What Was YOUR First Dishwasher

[jakeseacrest]

Sort of a take on the washing machine thread.

Mine was a 2001 Kenmore Ultra Wash portable. Still going strong at my sister's house.

 

[DADoES]

 
First used, KDI-17 (at a relative's home), and KDI-17a (our home).

First bought, KUDS22.

Second bought, DD603.

 

[peteski50]

Hotpoint Portable!

1972 model ghdb650b

 

[maytagbear]

My family's first dishwasher

was a 1973 Maytag reverse rack portable, it lasted nearly 20 years, with a few comparatively minor repairs.

Our second, was a 1994 Maytag portable. It's still running well at another person's house (we sold it when we sold the house.)

My first apartment had a near BOL Whirlpool, with the tower. It cleaned very well, but was pretty noisy.

Next two apartments had BOL GE's. The one with a single dial, and a rocker switch to turn off the drying element.

Now, the dark ages, from October 2002 to August 2005, when I did not have a dishwasher at all. Dark days, indeed.

My current dishwasher is a GE Nautilus portable which kind friends bought for me. It was a return at Home Depot, and was very inexpensive. I have found that if I use the HotStart cycle, it can clean very well. My stash of phosphated Cascade makes a difference.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[peteski50]

Hotpoint Portable

dw1

 

[peteski50]

Hotpoint Portable!

dw2

 

[peteski50]

Hotpoint Portable!

dw3

 

[peteski50]

Hotpoint Portable

dw4

 

[qsd-dan]

Grew up with a KDS-20 and later, a BOL-ish reverse rack Maytag.

 

Currently, I'm using Hobart Kitchenaids with 2 KDS-18's and a KDS-19 in my collection.

 

 

[vintagekitchen]

First I had contact with

1995 Maytag TOL portable, reversible front panel for black or white front, with chrome edging strips to hold on the panel. It was portable, but installed permanently next to the fridge, as Mama refused to give up a cabinet, and wanted the butcher block top to put her microwave on. Mama got the first dishwasher in the family, before any of her sister-in-laws, and boy were they all jealous.

I still remember the day Blacks appliance center delivered it, along with a huge GE microwave with no turntable, a wire rack like an oven, and the size of the ones sold in the 80's, to replace Mama's original from 1986, which had given up the ghost. She insisted on a large microwave of the old Radarange size, (but both hers were GE), as she would actually cook in hers, whole meals even, not just reheat things.

Mama was also the first in the family to get a microwave. Guess what gramma and all the sister in laws demanded for Christmas the year after? lol..

PS.-- She still has that same dishwasher, still working perfectly. Mama was a smart lady, she bought TOL, only ever used Cascade, and made sure it was a portable. Each time we moved there was much discussion over the spot to install the dishwasher, and then much trouble running pipes to a place never intended to have them. (Dad liked to buy and sell places, and actually enjoyed packing and moving. Not me, lol.)

 

[vintagekitchen]

First I owned

BOL black Hotpoint portable with a broken timer, given to me by a friend when I moved into my first apartment with no countertops at all except an enamel drainboard by the single bowl enamel sink, just big enough for a dish drainer.

The dishwasher worked, as well as could be expected for a BOL Hotpoint, but the timer motor had crapped out, so you had to advance the timer through each cycle manually. This actually worked to my advantage, since I could let it wash as long as I wanted. When the friend who gave it to me was over once while I was unloading it, she commented it never got her dishes that clean. I laughed and said, "I bet it never turned itself on, got distracted watching a movie, and let itself wash for an hour and a half before it ever drained and rinsed either", lol.

 

[washer111]

This particular family's first dishwasher was obtained in 2007. A Dishlex DX302WJ (or something along those lines) obtained from the GoodGuys in Perth. I believe the DX302WB was actually from 2003, and our model swapped the Delicates cycle for a Quick30 cycle. Didn't do too bad, but we always pre-rinsed, as we used the Quick 30 with TABLETS (1 wash at around 120F), 1 rinse or the Regular Eco cycle. She worked far better on the Regular 65 and Intense 70 though.

