what would be your choice of vintage dishwasher to install in a modern kitchen if you do not went something modern or with manual filter to clean

if in 2025 2026 you renovated your home kitchen and wanted to put in a vintage dishwasher all brands are good in my case it would be this kenmore dishwasher with a havest gold panel or white panel my godmother when i was a kid had this model (my mom sister) i also love how simple it is chose cycle push button normal or sani wash if you went dishes sanitize hot or cool dry (true drying ) press start of course i would went it portable with adapter since the wood surface could be use as a mobile island to put dish out of the oven or prepare food

Porcelain tub Whirlpool power clean dishwasher.Had a portable DP8700XT for 30 years . I've only had two other dishwashers since.That Whirlpool dishwasher was the best one I owned.

Late 90s early 2000s Whirlpool Power Clean Filter Module or Kenmore Ultra Wash. Peak dishwasher, peak cleaning, peak energy savings.

Reverse rack Maytag

like this model @rinso

I’d install my 1985 KitchenAid KDS-21. It has a self cleaning filter, complete with a chopper, very similar to a Whirlpool Power Clean pump. However, the filter in it has much smaller holes, so it won’t let as many large bits through as a power clean pump would. But, as long as you scrape large chunks off before washing, it isn’t a problem.
Thatwasherguy.

I really did liked the Frigidaire my grandfather had at his cabin until the place flooded but it had already broke anyways. If it were me, I would've had it fixed than using the new LG.

I also did liked the Maytag Jetclean I used to have but with that company now out of business, parts would be really hard to track down which is one of the reasons why I'd rather not stick to vintage.

So if I could own any vintage dishwasher, it'd be a stainless steel Kenmore Ultra Wash which is basically a Whirlpool Power Clean. It appears those are arguably the greatest dishwashers ever made.

The Lady Kenmore with the sliding door over the buttons or a late 80s Whirlpool with the flip out controls.

Define vintage. 2005 is considered vintage to some.

KitchenAid KD21 and 22 dishwasher pumps vs whirlpool, power, clean pump assemblies.

There’s not much similarity between the KitchenAid pump design and the whirlpool power, clean pumps, on the power clean pumps. All water is forced through the grinder as it’s recirculated, and all the water goes through the separation chamber, where particles are centricallyseparated out.

On the KitchenAid system, you still have a filter and a small trap to keep food chunks out of the whole system that has to be cleaned manually.

The KitchenAid system did have a fine mesh filter, which the second generation of power clean pumps also had, this was added to the second generation power clean pumps so they could reduce the number of water changes.

The KD 21 and 22 dishwashers did not clean nearly as well as the whirlpool power clean machines once whirlpool bought KitchenAid. We were actually pulling brand new KitchenAid dishwashers out of peoples homes and replacing them with whirlpool power clean machines because they were so disappointed with the cleaning performance of the KitchenAids. The KitchenAid design was just too stingy with water and one final rinse just doesn’t cut it in a dishwasher even today that doesn’t work, KitchenAid also did not give positive water heating where the entire load of dishes would reach 140° or more while washing and then wild Doing the final rinse so drying performance was worse on the KitchenAids.

The KitchenAid’s were very well built dishwashers and could have a long lifespan. They just never have the great performance of other dishwashers of the time.

GE’s top-of-the-line machines and Maytag reverse rack, dishwashers whirlpool and Kenmore power, clean machine machines and a few of the foreign machines like ask go all left KitchenAid in the dust for performance.

rinso said:

Reverse rack Maytag

Click to expand...

I have a 1980's Maytag dishwasher now. I got it on Craigslist a few years ago, when I moved into a brand new apartment without a dishwasher! Once in a blue moon, something will need to be rewashed, and it does it all in less than an hour. Now if I could only buy real ElectraSol. It still "out cleans them all". Three hours for a load of wet dishes...

qsd-dan said:

Define vintage. 2005 is considered vintage to some.

Click to expand...

I was thinking the same question.

For me, dishwashers have a massive step change around 1990. Uptil that point, they were functionally no different from their early 1950s ancestors - water in, big pump, spray, & drain -repeat. Once dishwashers move to temp exchangers & choreographing water systems their underlying creation philosophy flips. More importantly, pre that step-change machines didn't have low-flow places for sludge to hide...so they clean almost the same 40year later as they did on day one.

Didn't the mid to late 90s Whirlpool Gold, Quiet partners and K/A still have big pumps? GE Nautilus and Profile too? Maytag?

Whirlpool and Maytag did, 1/3 HP. It was when the tall tubs came out that motor started to decrease.

I doubt that anyone could fault my KDC-19's results, as long as they're not too lazy to scrape off some chunks into the kitchen sink prior to loading them.
Those chunks are quick to deal with once fed to the sink's disposal.
And doing that, running the sink water prime's the DW hot water supply to hasten the pre-wash's heating element.

I just did a load of dishes, bowls, pots, pans, lids, glasses, etc..... all spotless.

Sears Lady Kenmore roto-rack or a "gonna corner the market" Kitchen Aid Superba, making Hobart build just one more for me, that I know will clean more superior & last longer and much better then any other sort of appliance in the house, and any other competitor's dishwasher...

Seemed growing up if our houses didn't have one or the other a neighbor did. I saw fewer Whirlpool, Maytag and Frigidaire GM dishwashers than Hobart and Kenmore. I would say that GE placed third. Many builders in the 60s were using Tappan too. A few used that weird Preway gas heated thing.

I grew up with Kitchen Aid. My mother would not have any other dishwasher. Any Superba model from late 70's to mid 80's would be my personal preference.