Vintage or Modern Dishwasher? Which do you prefer?

[dysonman1]

Our first dishwasher (when I was born) was a Westinghouse built-in dishwasher that rolled out from the cabinet like a drawer. It was loaded from the top.

Our next dishwasher (the one I used as a teen) was a Sears Kenmore with Roto-rack. You could hear the water raising the tupperware glasses as the rack revolved over the stationary spray arm.

Our next dishwasher (I was only a year from leaving home) was a Maytag reverse-rack with the dishes on the upper rack and the glasses on the lower rack. Mom had that for years.

Fast forward to four years ago. I moved my KitchenAid Superba (Hobart built) from our old house to our new house, and gave away the brand new Maytag dishwasher after one use (3 hours for a pots and pans cycle is stupid). Sadly, it had already been used for decades. The bakelite pump housing blew out one side and I cried REAL tears when we threw it away.

I bought a used KitchenAid for $30 to tide me over, it was a 1990's machine in beige. I called it buttuglia. I obtained a set of black panels for the door and kickplate and told myself it was the best I was going to get.

UNTIL I got my 1993 KitchenAid (Hobart design-Whirlpool built). It's the Superba model and I couldn't be happier. It came from a house where the lady of the house made reservations not dinner. The kitchen had all custom cabinets, and the installer had to put custom springs on the dishwasher door because the real hardwood panels were so heavy.

It's now in my kitchen, with the black panels from the old one. I love this machine almost as much as I love my husband.

I will never use a modern dishwasher.

What kind of dishwasher does everyone have?

 

[countryguy]

The first thing I did on the day the sale of my house closed in 1991 was to have a dishwasher installed - a Maytag reverse rack. The dishwasher was noisy but it cleaned every dish, pot, pan, casserole dish that I put in it and it did it in less than 1.5 hours on the longest pots & pan cycle. The shortest cycle was 67 minutes. I used that dishwasher until 2007 when it started making grinding noises. I replaced it with a new KitchenAid. It worked well but the cycles were longer. I have always wanted a Miele with the separate cutlery rack so in 2014 I sold the KitchenAid and got a Miele when Miele was having a big discount on dishwashers. It is the quietest dishwasher and everything gets clean. The Normal cycle takes about 2 hrs 20 min.

Gary

 

[vacuumlad1650]

Still using a 1971 Sears Roto-Rack...cant beat it

 

[dysonman1]

The only dishwasher I would give up my KitchenAid for is a general electric princess from 1959 in Turkuaz. Do you know how hard that will be to find?

 

[completenutt]

What a coincidence!

That slide out GE was the exact one (in pink) that my parent's wealthy friends had in their gorgeous big house back in the late 60s.  Which must mean it was already a few years old by then.  I remember climbing on a chair and reaching in when I was less than 5 years old!  We never had and never would have deluxe appliances like that until I had the money to buy them myself.


 


I absolutely can see the difference in quality of vintage dishwashers in larger, more solid parts, and interestingly their technology was not that far behind current offerings at all.  In fact if you read the vintage GE description it suggests a prior version of the new GE's feature of a built-in semblance of a garbage disposal that mitigates clogged drain lines and filters which cause lowering water pressure and efficacy.


 


I'm getting a new portable dishwasher replacing a countertop dishwasher that wore out in just 3 years use.  I chose the GE featured in the link I attached, not because of brand alone, but because none of the other portable dishwashers that I researched had such modern styling nor the 3 main features listed that I was impressed by.  Check out the link for those. 


 


The vintage GE Tom showed even featured forced hot air drying, which is even considered a luxury dishwasher feature today and is hard to come by.


 


So, since no, and I mean zero, vintage portable dishwashers were available on line or in a cool vintage appliance store in San Fernando valley I visited, I needed to go with new, but feel I found the best one of the competition today.

[this post was last edited: 11/20/2019-00:28]

https://www.lowes.com/pd/GE-18-in-53-Decibel-Portable-Dishwasher-Stainless-ENERGY-STAR/1001229690

 

[kirbyklekter]

Mid nineties GE Pots Scrubber 800

My bosses wife is an interior designer and their house gets done over about every five years. They have two dishwashers as they entertain constantly. Their carpenter always makes custom front panels in whatever wood she wants to match up. She remembered me saying how much I liked her appliances and called me and asked if I would like one or both. I took one. It is so quiet with the extra sound insulation he installed plus the thick wood on the doors. Pots Scrubbers are usually loud as they are a robust machine, but not mine! It has 5 different wash cycles, three level wash, and 14 options. I like the deep racks that fold out on the upper rack, you can put a lot in this baby. I think it out cleans any of my friends newer dw's, in less time too. My grandparent's had a dishwasher in the early 60's that was convection dry. Don't remember the brand but it's always made sense to me because the dishes are dry in about 5 minutes! Less energy, I think it had an exhaust system because it exchanged the moist air with heated dry air like a clothes dryer. Growing up my parents had Hobart Superbas which is what I would have if not for this Pots Scrubber. A repair tech told my friend to expect no more than 5-7 years on any new dishwasher, I believe it.

 

[tolivac]

VINTAGE!!!!!!HATE the "modern low water use aquarium pump washers"The cycle times on new washers is just TOO long!So--instead of buying a new machine-just wash my dishes by hand.Takes me only 10min instead of 2-3 hrs.

