LG debuts dishwasher that promises better washing in less time

CES 2022 has officially kicked off, and information is starting to trickle out about all the latest tech that's waiting to be unveiled.

While many appliances have seen significant upgrades in recent years, with smart tech, newer features, and imaginative new designs steadily rolling out over time, dishwashers have historically found themselves lagging behind other categories. Beyond the rapid acceptance of third racks as a newly-standard feature, or Bosch's experiments with zeolite, the dishwasher space hasn't really changed since the shift away from exposed heating elements.

LG aims to shake up this paradigm with its new model, Top-control Dishwasher with QuadWash Pro & Dynamic Heat Dry, which launches with brand new technology. To understand these innovations, though, we need to go over the data LG is working from.

To start with, LG breaks down a few trends in the post-COVID world. LG's sample size is relatively low—just 60 participants—but it does indicate some interesting data about how our hygiene practices have changed since the start of the pandemic. For starters, many of us are washing dishes more frequently: According to LG's data, 57% of participants washed their dishes at least once per day before the start of the pandemic, with 100% of those participants washing dishes daily after COVID hit. Furthermore, while cleaning power was the number one concern of shoppers looking for a new dishwasher, the number one pain point after a purchase was dishes not being thoroughly dried after a wash.

To address these concerns, LG is launching the Top-control Dishwasher with QuadWash Pro & Dynamic Heat Dry. This new washer aims to address all of the above issues found in their data collection.

As for cleaning power, this new LG features an upgrade to their old system: QuadWash Pro. QuadWash Pro is the newest iteration of the four-pronged washing arm we've seen in other LG models, but with an additional trick: Each arm features tiny circular holes that create micro bubbles. These micro bubbles better adhere to food soil and helps to break it down faster, which provides better cleaning power in less time.

To address the longer-term pain point of dishes not drying, this LG also features Dynamic Heat Dry, which is a combination heater and blower that the machine uses to quickly circulate heated air throughout the tub, greatly accelerating the drying process.

Together, this new washing and drying technology aim to provide users with a 1-hour wash and dry cycle that offers the same performance of a Normal cycle but over twice as fast (our own lab data shows the average Normal cycle takes 131 minutes). These faster cycle times are important, as longer cycle times have conditioned users to mostly run dishes after dinner, to be unloaded the following morning. If increasing numbers of users are running multiple wash cycle per day, a reduced cycle time means a faster turnaround that's easier to fit into a busy schedule.

Of course, these two new innovations aren't the only two bullet points on this new dishwasher's feature set. You can also expect a third rack, height-adjustable racks, and internal LED lighting.

We're interested to see how this newer iteration of the QuadWash system fares against our standard battery of lab tests. We'll be sure to update this article with more information as it is released, but in the meantime feel free to check out our coverage of the rest of CES 2022.