Older Dishwashers and Dish Breakage

[j2400]

I've been wondering how much of a problem there is with dishes breaking in older dishwashers. I remember people in the past refusing to have dishwashers because "they always break dishes." Some of these had had a dishwasher (newest one probably 1970 something). Was there really a problem? Or was it just improper use?

 

[whitekingd]

I've had my Kitchen Aid KDS-14 dishwasher (1962) for twelve years. I've never had a broken dish with it. It's FABULOUS as long as you load it properly.

 

[jeffg]

At least some of the breakage problem was due to the dishes themselves. Delicate china was much more prevalent before the 1970s, when manufacturers assumed it would always be handwashed.

 

[bajaespuma]

Danny Droplet was invented to avoid breakage...

Our first dishwasher, a 1962 GE Pull-out, never broke a dish. My Mother broke many more of her china and crystal pieces by insisting on hand washing them. The manuals were always emphatic about proper loading and I don't think, in the 45 years that I've been using a dishwasher I've ever seen a machine break a piece. That goes double for my experience in professional kitchens; careless waitstaff and manual dishwashers account for 100% of breakage. Remember that Jocelyn Cochran supposedly invented the mechanical dishwasher to stop all the breakage of her china by clumsy hand washing.

 

[jeffg]

I can't claim the same thing about dishwashers. My grandmother had a set of French bone china that was so light and delicate, the teacups and small plates couldn't handle a dishwasher -- even in the top-rack. She broke several pieces before she finally stopped trying.

 

[gyrafoam]

I don't ever remember breaking dishes with the old impeller types. If there was a "dangerous" moment it would be just like on the newer spray-arm types-----if you stopped the machine to add items after it had already filled with water---then when you re-started it----woooosh it might blow something lightweight around.

 

[jetcone]

The only models

that continually broke dishes were the very early Crosleys with the tumble tub action.
If the water level wasn't up to snuff beacause of low water pressure and the timed fill mechanism ,and you were using China instead of the recommended Melamine plates, then when the machine set about tumble washing the dishes, they didn't have enough room to float by each other and so breakage occurred.

Other vintage machines didn't have this problem.

 

[mikepaquette]

Tumble Action ?

I have never even heard of this machine Could you please explain Mike

 

[Unimatic1140]

very early Crosleys with the tumble tub action
Uh huh, washing dishes by tumbling them in a porcelean coated drum didn't go over very well, did they Jon?

So anyways, I have (for the most part) only used vintage dishwashers for over 11 years now and have 1950's dinnerware (Redwing and Blue Heaven) and have never had a dish broken by any of the numerous vintage dishwashers I have used.

 

[jetcone]

ooooo

Ya got me............caught agin!

 

[j2400]

Thanks for the answers. What everyone has said makes sense...as I think of it, the people who complained are likely to have not read a manual, just tossed dishes in.

I like that Danny Droplet image above. Was Danny Droplet a GE invention?

 

[toggleswitch2]

I was wondering (didja smell smoke? *LOL*), in Euro dishwashers with a cold fill, when such a fill follows a very hot temperature-boosted wash, does that stress or crack the glassware/dishes? Apparently not.

 

[maytagbear]

Most people, me included-

break fewer dishes washing them in the dishwasher. You handle them less, and never with soapy hands.

The only times when I had damage to dishes was when I loaded improperly.

I'm kinda freaky about not allowing items in the racks to touch. The silverware basket, of course, is a different story.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[foraloysius]

Smelling smoke LOL

I have a cold fill dishwasher and never had any problems with cracking or stressing, not even with the finest china. The temperature differences are not that significant, the dishwasher is still warm on the inside when the water of the next rinse gets in and that warms it a bit up. The temperature differences are much smaller than for instance when pooring boiling tea into a cold cup.

I used to break a lot of stuff when I didn't have a dishwasher, after that I can't seem to get rid of stuff I don't like. LOL

 

[jetcone]

Well Louis

I'll ship over a Crosley Tumble Tub so you can clear out those cupboards!

 

[andrewinorlando]

The old Waste King broke quite a few glasses in its time. It had no problem knocking over any smaller items, and even flipping over loosely loaded ceral bowls. Lightweight glassware just wasn't safe in that thing. It even flipped small corning ware casseroles and grab-its on their backs if they weren't secured with the handles between the rack tines. The original GE Potscrubber also did a number on lightweight items, but in its case, they usually wound up in the sump, in contact with the heater. That machine did not have an energy saver dry feature, so you couldn't turn the heater off.

 

[syndets2000]

Yep- we had a few things chip, & break- this happened in a GE unit, probably the last of the center pump models-it would fill a little more then half way, & the motor would start - I would hear things clunking on the inside of the tank, & would usually find overturned pots in the bottem rack, or the silverware basket would be out of place-this was in 1967, & it was in that lovely shaded avacado green- nothing fancy- just a small GE emblem, & that knob with the small handle in the middle- off * wash rinse ----wash----rinse dry dry dry...
( LOL ) This one did not open AND CLOSE the detergent dispensor door like the one in our earlier apartment- ( that one looked a bit fancier too...)

 

[foraloysius]

I'll ship over a Crosley Tumble Tub so you can clear out

I thought the dog's name was Artemis, not Crosley! LOL

Ducking and running!

 

[tlee618]

Jon, that is such a cute picture!!