spin racked dishes through a tub of water. Neither of these devices was particularly effective. Josephine Cochrane's invention of the dishwashing machine eventually became a success; however, this not only took a lot of time and effort, but she also faced numerous obstacles in her journey to becoming a successful female innovator. Following the death of her husband in 1883, Cochrane was left with only $1,535.59 and an absurd amount of debt which she had to find a way to pay off. This not only put her in a position of distress and mourning but also motivated her to create this innovation that she was passionate about and urgently needed to sustain herself financially. The death of her husband also put Cochrane in a trialing position as a woman. She had to bring her invention to life, get a patent on it, find customers and sell her product to them all alone, with little to no representation and help of the male figures in her life. At the time, this would be difficult for any woman, no matter what their background or position was. In the following years, she worked hard on bringing her innovation to market, with little money, technical knowledge, and competent help to develop the mechanics of her pressurized dishwashing machine. After filing her first patent application on December, 31st, 1885, she began developing a prototype of her product, bringing her vision to light. Cochrane designed the first model of her dishwasher in the shed behind her house in Shelbyville, Illinois. George Butters was a mechanic who assisted her in the construction of the dishwasher; he was also an employee at the first dishwasher factory. To build the machine, she first measured the dishes and built wire compartments, each specially designed to fit either plates, cups, or saucers. The compartments were placed inside a wheel that lay flat inside a copper boiler. A motor turned the wheel while hot soapy water squirted up from the bottom of the boiler and rained down on the dishes. Their dishwasher was the first to use water pressure instead of scrubbers to clean the dishes inside the machine. She received a patent on December 28, 1886. Another challenge she faced was selling her product to individual households, specifically housewives. The first dishwashers were, in fact, too expensive for an average household, costing between $75 and $100, which most women would not