sprayer faucets sometimes don't have the right thread, and some apartments have unusual faucet styles that don't fit the adapter. Worth verifying before buying.
Who It's Best For
Buy the Farberware FCD06ABBWHA if you live somewhere a built-in dishwasher isn't an option: a rental without a hookup, an RV or boat with limited galley space, a tiny-house, an in-law suite, or a basement apartment. Also a strong choice as a secondary baby-bottle sanitizer in a household that already has a primary dishwasher.
Skip it if you can install a built-in. Even the LG LDTH7972S at $949 delivers ten-times the capacity, half the noise, and meaningfully better cleaning consistency — for households where install is possible, the value math favors built-in every time.
How It Compares to Alternatives
Not really comparable to the four built-ins in this comparison — different product category. The closest peers are other countertop portables: the SPT SD-2202S, the BLACK+DECKER BCD6W, and the hOmeLabs HME010033N. The Farberware wins on cycle count (7 vs 6 on most peers), on the dedicated Baby Care sanitization cycle, and on the stainless interior tub.
If size is the only blocker but a portable hookup works, the GE GPT225SSLSS 24-inch standalone portable was the next step up — but GE has discontinued that model and current standalone portables are increasingly hard to find. The Farberware is now functionally the default countertop choice.
What's in the Box and Setup
Setup is genuinely under 10 minutes. The box includes the dishwasher, a faucet quick-connect adapter, an inlet hose, and a drain hose. Unscrew the aerator from your kitchen faucet, screw on the quick-connect adapter, click the inlet hose in place, drop the drain hose into your sink, plug in the power cord, and you're done. Most aerators have standard 15/16-inch or 55/64-inch threads that the included adapter handles. The hoses are about 5 feet long, which is enough reach for a dishwasher placed at one end of a normal-depth countertop adjacent to the sink.
The unit ships with a basic cutlery basket, a small upper utensil tray, and a removable lower rack. WashDryDazzle's review team rated loading capacity 4.2/5 — perfectly serviceable for a 6-place dishwasher, but you will not be fitting a full family's dinner plates. The touch control panel on top is straightforward — pick a cycle, press Start, and the LED readout counts down to completion.
Value at This Price Point
At roughly $340, the FCD06ABBWHA is one of the best-rated portable countertop dishwashers on the market — KikiTop praises the time-saving convenience and space-saving design, and WashDryDazzle's editor scores it 4.3/5 overall. For comparison, the SPT SD-2202S typically sells around $290 with 6 cycles and a plastic tub, and the BLACK+DECKER BCD6W around $370 with similar specs but louder operation. The Farberware's combination of stainless tub, 7 cycles including dedicated Baby Care, and reliable customer-service reputation makes it the consensus default in its category.
If you need true 'full size' performance in an apartment, the next step up is a 24-inch portable (like the discontinued GE GPT225SSLSS) — which costs $850-$1,000 and requires more counter or floor space. The Farberware's value proposition is real precisely because it sits in the gap between hand-washing and full-size install. Owners running it as a secondary baby-bottle dishwasher in a household that already has a primary built-in get a different kind of value: it earns its $340 in the first 6 months of skipped stove-top sterilization alone.
Strengths
- +Fits on a standard countertop with no installation, plumbing, or cabinet work required
- +Uses only 2.85 gallons of water per Normal cycle versus 3-4 for built-ins
- +7 wash programs including dedicated Baby Care (158°F sanitization), Glass, and Speed 45-Min cycles
- +Quick faucet-tap hookup means it works in apartments, RVs, boats, and dorms
- +$340 price tag is roughly a quarter of any built-in in this comparison
Watch-outs
- −Only fits dishes up to 10 inches in diameter — no large dinner plates or cookware
- −Plastic items remain damp after the cycle; needs air-drying to finish
- −54 dBA is meaningfully louder than any built-in in this comparison
- −1-year warranty and no Energy Star certification
How it compares
Not comparable on raw performance to any of the four built-ins above — the Farberware is for installations where a Bosch 800 SHX78CM5N, KitchenAid KDTM604KPS, LG LDTH7972S, or Miele G 7266 SCVi is not physically possible. Much louder than any built-in here, much smaller capacity, but installs in 10 minutes with no plumbing. The Baby Care sanitization at 158°F roughly matches the KitchenAid Sani-Rinse and the Miele SaniWash, just at a much smaller scale.
Who this is for
At a glance: Renters, apartment-dwellers, RV and boat owners, and small kitchens with no dishwasher hookup — anyone who cannot install a permanent under-counter dishwasher but still wants automated cleaning and sanitization. Also a useful second dishwasher for households washing a high volume of baby bottles.
Why you’d buy the Farberware FCD06ABBWHA Countertop Dishwasher
- Fits on a standard countertop with no installation, plumbing, or cabinet work required.
- Uses only 2.85 gallons of water per Normal cycle versus 3-4 for built-ins.
- 7 wash programs including dedicated Baby Care (158°F sanitization), Glass, and Speed 45-Min cycles.
Why you’d skip it
- Only fits dishes up to 10 inches in diameter — no large dinner plates or cookware.
- Plastic items remain damp after the cycle; needs air-drying to finish.
- 54 dBA is meaningfully louder than any built-in in this comparison.
Rating sources
“Multiple versatile wash cycles including sanitizing Baby Care; efficient water consumption and drying system; compact, space-saving design”
“Saves time and effort in daily dishwashing; fits perfectly in small kitchens as a great space-saving solution”
“Farberware Professional 19.7-in Portable Countertop Dishwasher, 54-dBA Standard Sound Level”
Our 4.3 score is the average of these published ratings. Ratings marked * were derived from the reviewer’s written analysis or video transcript — the publisher didn’t print an explicit numeric score, so we inferred one from their own words. Click through to verify. More about methodology.
