Looking at "Future Home" from AWE (1): Will the Deep Cleaning Needs of Households Be the Next "Golden Race"?

The child accidentally dirties the sofa, a small stain on the curtains that is not worth cleaning, dirty little footprints left by pets stomping on the carpet I believe these are small troubles that many people encounter in their daily homes. While washing machines and sweeping robots have helped us solve most of the floor cleaning problems, these more detailed scenes are powerless. At the 2023AWE exhibition, the popularity of fabric cleaning machines provided the best solution to these problems, accompanied by the increasingly diverse home cleaning needs of Chinese users, Fine differentiated cleaning products have also received more attention, and fabric cleaning machines have become a major highlight of this year's AWE2023.

The "Walking Washing Machine" is popular in AWE, solving the deep cleaning needs of households

At the recent AWE2023 exhibition, it is believed that many people have experienced or seen this scene. The staff simulated the daily situation of the family, sprinkled soy sauce, coffee, etc. on the fabric products, and then through a series of processes such as spraying, brushing, and sucking with a fabric cleaning machine, the fabric products instantly returned to their original state.

http://upload.cheaa.com/2023/0511/1683765589216

After products such as floor washers, sweeping robots, and vacuum cleaners have solved the floor cleaning needs of Chinese households, more differentiated cleaning tracks such as fabric sofas, carpets, and even curtains have also been paid attention to by enterprises. According to GFK data, the online channel fabric cleaning machine market size in China in 2022 is close to 180 million, and its growth rate can be described as not rapid.

At this AWE exhibition, companies including Bi Sheng, Dongling, Delma, Yili, and others exhibited fabric cleaning machine products, among which the Dongling fabric cleaning machine DL-6906 also won the 2023 Eplan Innovation Award. From the perspective of product technology, fabric cleaning machines mainly achieve the cleaning of fabric products through three steps: first, spraying, using cleaning solution or high-temperature dirt melting, then brushing through the brush head, and finally using strong suction to suck out dirty sewage to achieve the cleaning purpose. Fabric cleaning machines are also jokingly referred to as "walking washing machines" by enterprises.

Although it is a new track and product, the company's differentiated innovation around fabric cleaning machine products is also particularly prominent. For example, the Dongling fabric cleaning machine DL-6906, which won the Eplan Innovation Award, integrates steam cleaning technology with self heating and high-temperature fabric cleaning technology, achieving a combination of decontamination, sterilization, and mite removal; The BISSELL BISSELL Steamed Treasure exhibited by BISSELL is also equipped with steam function. In addition to the original soft cloth cleaning scenes such as sofas and mattresses, it has also expanded to hard surface scenes such as kitchen stoves and bathroom glass, meeting the cleaning needs of more three-dimensional spaces. In addition, there are also products in the market that combine fabric cleaning functions with floor washing machines, achieving multiple functions for one machine.

The growth rate of fabric cleaning machines is evident to all, and Liu Jingjun, the Managing Director of Bisoft Asia, is still very optimistic about the fabric cleaning machine track. He said, In fact, the technical products of fabric cleaning machines in foreign markets are already very mature, but this product has only gradually emerged in China in the past two years. The usage scenarios of fabric cleaning machines are also very broad, including sofas, curtains, carpets, plush toys, etc. It can indeed solve some core problems of deep cleaning in homes

However, industry insiders have stated that compared to higher frequency usage rates such as floor washers and sweeping robots, the usage scenarios and frequency range of fabric cleaning machines are smaller. Currently, enterprises are more focused on niche high-end products, with smaller target markets and audiences.

There is no unified standard for the product, and the launch of "Household and Similar Use Fabric Cleaning Machine" is expected to solve this problem

In addition to the aforementioned enterprises, Midea, Panasonic, Tianke, uwant, Kach, Subor, and some small and medium-sized enterprises have already launched related products. As a "new force", the main problem faced by fabric cleaning machines is how to accelerate market education, and on the other hand, to maintain healthy and steady growth.

http://upload.cheaa.com/2023/0511/1683765610758

In order to promote the healthy and standardized growth of the fabric cleaning machine industry, the China Home Appliances Association has established a standard development plan for the "Household and Similar Purpose Fabric Cleaning Machines" association. It is reported that this standard has been jointly discussed by multiple leading cleaning appliance enterprises in the industry, and is currently steadily advancing.

When it comes to the development of the fabric cleaning machine industry, Liu Jingjun said, It is not enough for an industry to rely solely on a certain enterprise or three or four companies for healthy and rapid development. We need everyone to work together to develop this market. However, as a new category, Bing Sheng pays more attention to the following issues: firstly, as an electrical appliance, it must have controllable quality, and products must solve a series of problems for consumers in a safe environment. In the process of rapid market development, how to ensure the safety and reliability of products , is the core and fundamental concern of everyone; In addition, as more and more enterprises enter, are everyone focusing on addressing the pain points of consumer use, truly addressing the deep cleaning needs of households? This is also what the industry needs to pay attention to

Chen Ronghui, a researcher in the cleaning appliance industry of the China Home Appliances Association, also told China Home Appliance Network reporters, "The main problem in the fabric cleaning machine industry at present is that the standard fabric surface of each enterprise is not uniform, and the stains are not uniform, so the cleaning effect is also quite diverse, and consumers do not have a unified standard to refer to

That is to say, due to the lack of unified standards and references, the fabric surfaces, stains, etc. tested by various enterprises in the product production process are often "self-contained", and the most important "cleaning effect" for consumers is currently no reference standard in the industry. I believe that with the subsequent introduction of the "Household and Similar Purpose Fabric Cleaning Machine" standard, effective solutions will be proposed for this problem.

As a global wind vane for home appliances and consumer electronics, AWE has always led the direction of industry technology innovation and consumption trends. The popularity of the emerging category of fabric cleaning machines on AWE has also announced that with the high demand for high-quality life from users, the cleaning needs of users' homes have been upgraded from the ground to more diversified three-dimensional space deep cleaning needs, and more emerging categories such as fabric cleaning machines have joined, This enriches the categories of cleaning appliances and provides users with a richer range of cleaning solutions for home scenarios. "Every household, every room, and consumer's demands for cleaning scenarios are different. In recent years, fabric cleaning machines have grown rapidly in the domestic market, which has grown from zero to several billion yuan, indicating that more and more such cleaning appliances are emerging and consumers are recognizing them," said Liu Jingjun.