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“cooking for half an hour and eating for 5 minutes” is never the most uncomfortable thing. the most uncomfortable thing is “washing dishes for half an hour” afterwards.

therefore, as the terminator of the question "who washes the dishes today?", the dishwasher has taken on the important task of resolving the core conflicts of the family. whether it is a new house renovation or an old house renovation, it has successfully squeezed into the kitchens of many families.

according to avc data, the retail volume of dishwashers in the first half of 2024 was 990,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 3.4%; the retail sales amounted to 5.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5%. dishwashers have maintained a growth trend for nearly a decade. when the overall home appliance industry entered a slow growth cycle in recent years, it was also one of the few categories that maintained high growth.

photo/liang tingting

on the other hand, the growth rate of the domestic dishwasher market is slowing down significantly. compared with some european and american countries, where the penetration rate of dishwashers in households is as high as 70%, the figure in my country is still less than 5%. in many families, dishwashers do not even have a chance to solve the problem of washing dishes, and are blocked from the market for various reasons.

on xiaohongshu, there are more than 880,000 notes about dishwashers. some people say that dishwashers are a kitchen gadget that frees your hands, and that you should not force yourself to buy one in the 21st century; others say that they regret buying it because they can afford it but cannot afford to use it.

so, is it necessary to buy a dishwasher? why, after 30 years of introduction into china, is the discussion about dishwashers still stuck at whether to buy one or not?

i can't afford the blessing of a dishwasher?

zhang's family has always had the tradition of cooking without washing dishes and washing dishes without cooking, and he is the one who has to wash dishes for a long time because of his poor cooking ability. when he replaced his new house, the first kitchen appliance he bought was a dishwasher. "i had arranged for the kitchen savior i had been thinking about early."

as a result, over the past two years, the dishwasher has been powered on no more than five times.

on weekdays, the family of four eats in the cafeteria separately. they occasionally get together for dinner, but because the children are in a hurry to attend evening self-study, they have to eat takeout or have a simple meal. the bowls and chopsticks combined cannot fill one layer of the dishwasher.

there were many people at home on weekends, but they mostly went to his father-in-law's house for dinner, so he could only take on the task of washing dishes again, facing a pool of greasy dirt. the image of opening the dishwasher door and seeing a pile of clean and shiny dishes always remained in his imagination.

i also wanted to install a dishwasher in my father-in-law's house, but the old man strongly resisted.

similar to the elders in zhang's family, the biggest problem that prevents everyone from buying a dishwasher is very simple: the fear that it won't wash clean. according to iresearch's 2023 survey data, 52.6% of people who intend to buy a dishwasher have this concern.

many people who have used it have complained on social networks that they have to rinse off the food residue in the dishes before washing them, otherwise they will have to go back to the drain to pick out the residue; the condensed oil and sauce and dried rice grains have to be scraped off in advance, and it all depends on luck to wash them clean; the bowl for steamed egg custard is the lifelong enemy of the dishwasher. hot water can remove oil, but it is a complete failure when it comes to protein, which hardens and sticks to the bowl.

especially for "lazy people" who want to use a dishwasher to take the cake, whether washing clothes cleanly is a matter of personal opinion. machine washing is always better than washing them yourself. the key is that you cannot be lazy even if you have a dishwasher.

dishwashing salt, dishwashing powder/tablets, rinse aid, cleaning agents, just the pile of consumables to buy is overwhelming. spending money is a small matter. i finally learned that when putting dishwashing powder/tablets in the dishwasher, i have to "take care" of the dishes to be washed first, rinse them one by one, and then "arrange the troops" in the dishwasher, otherwise not all the dishes can be stuffed in or they are piled together and difficult to wash clean.

photo/provided by the interviewee

you also have to be careful not to put some materials that cannot be washed into the dishwasher, otherwise the non-stick pan will lose the coating and become a sticky pan, the glazed bowl will become a polished bowl, the heat-resistant plastic bowls and wooden chopsticks will all be deformed, and the iron pot and aluminum pot will be damaged, which is even more heartbreaking.

