Modern Maid DW/Range

I think Modern Maid overestimated the need for a compact unit. The theory is good, a space-saving unit for small kitchens and apartments, but in practice they didn't seem to stay in production for many years.

The dishwasher is almost the same as my family's, which my dad purchased in the summer if 1968, just a small cosmetic difference on the control panel and door panels. I remember seeing the dishwasher/range combo unit at the store and thinking it looked strange. As far as washability, the dishwasher scrubbed quite well, to the point it eventually stripped off most of the Teflon on my mom's pans. It scrubbed pots and pans and dirty dishes quite well.

The downside was the noise. My dad didn't like the noise, it didn't bother my mom at all, she stated she was proud to have the noise as it let everyone know she had a dishwasher.

The other downside was the redeposition of the small particles created by the "macerator blade." They sometimes accumulated in the concave area on tops of the bottoms of cups and glassware. My sister's same vintage D&M made Kenmore roto-rack, was virtually the same machine with a different top rack, oddly, didn't have this problem. Leading me to assume the centrifugal force flung the small particles off the cups and glasses, as the rack spun.

Those era D&M machines were prone to rust through.

My dad purchased our Modern Maid from Wickes Lumber. Anyone else remember Wickes? It was an early version of Menards, Home Depot and Lowe's. One of the earliest supermarket type lumber/home store. Quite an exciting place to shop, sort of a hardware store on steroids.

If I recall properly, Modern Maid was the only line of appliances Wickes carried. My dad shopped around and there was no cheaper dishwasher he could find than the Modern Maid. He never thought to check Consumer Reports or ask aquaintainces about their dishwasher experiences. He just went solely on the cheapest thing he could find.

But, the Modern Maid did work and cleaned dishes well save for nibblet accumulation on cups and glasses that sometimes occured. Longevity apparently was not a great consideration to the people at D&M, though, ours had rust-through in only five years and also had a motor burnout and replacement in that time period as well.


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Post# 1191495 10/7/2023 at 15:32 (204 days old) by goatfarmer (South Bend, home of Champions)
Checkrate/Likes $950.00 CLICK HERE TO GO TO goatfarmer's LINK View Full Size

Post# 1191501 , Reply# 1 10/7/2023 at 16:46 (204 days old) by Repairguy (Danbury, Texas)
Checkrate/Likes 1 Sure don�t see that everyday.

Post# 1191505 , Reply# 2 10/7/2023 at 17:19 (204 days old) by appnut (TX)
Checkrate/Likes 1 Not many left. The Cook n Clean Center????

Post# 1191541 , Reply# 3 10/8/2023 at 10:01 (203 days old) by ozzie908 (Lincoln UK)
Checkrate/Likes *Cook and Clean centre* Saw one on the Price is right with Bob Barker.... Loved the 70's and 80's the best shows ever and the prizes well !! Left our mediocre version in the shade !!

Post# 1191547 , Reply# 4 10/8/2023 at 11:33 (203 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md)
Checkrate/Likes 1 *Approximately 1970 modern made cooking and clean center* It looks like it was not used much at all, which is why it�s still here, lol. It�s about $900 overpriced. However, I couldn�t imagine having to use one of those. We still have a lot of customers with them. We really have to look for parts, because nothing really available. I needed a broil element for one of these a while ago and it was just nothing that we could find would work. I ended up having to disconnect it, This one for sale has the wrong thermostat knob on it. John

Post# 1191560 , Reply# 5 10/8/2023 at 15:49 (203 days old) by bigalsf (Salt Lake City)
Checkrate/Likes 1 My aunt had one of these. She used it quite a bit! Amusing story, she called me one time saying the dishwasher was not draining. When I tried the machine it filled up, and the motor ran, but there was no circulation to speak of (just a small amount of water moving through the lower spray arm). When I dissassembled the pump I discovered the wash pump impeller was mostly gone and the drain impeller was totally gone; the impeller blades had completey disentegrated leaving only the base & hub of the impeller body (when these were first manfactured the drain pump impeller was made out of pot metal). I was shocked that the shaft seal was still in place! When I asked her how long the machine had been acting like this she said it stopped draining only recently. I asked her if her dishes were coming out clean; she said yes. I didn't understand until she described her dishwashing habits. Basically she rinsed everything so well that she couldn't tell that the machine was not actually washing (she didn't listen to it like we do!) When I explained this to her she was quite grossed out! I put a new pump kit in and strongly suggested she leave a few things dirty to make sure the machine was working (I really couldn't scold her as she was my aunt!) She followed my advice and the machine worked well from then on. It was still working when she sold her house. They are super noisy as well. No insulation of any kind! While it is a cool piece of MCM appliance history it is definitely not worth $900 (it didn't cost that much new).

