Josephine Garis Cochran

Josephine Garis Cochran, inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2006, invented the first practical dishwasher. Without any technical training, she designed the dishwasher’s components and received a patent for her invention in 1886. Although hers was not the first patented dishwasher, it was the first to rely on water pressure to clean the dishes rather than scrubbers. This method was gentler and resulted in less damage to dishware. Cochran’s dishwasher was also the first to be commercially viable since it was easier to manufacture than a machine with scrubbers. Cochran faced significant gender discrimination in getting her invention produced and sold, so she took control of the dishwasher’s manufacturing, marketing, and sales and had success selling it to hotels and restaurants. Although she envisioned her invention easing the burden of homemakers, its high cost, insufficient residential hot water availability, and inadequate plumbing infrastructure meant that it would be many years before dishwashers were commonplace in homes. The chapter includes a discussion of water usage of today’s modern residential dishwashers.