How about machines before there were Multi Cycles ?

Honorable Nemesis,

The Custom 4-Cycle showed up in 1959, and because of it's more sophisticated controls earned a higher rating from CU than the Princess or the Empress(which CU dissed dismissively).

It quickly progressed to be a Power-Shower model with a PLATE WARMER setting in 1960 and then reached its acme in 1961 when my Father bought one out of spite and disgust with his wife's waffling and procrastinating in service to penny-pinching. Mom only used the NORMAL and CHINA/CRYSTAL cycles on that 4 cycle machine. She obstinately refused to use the HEAVY or the POTS AND PANS cycle ever because she insisted that the dishwasher couldn't clean like a pair of hands with a Brillo pad. She was right but, had she read the manual, she would have learned that the GE engineers and designers never intended that the machine could; that cycle was meant to clean Pots and Pans and utensils to "get them out of the way" needing, possibly, touching up by hand afterwards. To this day, I use my dishwasher this way and it's exactly the way some restaurant kitchens use their machines as well. The 4 cycle on the Custom were each significantly different from each other in a couple of ways and were each, in fact, useful.

I think before dishware and fabrics started to change, manufacturers began offering slight variations in automatic cycles, most notably shortened cycles to save most precious time, then less precious utilities (those were the days). I rember that the "Short Cycle" on our 1962V-12 washer was used frequently whereas I don't remember anybody EVER using a later Permanent Press cycle or Soak cycle.


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Post# 919446 2/5/2017 at 11:42 (2,627 days old) by toploader55 (Massachusetts Sand Bar, Cape Cod)
Checkrate/Likes 1 In the beginning days of the appliances that we love (Washers, Dryers, and Dishwashers) What was the Time Line before machines started to offer Multi Cycles ? For instance... KitchenAid offered One Cycle machines as the KD-10 until the KDS 14 series and the KDI-14 machines. GE was the same until when ??? The Princess and The MobileMaid with the 3 cycles in the late 50's ? Most washers except for the Wash Time and Fill settings were one cycle until what year did they start Delicate and Wash and Wear settings ? Hope this Thread turns out to be fun and Infomative. This post was last edited 02/05/2017 at 12:45

Post# 919454 , Reply# 1 2/5/2017 at 12:39 (2,627 days old) by appnut (TX)
Checkrate/Likes I think Whirlpool and Kenmore began offering the gentle cycle in 1956 (at the earliest) with the Kenmore Cycla Fabric. The 1st Lady Kenmore was 1957. Speed Queen offered a Short Wash (as did ABC & Kelvinator) around maybe 1955. Waste King could have started selling their 3 cycle dishwasher (Full Cycle, Pots/Pans, Pre-Wash) maybe a year before the KDS14. I think Hotpoint's TOL multi-level spray arm dishwasher with two cycle buttons may have been 1957.

Post# 919470 , Reply# 2 2/5/2017 at 13:38 (2,626 days old) by Yogitunes (New Jersey)
Checkrate/Likes 3 this is a 62....two cycles, 3 temps....all the more reason it still runs today... Photos... < > Photo 1 of 3 View Full Size

Post# 919478 , Reply# 3 2/5/2017 at 14:24 (2,626 days old) by turquoisedude (.)
Checkrate/Likes GE first offered multi-cycle dishwashers in 1960. One of those first multi-cycle Mobile Maids turned up for sale in Shopper's Square recently and if an SU70 built-in ever surfaces, it'll be a race between a certain member in Connecticut and me... LOL THE first multi-cycle dishwashers seemed to appear in 1958. I'd have to call it a tie between Waste King and Hotpoint...

Post# 919485 , Reply# 4 2/5/2017 at 15:12 (2,626 days old) by bajaespuma (Connecticut)
Checkrate/Likes 1 *Ah, correction, please* Honorable Nemesis, The Custom 4-Cycle showed up in 1959, and because of it's more sophisticated controls earned a higher rating from CU than the Princess or the Empress(which CU dissed dismissively). It quickly progressed to be a Power-Shower model with a PLATE WARMER setting in 1960 and then reached its acme in 1961 when my Father bought one out of spite and disgust with his wife's waffling and procrastinating in service to penny-pinching. Mom only used the NORMAL and CHINA/CRYSTAL cycles on that 4 cycle machine. She obstinately refused to use the HEAVY or the POTS AND PANS cycle ever because she insisted that the dishwasher couldn't clean like a pair of hands with a Brillo pad. She was right but, had she read the manual, she would have learned that the GE engineers and designers never intended that the machine could; that cycle was meant to clean Pots and Pans and utensils to "get them out of the way" needing, possibly, touching up by hand afterwards. To this day, I use my dishwasher this way and it's exactly the way some restaurant kitchens use their machines as well. The 4 cycle on the Custom were each significantly different from each other in a couple of ways and were each, in fact, useful. I think before dishware and fabrics started to change, manufacturers began offering slight variations in automatic cycles, most notably shortened cycles to save most precious time, then less precious utilities (those were the days). I rember that the "Short Cycle" on our 1962V-12 washer was used frequently whereas I don't remember anybody EVER using a later Permanent Press cycle or Soak cycle.

Post# 919487 , Reply# 5 2/5/2017 at 15:29 (2,626 days old) by mickeyd (Hamburg NY)
Checkrate/Likes 1 Think that the Unimatics could not slow down, such that decreased speed only appeared with the Multimatics., circa 1960. Here's a 62 with a Wash & Wear cycle. Like Martin's WP, this baby still performs flawlessly.

Post# 919488 , Reply# 6 2/5/2017 at 15:31 (2,626 days old) by mickeyd (Hamburg NY)
Checkrate/Likes 1 *THE WATER THROW ......* NEVER GETS OLD ! ~ unlike us, hahaha

Post# 919523 , Reply# 7 2/5/2017 at 17:23 (2,626 days old) by turquoisedude (.)
Checkrate/Likes *Oopsie...* Wow, Ken I had no idea the custom 4 cycle was part of the '59 model year. I had been convinced it was introduced in 1960. Of course this got me thinking of the closest I ever got to actually buying one in Michigan a few years back... sniffle

Post# 919542 , Reply# 8 2/5/2017 at 18:19 (2,626 days old) by norgeway (mocksville n c )
Checkrate/Likes *Hotpoint* Had a 2 cycle washer in 54 I think, it had a control called the Wonder Dial.

Post# 919558 , Reply# 10 2/5/2017 at 20:20 (2,626 days old) by wayupnorth (On a lake between Bangor and Bar Harbor, Maine)
Checkrate/Likes I wished I had a picture but was in a POD rotation along time ago. Grammy had a Kenmore 24" circa late 50's. One water inlet hose, diverter hose set temp at faucets, one cycle, normal, one water level, full. I wished that page would come back in POD. My neighbor had the semi-automatic on the same page of that Sears catalog.

Post# 919549 , Reply# 9 2/5/2017 at 18:44 (2,626 days old) by pulltostart (Mobile, AL)
Checkrate/Likes GE I think GE offered a 2 cycle timer starting in 1957. But in 1958 when they introduced the 'Piano Key' controls on the TOL model, that timer only had one cycle. Models below that one had 2 cycle timers and used separate controls for water temperature and wash/spin speeds. lawrence