"i feel like since i started using the dishwasher, i have found myself a job of washing dishes for the dishwasher." chen pingping, who doesn't cook much and whose dishwasher has been idle for half a year, said with a smile.

not only that, there are some reasons why dishwashers are not favored by everyone: they waste water and electricity, and take up a lot of space in the kitchen.

it takes one or two hours to wash a piece of clothing. it’s slow, but just listening to the sound of the machine and the water will trigger the frugal dna of the chinese people since childhood: how much electricity and water will be used?

if i hear my mother say, "there are just a few bowls, i can wash them easily," the effect is comparable to the teacher's "you can answer this question with your eyes closed." if i retain a little bit of traditional virtues, i will feel that i must wash the bowls by myself.

in addition, the average area of ​​a chinese kitchen is only about 5 square meters, and a common large-capacity built-in dishwasher can often take up an entire cupboard, making the kitchen space even more stretched.

ah hua, who lives alone, spent a lot of time deciding between a kitchen water purifier and a dishwasher when decorating her house. "i don't have a big house, but i don't deserve a dishwasher."

why is it so difficult to make up your mind to buy a dishwasher?

if you want to enjoy a dishwasher, you probably need to solve two problems: the first is to get the dishwasher into your home; the second is to make the dishwasher able to be powered and used for washing, rather than becoming a kitchen cupboard.

the penetration rate of dishwashers in china is extremely low. what is the biggest obstacle to dishwashers entering chinese kitchens? i am afraid it is still the difference in subjective perception. even if the dishwasher of brother zhang's family has "squeezed" into the house, it still cannot be recognized by the family.

xu rongchao, senior research manager of the kitchen and bathroom division of avic cloud network, said that chinese consumers have relatively insufficient knowledge about dishwashers, especially the older generation of consumers born in the 1970s who still have more control over the family kitchen. their consumption concepts and life philosophies are relatively conservative, they are more frugal, and they choose to do more housework themselves.

he further explained that many consumers believe that dishwashers not only waste water and electricity but may not wash dishes thoroughly, mainly because dishwashers do not allow people to intuitively feel the working process like hand washing. in fact, dishwashers consume very little power and save more water when washing the same amount of dishes, using only about one-third of the amount of water used for hand washing. from the perspective of cleaning principles, household dishwashers use high-temperature and high-pressure water to wash dishes 360 degrees, which can not only remove grease from all directions, but also has the function of sterilization and disinfection. when used correctly, the cleanliness is far better than hand washing.

chinese tableware is not as flat as western plates. it usually has a deeper mouth and is often filled with thick oil and sauce when cooking. this does require a higher cleaning ability from the dishwasher. however, with the continuous development and breakthrough of technology, there are already good solutions to the problem of oil stains in chinese kitchens.

a relevant person in charge of midea group, which owns multiple dishwasher brands such as colmo, toshiba, midea, and hualing, told the interesting report that localized innovation around chinese kitchen scenes is the current innovation focus in the dishwasher field, and heavy-duty cleaning technology is one of the basic capabilities for continuous improvement. midea's dishwasher business has a research and development team of about 400 people. designed for chinese cooking habits, it has innovatively developed universal spray, five-arm heavy oil washing, counter-rotating bionic washing and other spray systems, which effectively improve the cleaning effect and efficiency.

another mainstream brand, fotile, independently developed the "high-energy bubble washing" technology, which uses a water-air hybrid cleaning method to achieve a larger cleaning area and better cleaning effect at the same water temperature and water pressure compared to traditional water washing.

haier has launched the "micro-steam cleaning" technology, which can powerfully dissolve oil stains. its sati dishwasher has also developed a hydraulic suspension spray system for the main cleaning spray arm to achieve higher cleaning accuracy.

an offline salesperson of a well-known domestic dishwasher brand said confidently that cleaning well can be said to be the most basic ability of a dishwasher. "as long as it is not a fake brand, the regular dishwasher you buy can definitely meet the cleaning needs of an average family."

dishwashers are a type of product that requires high r&d investment and has a high technical threshold, so the brand concentration is also high. iresearch consulting's "2023 china dishwasher market insight report" pointed out that in 2023, the cr5 market size in the chinese market accounted for as much as 83.7%, and more than 80% of the national dishwasher market was occupied by the five major brands of siemens, fotile, midea, robam, and haier.

not only that, in terms of energy consumption, dishwashers have also been supported by national standards. in 2021, the national standard "dishwasher energy efficiency and water efficiency limit values ​​and grades" was officially implemented. this is the first national mandatory standard for dishwasher energy efficiency and water efficiency. in other words, compared with the voluntary standards in the industry in the past, dishwasher products on the market now meet the corresponding national indicators. the energy efficiency index, water efficiency index, drying index, and cleaning index should at least meet the prescribed values ​​of energy efficiency and water efficiency level 5. non-standard products have been eliminated.

the "china energy efficiency label" is affixed to the upper left corner of the dishwasher panel. photo by liang tingting

of course, a dishwasher is a big piece of cleaning equipment, so if you want to fit it into your home, you have to consider the space. although the "big house" problem is not easy to solve, dishwashers are already learning to solve it themselves.

compared with overseas dishwashers, which are mainly full-size built-in and stand-alone, domestic dishwashers are more diverse in form and function. in addition to the current mainstream built-in dishwashers, sink-type, integrated, stand-alone, and table-top dishwashers suitable for more kitchen environments are also developing continuously. nowadays, even if you don’t make a big move in the kitchen, you can still install a dishwasher and enjoy the joy of freeing your hands.

