The History Of Dishwashers

The very first dishwashers beyond the human variety were hand powered dishwashing devices used around the middle and late 19th century. The first known hand powered dishwasher was invented by Joel Houghton in 1850.

In 1886 Josephine Cochrane invented another hand powered dishwasher which was introduced to the public at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. Cochrane was the wealthy granddaughter of John Fitch whom invented the steamboat. Though this device was also hand powered, it is the model upon which all modern dishwashers were built. Interestingly, Josephine Cochrane invented the first modern style of dishwasher because her servants kept chipping her fine china.

It wasn’t until the 1920s that dishwashers designed for use with indoor plumbing were invented. Then in the 1940s electric heating elements for hot water and drying were added.

Early use of electric dishwashers was mostly limited

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to commercial applications in places such as hospitals, schools and other places with large cafeterias. It wasn’t until around the 1970s that dishwashers became common fixtures in the homes of those living in developed areas of the world.

More recently dishwasher innovations include increased sound dampening as well as models that conserve water and / or dry dishes faster than older models. Also, many more expensive dishwashers contain microprocessing units that act like mini garbage disposals for large pieces of food. These types of dishwashers may be loaded with extremely dirty dishes and still come out sparkling clean.

A Dishwasher Tip:

It seems like everyone at some point has made this same mistake: You load the dishwasher only to discover that you’re all out of dishwasher detergent and decide to try some regular dishwashing detergent instead, only to discover that the unit start overflowing with foaming bubbles. Well, the next time someone you know makes this same mistake, perhaps you’ll catch them in time to relate this helpful tidbit: adding salt or spraying the inside of the dishwasher with salt water will eliminate the foaminess. Then simply turn the dishwasher cycle knob to rinse and drain so that the excess soap is removed.


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