Post# 1191591 , Reply# 6 10/9/2023 at 10:13 (202 days old) by reactor (Oak Ridge, Tennessee-- )
Checkrate/Likes *unique concept* I think Modern Maid overestimated the need for a compact unit. The theory is good, a space-saving unit for small kitchens and apartments, but in practice they didn't seem to stay in production for many years. The dishwasher is almost the same as my family's, which my dad purchased in the summer if 1968, just a small cosmetic difference on the control panel and door panels. I remember seeing the dishwasher/range combo unit at the store and thinking it looked strange. As far as washability, the dishwasher scrubbed quite well, to the point it eventually stripped off most of the Teflon on my mom's pans. It scrubbed pots and pans and dirty dishes quite well. The downside was the noise. My dad didn't like the noise, it didn't bother my mom at all, she stated she was proud to have the noise as it let everyone know she had a dishwasher. The other downside was the redeposition of the small particles created by the "macerator blade." They sometimes accumulated in the concave area on tops of the bottoms of cups and glassware. My sister's same vintage D&M made Kenmore roto-rack, was virtually the same machine with a different top rack, oddly, didn't have this problem. Leading me to assume the centrifugal force flung the small particles off the cups and glasses, as the rack spun. Those era D&M machines were prone to rust through. My dad purchased our Modern Maid from Wickes Lumber. Anyone else remember Wickes? It was an early version of Menards, Home Depot and Lowe's. One of the earliest supermarket type lumber/home store. Quite an exciting place to shop, sort of a hardware store on steroids. If I recall properly, Modern Maid was the only line of appliances Wickes carried. My dad shopped around and there was no cheaper dishwasher he could find than the Modern Maid. He never thought to check Consumer Reports or ask aquaintainces about their dishwasher experiences. He just went solely on the cheapest thing he could find. But, the Modern Maid did work and cleaned dishes well save for nibblet accumulation on cups and glasses that sometimes occured. Longevity apparently was not a great consideration to the people at D&M, though, ours had rust-through in only five years and also had a motor burnout and replacement in that time period as well.

Post# 1191595 , Reply# 7 10/9/2023 at 10:35 (202 days old) by petek (Ontari ari ari O )
Checkrate/Likes The only places I saw these that I can recall were in new subdivisions. They were offered as upgrades to the builders specials I presume. I don't remember seeing Modern Maid for sale in stores but then being a smaller city we didn't have a lot of independent or large appliance stores like you'd find in a bigger city at the time.

Post# 1191598 , Reply# 8 10/9/2023 at 11:14 (202 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md)
Checkrate/Likes *Modern made cooking clean centers* These were basically only sold through remodeling dealers and kitchen remodelers, they were never sold in Appliance stores. This was true of all modern made appliances primarily sold through cabinet companies, etc. Cooking clean centers were in production from the late 60s till 1986 they sold tens of thousands of them they were made in both gas and electric ranges it was a marvelous idea. It gave you a full size dishwasher and a four burner range with oven in the space of just a 30 inch range, of course most were put in smaller homes, condos etc. because it wasn�t a huge oven. They were discontinued around 1986 when D& M went from a porcelain tub to a plastic tub dishwasher as a plastic tub dishwasher was not considered safe underneath a cooktop. I saw an electric cooking clean center where Sears installed a new plastic tub, whirlpool dishwasher under it, the first time they boiled water on the large right front 8 inch element the plastic tank of the dishwasher melted down through the top rack and you couldn�t pull the top rack out when it cooled lol. Sears came and took away. The dishwasher gave their money back. I installed a plastic tub whirlpool underneath the cooktop, but did it properly adding insulation and an aluminum plate to disperse any heat also got rid of the black burner bowls and told them they had to use reflective chrome burner bowls. They never had a problem. John

Post# 1191614 , Reply# 10 10/9/2023 at 13:03 (202 days old) by Tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)
Checkrate/Likes 1 Me, too.

Post# 1191621 , Reply# 12 10/9/2023 at 14:48 (202 days old) by reactor (Oak Ridge, Tennessee-- )
Checkrate/Likes 3 *A Speed Queen dishwasher* Thanks, Robert. I had no clue that unit was labled with the Speed Queen name. I always wondered why Speed Queen never broke into the dishwasher market. I guess they did, at least by name. Too bad they didn't market and manufacture their own machine. I think when that ad came out, Speed Queen was already a McGraw-Edison Company. McGraw-Edison had purchased Modern-Maid a couple of years earlier to that ad, in 1972. I can see why McGraw would also market that unit under their popular Speed Queen name, which was much better known than their Modern Maid name. This post was last edited 10/09/2023 at 15:04

Post# 1191600 , Reply# 9 10/9/2023 at 11:20 (202 days old) by appnut (TX)
Checkrate/Likes 1 I remember Wickes!!

Post# 1191615 , Reply# 11 10/9/2023 at 13:09 (202 days old) by Unimatic1140 (Minneapolis)
Checkrate/Likes 4 *The Speed Queen Kitchen Console!* Interestingly enough Speed Queen also marketed this unit under their brand name, however I would assume these are extremely rare. I'm pretty sure they made both a gas and electric model, but I can't find the gas brochure that I know I once had. The following is from a brochure I got from Speed Queen back in 1974... View Full Size