"the dishwasher in my home is like a donkey in the production team. i rely on it to wash three meals a day." luna, who lives in beijing, was persuaded to buy a desktop dishwasher three years ago. although it cannot wash pots and takes up a kitchen countertop, it can hold seven or eight plates and four or five bowls, which is enough to wash the dishes for a family of five for a meal.

after every meal, she washes dishes in the quick-wash mode for 20 minutes. even without drying, the dishes are clean and shiny after being washed with hot water. the mother, who was resistant at first, is now convinced. washing dishes, a basic family conflict, has been completely eliminated in her family.

i finally installed it, why is it still idle?

those who love dishwashers have begun to enjoy washing dishes. "i would like to use five plates to cook a dish, and i have to use a bowl for one ingredient." "the tableware has become the shape of the dishwasher. i won't buy anything that can't be washed in the dishwasher."

but why are there still so many people who, even though they own a dishwasher, still use it as a cupboard?

in fact, the same old saying applies: lazy people are not friendly.

the money spent on the dishwasher is nothing. the key is that the preparations before washing dishes sound too complicated. chen pingping still hasn't figured out which box to pour the dishwashing powder into. so far, only her sister can skillfully operate the dishwasher to complete the "great task" of washing dishes.

the relevant person in charge of midea dishwashers concluded that dishwashers have now achieved efficient dishwashing, and also have functions such as drying, sterilization, and storage. they can efficiently replace hand washing and are also cleaner and more hygienic. however, there are still some pain points in usage in terms of residue pretreatment, tableware placement, and adding multiple consumables that have not been effectively met.

xu rongchao also added that the localization upgrade of domestic dishwashers is still insufficient. dishwashers are imported from the west. chinese eating habits, tableware forms and current family living environments are different from those in the west. dishwashers that adapt to chinese kitchens must not only have stronger cleaning capabilities, but also take into account space optimization and capacity improvement, and even details such as the design of the bowl basket. it is by no means a simple copy that can meet the needs of domestic consumers.

however, many leading brands, including midea, are continuously innovating and iterating in terms of cleaning technology upgrades, intelligent placement of consumables, and chinese-style bowl and basket designs to better match chinese kitchen scenes and simplify operating steps.

the food residue problem that troubles many people actually has some solutions. bosch dishwasher sales staff said that except for larger hard bones and fibers, almost all food residues are broken up and washed away under high temperature and high pressure. the final kitchen waste will be properly disposed of after triple filtration, and there will be no adverse smell.

fotile dishwashers also have similar forced exhaust and anti-reverse technology, which allows tableware to be stored for longer periods of time, and prevents bacteria from breeding at the bottom of the dishwasher and causing secondary contamination.

for small families or singles, it is a bit wasteful to run the dishwasher for three or five dishes at a time. what else can they do besides buying a small set of dishwashers? dishwashers that can wash in different areas have also been born. casarte has launched a drawer-type dishwasher that can achieve partitioned cleaning by physically separating the inner cavity.

these major pain points in using dishwashers are being continuously overcome, but overall, most dishwasher products are still on the road of "evolution", and users need a certain learning process. more importantly, a satisfactory dishwasher is not cheap.

monitoring data from avic cloud network shows that in the first half of this year, the average retail price of dishwashers in the online market was 4,344 yuan, with the main selling price range being 6,000-8,000 yuan, and sales in this price range accounting for 49%; the average retail price in the offline market was 8,017 yuan, with the main selling price range being above 8,000 yuan, and sales accounting for 59%.

xu rongchao pointed out that compared with the average price of mature washing machines, the overall price level of dishwashers is still high. at present, the main factors that differentiate the prices of dishwashers are capacity, sterilization and drying technology, and intelligence level. that is, the larger the capacity, the better the sterilization and drying effect, and the more intelligent the control, the higher the premium of the dishwasher.

an interesting report also found during offline visits that in addition to cleaning capabilities, big-brand dishwashers have long rolled up "icing on the cake" functions such as drying technology, high-temperature disinfection, and sterile storage time.

photo/liang tingting

just like washing machines that use water and electricity have already been installed in thousands of households, dishwashers may also have this day sooner or later, first improve the quality and then lower the price. but if we want to "convince" more consumers like washing machines, especially the generation of parents, i am afraid we still need to better solve those basic pain points that "help in times of need".

author: liang tingting

editor: tennessee