Automatic Dishwashers in Manila: A Guide
Purchasing an automatic dishwasher for our home in Manila was one of our best decisions. Dishwashers are rare in this city, but I now rank it higher than a microwave on the list of kitchen essentials. In fact, we’ve been living without a microwave and hardly miss it. But life without a dishwasher is now hard to contemplate, especially since we do not have any kasambahays (domestic helpers).
As soon as it was installed, I put our dishwasher through its paces. I put in a frying pan with hard seared-on gunk. I put in a rice-cooker pot sticky with rice starch and rice bits. Both came out sparkling clean. What would have taken several minutes of scrubbing was accomplished with the push of a button.
I was so amazed that I posted about it on social media. I told my friends and family about it. Since then, I’ve received several inquiries from Manila friends, and even some strangers, interested in dishwashers. I get asked more or less the same questions, the answers to which I summarize below.
Will a dishwasher use more water than hand-washing?
No. A dishwasher uses much less water than manual washing. The model we have, a Fisher & Paykel Dishdrawer, uses 6.9 liters of water per wash. That’s less water than what most toilets will use in a single flush.
Does a dishwasher use a lot of electricity?
My dishwasher came with a tag from the Australian government declaring its electric consumption at 136 kWh per year if used daily on eco mode. If calculated using December’s Meralco rate, this amounts to ₱1341 per year. Modes that use hotter water will consume more electricity. On Eco mode, my Fisher & Paykel heats water to 43°C. On Sanitize mode, it heats water to 70°C. Dishwashers have built-in heaters.
We use our dishwasher daily and often twice a day. We did not notice an increase in our electricity bill. Given that our dishwasher is on the small side, a larger one will consume more power. For example, a large Tekno dishwasher for sale at Anson’s Capitol Commons consumes 372 kWh per year if used daily on standard mode. That computes to ₱3,671 per year, based on December 2019 electricity rates. Per month, that would be a very reasonable ₱305 for a dishwasher that can wash up to 12 place settings. Dishwasher capacity is usually measured by the number of place settings it can wash in one go. A place setting is all the dishes and cutlery used by one person at a meal.
My Fischer & Paykel has a capacity of 7 place settings. But since there are only three persons in my household, we use the extra space to wash pots, pans, baby bottles, nipples, etc.
To use your dishwasher most efficiently, load it to capacity before running it. This can be done by storing the day’s dirty dishes in your dishwasher and washing them all in one go at night. To prevent food bits from spoiling or hardening onto dirty dishes while awaiting a wash, run your dishwasher on rinse mode. Rinse mode sprays water (without heat and detergent) for more or less ten minutes. Rinse mode is especially useful while you are waiting for your dishwasher to fill-up before running the main wash.
Does a dishwasher clean dishes better than washing by hand?
Yes!!! I was surprised by how my dishwasher successfully removed burnt food stuck solid to a frying pan. This usually takes several minutes of scrubbing or soaking overnight. The pan came out of my dishwasher sparkling clean. If it can clean that, it can clean almost anything your kitchen can throw at it, as long as it fits!
To clean pans with stubborn crusts, I use Medium or Heavy mode. These modes use much hotter water and perhaps higher spray pressures than Eco mode. Eco mode is perfectly fine for most cases. The more energy-intensive the mode, the quicker it takes to finish. Eco mode takes about 3 hours. Heavy takes about half that time. My dishwasher also has a Fast mode which takes about 30 minutes.
Most importantly, with a dishwasher, you can retire your dish sponge for most purposes. Your dish sponge is probably the filthiest thing in your kitchen other than your garbage bin and mop. Because it is always moist, frequently touched and wiped on dirty plates, dish sponges are the perfect breeding ground for germs.
When dishes, pots, and utensils come out of my dishwasher, they feel and look cleaner than if they were washed by hand. They’re nice and warm, too.
Many dishwashers also have a Sanitize option certified by NSF/ANSI 184. “This standard helps confirm that a residential dishwasher can achieve a minimum 99.999 percent or 5-log reduction of bacteria when operated on the sanitizing cycle”.
My Fisher & Paykel has Sanitize and is certified to NSF/ANSI 184. We use it from time to time, such as when our grease trap has to be cleaned. During cleaning and vacuuming, droplets of grease trap sludge may contaminate our dining and cooking ware, so we wash everything we can on Sanitize.
Where do I find dishwasher detergent in Manila?
**March 2021 update**
For several months, dishwasher detergent has been unavailable in all Rustan’s Marketplace branches I frequent except at their main branch in Rustan’s Makati. I have recently checked Marketplace Central Square (BGC), Marketplace Burgos Circle (BGC), Marketplace Greenbelt (Makati), and Marketplace Forbes (Makati). Only in Marketplace Rustan’s Makati did I find detergent (Waitrose, Seventh Generation, and No Brand). No Brand is a liquid dishwasher detergent from South Korea. It’s the cheapest I’ve seen at 174 pesos for a 1.2-liter bottle. I bought a bottle and tried it once. It was effective. However, I have yet to try it for very dirty pots and pans.
I have also tried Akiba, a local dishwasher and rinse-aid brand available on both Lazada and Shopee. A box of 30 dishwasher tablets is priced at 500 pesos. Their rinse-aid is priced at 390 pesos for a 450ml bottle. The rinse-aid is as effective as Finish. However, as for the tablets, I find that I need to use two tablets if my new 12-place dishwasher is fully loaded. If I don’t, the dishes may come out with a slight film. Waitrose powder detergent is still much cheaper and is more effective. Akiba should consider selling powder dishwasher detergent. Powder is usually the cheapest and cleans just as well as tablets.
