History of Dishwashers
Dishwashers are a common appliance. You will find them in most homes. However, things were not always like that. Before the second half of the nineteenth century, most folks would never believe there was a machine that could wash their dishes for them.
Thanks to Joel Houghton everything changed in 1850. He patented a wooden machine with a wheel that splashed water on dishes. This design was rather crude but it was the first patent. L.A. Alexander picked up a patent for a device in 1865 that used a hand crank with gearing to spin a rack of dishes through the dishwasher. This design didn’t help much either.
Josephine Cochrane, the granddaughter of John Fitch (inventor of the steamboat) invented the first practical dishwasher.
She measured her dishes for sizes and built wire compartments. These compartments were designed to fit plates, saucers, and cups. The compartments fit in a wheel inside a copper boiler. The wheel turned by motor. Hot soapy water squirted up from the boiler and the water rained down on the dirty dishes. The invention debuted at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago. She earned the highest award.
After the debut, many of Cochrane’s friends liked her invention. She started getting orders for the machine from friends, hotels, and restaurants around Illinois. So, she patented the design and started production. Her company is now known as KitchenAid. Other companies joined the revolution and created dishwashers powered by steam. These worked by passing the dishes under hot water using a spinning basket or conveyor belt. However, they were inefficient.
Dishwashers started coming installed with permanent plumbing in the 1920s. William Howard Livens invented a small dishwasher for the home in 1937. It featured elements of the modern dishwasher like a front door for loading, a wire rack to hold dishes, and a rotating sprayer. By the 1940s electric drying was introduced.
In the 1950s, dishwashers became cheaper and smaller and by the 1970s dishwashers became a common appliance in US residences.
Dishwashers come in all shapes, sizes, and functionality can be different between models. However, no matter how large the industry is there are always new models appearing in the market. They feature technological developments that are quite amazing. Dishwashers get more advanced every business cycle. They aren’t quite something out of a sci-fi movie but they are getting close! Who knows? Someday, dishwashers may not require water or electricity at all.
Dishwashers, while perhaps not a necessary appliance to survive, they sure make life easier and save time. We never realize just how convenient they are until they break down. If you need a dishwasher part to get your dishwasher up and running again, please do check out Laptopsforless.com for fair pricing on huge selection of dishwasher branded parts: General Electric Dishwashers, Bosch Dishwashers, Fisher Paykel Dishwashers, Frigidaire Dishwashers, Maytag Dishwashers, and Whirlpool Dishwashers.