 

[suckolux]

Lucky growing up, just a few years old dad had a construction company and mom owned her own beauty shop, she talked a contractor out of his house he built for his wife, it had everything! In 62 probably the only one in my class with central ac, double ovens and dishwasher, the whole kitchen was lemon yellow appliances, Wasteking Universal! Years down the road with well water and a water softener, it died with cabinet corrosion, replaced with a Kitchenaide. My own place of 40 years is hand wash, one sink, wall mounted faucet, cottage from the mid 40s. No room for a dishwasher and renting of course.

 

[human]

I currently have a Whirlpool Quiet Partner II in my kitchen. It was about 10 years old when I bought it used at Goodwill for $30 or $35. and installed it myself. As the name suggests, it is very quiet and it also does a great job on the dishes. The white plastics are a little discolored but I can live with that.

After installing that dishwasher, I was confident enough to put one in a friend's mother's house and she gave me the barely used black GE dishwasher she replaced. I've got it in storage for when I need it. The black would look better next to my stove but I'm lazy and I can't justify taking the Whirlpool out of service while it's still working flawlessly. I don't have my home warranty anymore so the extra dishwasher is my insurance. Of course, because I have it, I won't be needing it anytime soon.

 

[dysonman1]

The beautiful terkewize Frigidaire flair kitchen is the ultimate.

 

[luxkid1980]

The older dishwashers are probably very robust machines and clean well, but obtaining parts might be problematic. Also, the older machines are likely not as energy efficient and may use a lot more water to clean the contents. They are also pretty loud from what I remember. We had a Kitchenaid Superba in the color Flame that sounded like a jet engine when it was up to full speed. It had a big handle that you pressed down to lock the door. My mom would run it before bed at night and you could hear the thing all over the house. It was from the late 1960s and eventually developed a leak after being repaired a couple times and was replaced.

 

[kenkart]

Water usage

Well, A 60s Kitchen Aid Superba Vari Cycle, the top of the line uses about 15 gallons of water, The difference is it runs a hour instead of 2 or 3 , They circulate 50 plus gallons of water per minute, This is why they clean better Also they dry much better.

 

[2011hoover700]

I wouldn't know until I find a nice vintage dishwasher but commercial unit I'm good with either modern or vintage but again I need to try a vintage 1 to get a better idea of what I prefer.

 

[kirbyklekter]

one thing we did

to maintain the dishwashers in the apts. where I used to live was to pour about a cup of CLR in to the machine during fill up, than run it for about 2 minutes on wash cycle, then turn it off and let it soak, then resume and finish. It helps with mineral bulid up. It really helped the p[umps in units where the tenant seldom used the dw. We had an original tenant who never in 14 years uded the dishwasher.Still had the box of Electrosol in the upper basket with a .50 coupsn on next purchase. The pump struggled to work when I tried to run it so the CLR helped. They were just going replace it so I said let me try and it worked! Use it in my washing machine now and then also. Steam iron and coffee maker too!

 

[gregvacs28]

The look of an early 80s Kenmore

Matched with the quietness, cleaning ability, and efficiency of a new Bosch.


WHAT ?!

You say I can't have that?!

fooey on you then. Just fooey...

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I'm betting with some customization I can have this.

 

[gregvacs28]

New dishwashers are literally a blank slate looking to be decorated.

Look at this, just remove that obnoxious handle and looking at it straight on it it's just a blank rectangle.
Can it be any easier?

One can easily remove the front pieces of any dishwasher and attach them to this literally blank front.

Now have the look of a ......
1977 GE 1200 in coffee
1992 cheapo Sears Galaxy dishwasher in white
1972 harvest gold Kitchenaid
1983 Maytag with custom cherry panels.
or_________

and yes
My cherished 1982 Kenmore with wood grain trim and my choice of inter-changable color panels...... hmmm, I can't decide which color: Almond, harvest gold, coffee, (no on the avocado and black), or basic white? Don't forget Toast (I'll skip the dove gray color)
The only problem is the insides of these bosch aren't white with yellow seal and yellow racks.

 

[ozzie908]

7 year old Miele

It washes great even burnt on baking sheets and ok it takes a couple of hours but I really do not care how long it takes as long as I do not have to wash up... I don't mind doing any job in the house apart from washing up I hate it with a passion.

Austin

 

[gregvacs28]

Why do some people make the length of time a dishwasher runs an issue?

It's like you hear "25 minutes and it all done"

So?

Those older models are likely to be harsher, noisier, and for stuff that's baked on, not able to remove it.

A gentle, quiet wash using a limited amount of water over a couple hours time is much more likely to deliver satisfactory results I've found.

It's not a race, it's not a competition in a typical home.

 

[dysonman1]

How long they run is important for people who cook like me (and Hans). The pots, pans, baking sheets, cutting boards, mixer bowls and beaters, drip pans, etc. all go in the KitchenAid and it's started the moment before I sit down at the dining room table to eat.

By the time dinner is done, the KitchenAid is halfway through the cycle. After desert and coffee, the table is cleared and the leftovers are put up. Now it's time to unload the dishwasher's first load (I open the door after the last rinse and they air dry in a moment's time).

The second load of all the dishes, serving bowls, etc goes in and it's time to run again. Now I can sit down and I'm done (for the evening). So the time it takes to wash IS important (at least to people like Hans and myself). I don't have three hours to wait for an underpowered little mixer motor to pee on my dishes like the new ones do.