After around 1.5 year without a dishwasher, new kitchen appliances saw the introduction of our current Fisher and Paykel DD60DCX6. About a year in, and one drain filter has separated from my obsessive use of dishwasher cleaner (and past frequent cleaning) and the other is starting to fail. The dishwasher is otherwise mechanically and mentally sound, and performs great!

The first machine in the family was my Grandparents one, although I don't know what brand it was. It had a lot of cycle to choose from on the dial. However, my grandma didn't realize you had to scrape the plates, and the machine was always broken with Chicken bones in it. They got a DishDrawer in 2003/2004, and it perform(ed) fine. Now that my Grandma has passed on, my Granddad and his new wife don't use it, since apparently the detergent doesn't dissolve - although the detergent is at least 6 years old and has lived under the moist kitchen sink, so its little wonder! When I visit next, I may take some GOOD detergent and maybe even clean the machine up a bit. I am also considering giving them the newer wash-arm, if their machine doesn't have the same design as ours.
This particular machine HAS had repairs. Its from the DD602/603 series and I believe it has had a lid failure at some point (around 2004) or an F1 Error. I think its other quite fine.

 

[appnut]

The 1961 Waste King that's had owners manual & sales literature available for download

1968 Waste King

1974 Rotorack model just under the LK

Then dishwashers in college:

1965 to 1967 BOL Hotpoint--inside looked just like the one above

1967 Westinghouse with normal & rinse & hold buttons

brand new BOL 1974 GE--same machine in my apartments after graduating and getting on my own

1980 Kenmore

1985 Tappan (sourced by GE, great cleaner)

1984 MOL Hotpoint

1987 GE GSD1200

2007 next to TOL Kenmore Elite Tall Tub

 

[DirectDriveDave]

1989 GE Potscrubber. Still miss that bad boy.

I cannot remember the exact number, but it was the one with the black control panel and the silver colored buttons and the silver colored timer dial you manually turn yourself.

 

[cehalstead]

first, and only the first dishwasher

Ours was a 1952 HotPoint Electric Sink. We bought the house in 1962, and the dishwasher was used until 1973. There have been several others, but that is not the topic of this thread, so I won't comment.....

 

[rp2813]

Wards, of Course!

My parents were dyed in the wool, card-carrying Wards aficionados.   Their first dishwasher, and subsequently my sister's first dishwasher and then my first dishwasher, was an absolute BOL 1970 Wardgidaire single cycle portable top loader. 

 

I can't find a picture of one, but located this shot of Mike's (dishwashercrazy) Frigidaire of similar vintage.  Our Signature was even more spartan, without a speck of chrome.  Just an on/off knob that doubled as the lid lock & (push to) release, and a cheap timer dial (not even a knob) that popped out at the end of the cycle and was pushed in to start a new one.

 

[foraloysius]

AEG Favorit 578.

Pic from the net.

 

[Philip0603]

First dishwasher in family was a very noisy Colston table top model, had one cycle and was not very efficient. So much so my Mother gave up and we went back to washing by hand.

1St of my own was a Swanmaid. bought second hand, would wash a load in less than 30 minutes, best connected to the hot water as it had a pre-heat kettle underneath that got the wash water hot prior to it going into the tub. A great machine with only one very heavy cast iron spray arm at the bottom, but boy would it clean.

Current for last 14 years or so is our Miele 646 SC Plus, the first machine with the top cutlery tray and bigger wash tub. This machine still flogs away every two to three days (only two at home now) and whilst a very small amount noisier than it's newer models still do not see the need to replace it. Though there will be national mourning if it ever breaks!!!!!

 

[frigilux]

The first dishwasher I bought went into the family home (where I was living) a few months after my mom's passing---so, late 1984 or very early '85. It was a TOL Kitchen Aid with the rapid-advance timer. It stayed with the house when I sold it two years later. Loved that it heated the water before the 1st wash began. Noisy bugger by today's standards, but quieter than the rusted-out 1974 Lady Kenmore it replaced.