The Dishwasher Of The Past Looks Unrecognizable Today

Dishwashers are nothing short of a modern miracle. While there are dishwashing hacks we wished we all knew to make the process even easier, the fact that we can press a few buttons and have our dishes cleaned is something we take for granted. But the roots of this modern wizardry are in a cumbersome, hand-powered machine that is totally unrecognizable today: the Garis-Cochran Dish Washing Machine.

Concepts for what would become the dishwasher began as early as the mid 1800s, but the Garis-Cochran dishwasher was the first one that was commercially successful. Invented by Josephine Cochran in the 1880s, the machine was able to both hold the dishes in place and pump in hot, pressurized water, which no previous machine could do. The dishes were loaded onto racks set in a copper boiler, which, along with the pressurized water hose, were connected to a motor powered by a hand crank. This likely made it far louder than the Hotpoint HDF330PGRWW that Consumer Reports named one of the worst dishwashers of 2026.

So, yes, the fact that the Garis-Cochran dishwasher was a free-standing unit that needed to be cranked by hand would make it totally unrecognizable in a modern kitchen. Yet, there is so much modern dishwashers owe to this old school model, despite not actually looking anything like it anymore. 

Now, we don't think that seeking out vintage dishwashers is going to be as trendy as the 1970s vintage style Gen Z is bringing back, but it is worth examining the Garis-Cochran dishwasher because many of its revolutionary components are still used today. One of these components is the racks that hold the dishes in place. Josephine Cochran created the dish racks in her machine using wires that were specifically measured to hold dishes, cups, and saucers in place. While this is a feature we've come to expect on all modern dishwashers, it was a first when Cochran patented her machine in 1886.

Another element from the Garis-Cochran dishwasher that we find in modern machines is the presence of pressurized water. The dishwashers before the Garis-Cochran Dishwasher relied on people pouring hot water over the dishes. The hand-cranked motor on the Garis-Cochran Dishwasher allowed hot, soapy water to be pumped up from beneath the copper basin and spray the dishes. The Garis-Cochran model also had a pressurized rinse cycle that would spray clean, hot water over the dishes to rinse away the suds. This is a standard feature in all modern dishwashers, but was again revolutionary for the time. 

So, while it may not look like our sleek dishwashers, the ingenious technologies pioneered by Josephine Cochran in the late 1800s have made dishwashing easier and more convenient for millions of people. For that, she can be thanked.