"Westing House portable dishwasher. Still works. "
Westinghouse portable dishwasher $75 (Garrett, IN)
- Thread starter spacepig
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If that thing still works, it's a testament to real deal Westinghouse quality. The under counter opening behind it tends to support the claim.
A rare item at a decent price for any interested party.
A rare item at a decent price for any interested party.
Nice looking dishwasher
<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">I remember when I was a kid my Mom had a friend who had a GE Mobile Maid. It was one of the earlier ones with the big round knob in the front. She had a little cubby like that next to her sink and she used to have to push it in and out all the time to put things in. I didn't think a lot about it then but when I think about it now, and I think about how I use my dishwasher, I would think if I had to yank it in and out all day I probably wouldn't use it as much.</span>
<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">That one sure looks to be in nice shape except for a little water rust stain. The outside looks like it hardly has a scratch on it.</span>
<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">I remember when I was a kid my Mom had a friend who had a GE Mobile Maid. It was one of the earlier ones with the big round knob in the front. She had a little cubby like that next to her sink and she used to have to push it in and out all the time to put things in. I didn't think a lot about it then but when I think about it now, and I think about how I use my dishwasher, I would think if I had to yank it in and out all day I probably wouldn't use it as much.</span>
<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">That one sure looks to be in nice shape except for a little water rust stain. The outside looks like it hardly has a scratch on it.</span>
Moving the thing about isn't half the problem
Just that with top loading dishwashers it is a royal pain if you keep things on top. That is use space for what manufacturers sold the thing upon, extra counter space. Not a bit of it.
You can put things on top of these machines, but then it all has to come off to load or unload. Then you have to put everything back on top again. This would go on after breakfast, lunch, dinner, etc.....
It isn't surprising you see many homes had a cubby built for these TL dishwashers. That solves some issues, but you still would have to roll it in and out to load one or more times per day until ready to run the thing.
Am that over my GE Mobile Maid for this reason among others. That and it has ruined all my everyday glassware and dishes. White dishes that survived years of hand washing, then more still with Frigidaire (badged Kenmore) 18" dw have promptly been reduced to gray marked mess. Glasses are hopelessly etched.
Just got a new set of everyday white Royal Doulton (first one that makes a quip gets it, *LOL*), and am not willing to risk it to the MM, so have been hand washing. So it does seem as if the MM's days are numbered.
Back on topic......
Top loading dishwashers made sense in early incarnations of the art; that is built in units right next to sink. You rinsed and then put things right into machine, no bending or stooping.
Just that with top loading dishwashers it is a royal pain if you keep things on top. That is use space for what manufacturers sold the thing upon, extra counter space. Not a bit of it.
You can put things on top of these machines, but then it all has to come off to load or unload. Then you have to put everything back on top again. This would go on after breakfast, lunch, dinner, etc.....
It isn't surprising you see many homes had a cubby built for these TL dishwashers. That solves some issues, but you still would have to roll it in and out to load one or more times per day until ready to run the thing.
Am that over my GE Mobile Maid for this reason among others. That and it has ruined all my everyday glassware and dishes. White dishes that survived years of hand washing, then more still with Frigidaire (badged Kenmore) 18" dw have promptly been reduced to gray marked mess. Glasses are hopelessly etched.
Just got a new set of everyday white Royal Doulton (first one that makes a quip gets it, *LOL*), and am not willing to risk it to the MM, so have been hand washing. So it does seem as if the MM's days are numbered.
Back on topic......
Top loading dishwashers made sense in early incarnations of the art; that is built in units right next to sink. You rinsed and then put things right into machine, no bending or stooping.
I have WH builtins with that racking configuration, but I have never seen a portable with that racking before. The racking looks older than the exterior. Its definitely a wash, rinse, rinse cycle machine with the tea strainer detergent cup. If you ever watch the Betty Furness ad for WH DWs on You Tube, she instructs you to put a drinking glass over the detergent cup after filling it. It concentrates the water action to help dissolve the detergent better and prevents the detergent from being blown out of the cup before it's dissolved.
Tom, Westinghouse kept that 'old style' racking for quite a while. I've got a '62 Monkey Wards machine with that style of rack and the MW '64 catalog shows portable machines with the same rack style.
Our first dishwasher was a 1970 super BOL Wards Signature top loader made by Frigidaire. At first it got parked next to the free-standing stove, across the kitchen from the sink.
It didn't take long for my dad to rip out the set of drawers next to the sink and turn it into a cubby for the dishwasher. He moved the drawer unit next to the stove and ended up installing new cabinetry on both sides of the sink, raising the countertop to accommodate the casters on the Signature.
After about five or so years of dealing with the Signature, it was given to my sister and her husband, and was replaced by a D&M Kenmore built-in. That machine had to be installed on skids to be high enough to fasten to the underside of the counter, as did every machine that went in there after it. Only the oddball Thundering Thermador was so tall that thinner skids were required.
It didn't take long for my dad to rip out the set of drawers next to the sink and turn it into a cubby for the dishwasher. He moved the drawer unit next to the stove and ended up installing new cabinetry on both sides of the sink, raising the countertop to accommodate the casters on the Signature.
After about five or so years of dealing with the Signature, it was given to my sister and her husband, and was replaced by a D&M Kenmore built-in. That machine had to be installed on skids to be high enough to fasten to the underside of the counter, as did every machine that went in there after it. Only the oddball Thundering Thermador was so tall that thinner skids were required.
Paul, did the portables have a real detergent dispenser by 1962? I have a rollout, possibly the last impeller model after the introduction of the wash arm machines, with the wash out double chamber dispenser on the front wall behind the silverware basket. It's the machine with the flat front panel with no trim and the small timer dial; a very modern looking machine.
Tom, there was the flow-through dispenser on the fancier model with a dual-wash option. Mine is the lower-end model and curiously, it has the panel for the dispenser, but not the tilt out detergent cups. I still have the mesh detergent cup amazingly!
On the portables, the dispenser was at the rear of the tub. The 67 Viking I grew up had the dual detergent dispenser like this. (Westinghouse made an impeller-wash top-loader here until 1968)
On the portables, the dispenser was at the rear of the tub. The 67 Viking I grew up had the dual detergent dispenser like this. (Westinghouse made an impeller-wash top-loader here until 1968)