Rustan’s Marketplace supermarkets carry dishwasher detergent. All the branches I’ve been to (Shangrila, Forbes, Rockwell, Baguio) had dishwasher detergent available. Unlike in countries where dishwashers are common, there aren’t many detergent brands to choose from in Manila. In Rustan’s there are only three: Seventh Generation (US), Cascade (US), and Waitrose (UK). I have never seen dishwasher detergent in an SM or Robinsons supermarket. I saw Cascade once in True Value Shangrila. Perhaps True Value now regularly carries dishwasher detergent.
After our supply of ‘pasalubong’ dishwasher pods from Australia ran out, I switched to Seventh Generation powder from Rustan’s. I’m happy with its performance and it isn’t expensive. A 1.28-kilogram box costs PHP 449 and lasts for more than a month with daily use. An even cheaper detergent is from Waitrose, which costs just ₱289 for 2-kilogram box and is also available in Rustan’s groceries. We prefer Seventh Generation because its phosphate-free and plant-based formulation is less harmful in wastewater and so is better for the environment.
Dishwasher detergent is also available from local sellers on Lazada and Shopee but at incredible mark-ups. What would have cost less than 500 pesos in a Singapore supermarket is sold on Lazada or Shopee Philippines for three or four times more. The only reasonably priced item I’ve seen from online sellers is Finish Dishwasher Cleaner from a seller named “sojiro1982” on Shopee. He sells cleaner for 515 pesos per bottle. The same product retails for about 350 pesos at Cold Storage Singapore. I use cleaner about once a month.
What is hard to find in the Philippines?
Rinse aid. Rinse aid helps glassware dry without watermarks and is dispensed by the dishwasher automatically. All you have to do is to make sure the dispenser tank isn’t empty. In my dishwasher, a ‘low rinse aid’ warning light will illuminate when it’s time to top-up.
Rinse aid is not available in Rustan’s or any of the other big supermarkets. The only place I’ve seen it is at Healthy Options, but in limited quantities. Lazada and Shopee also carry it but at a tremendous markup.
The rinse aid I have is from Singapore. The 500 ml bottle of Finish we bought in a Cold Storage supermarket has lasted for several months and is only half-empty. It costs about ₱500, converted. At default settings, dishwasher machines need very little rinse aid per wash. Because a bottle of rinse aid lasts several months, it is possible to purchase your supply when on vacation. Or ask friends to take home a bottle as pasalubong.
How much do dishwashers cost in Manila?
The range is below 30K for standalone dishwashers from more affordable brands to nearly 100K for built-in, high-capacity, double-drawer dishwashers from high-end brands.
I paid ₱48,500 for my Fisher & Paykel (DD60SDFX9SS) at Anson’s Landmark. And this was after a discount. This model is built-in and finished in stainless-steel. We would have wanted to save by purchasing from a more affordable brand, but this Fisher & Paykel was the only one compact enough to fit into our kitchen counter without extensive modifications. Most homes and condos and Manila do not come with provisions for dishwashers, not even high-end properties.
If you have space, a free-standing (stand-alone) dishwashers are usually cheaper and have larger capacities than built-ins. For instance, a Tekno free-standing dishwasher with 12-place-settings capacity was retailing for ₱28,500 at Anson’s Unimart in Capitol Commons. Tekno is La Germania’s affordable brand. A 14-place Ariston was retailing at their Shangrila Mall showroom for ₱37,109 as of May 2019. Free-standing dishwashers do not need to be built-in to your kitchen counter. They can stand on the floor.
Recently, a brand called Maximus has entered the Philippine market with table-top dishwashers. As it sounds, these dishwashers go on top of your kitchen counter or table like a microwave.
[UPDATE: Lazada Philippines has available a Toshiba counter-top dishwasher (4 place settings) for about 19K. I once saw it go on sale for around 16K.]
What needs to be done when installing a dishwasher?
After purchasing your dishwasher, you’ll need to schedule a site visit with the company that imports and installs it. You’ll be given their contact details by the appliance store. Someone will come over to your house and tell you what you need to modify in your kitchen cabinetry (if you purchased a built-in) and kitchen plumbing. Then you hire your own carpenter and plumber to make the necessary changes. Dishwashers need a water line and drainage, hence the plumber. Built-ins need to be enclosed in a cabinet in your kitchen counter, hence the carpenter.
If you’re building a new home or have bought a pre-selling condo, you can save yourself this hassle by making sure that your kitchen is provisioned for a dishwasher.
Where do I buy a dishwasher in Manila?
Large appliance stores usually sell dishwashers but they don’t always display them. You need to ask. You may also need to order your dishwasher. I bought mine from Anson’s Landmark. Luckily, they had my unit in stock.
Other than Anson’s and other large chains, dishwashers are sold in the Ariston-GE showroom in Shangrila Mall and at the Bosch showroom in Greenbelt. They are also available on Lazada.
Do I have to dry dishes when they come out of a dishwasher?
In my experience, anything made out of glass or porcelain comes out perfectly dry. Things made out of metal also come out dry. What does not dry so well are plastic items like baby bottles and their nipples. These have to be dried after they leave the dishwasher. However, most dishwashers have an ‘extra dry’ option. With this on, even baby bottles and nipples come out almost if not entirely dry. Dishwashers have built-in dryers. Rinse aid also helps in drying.
Yes, we wash baby bottles and nipples, even pacifiers, in our dishwasher.
The manufactures of the baby bottles we use all claim that their bottles and nipples can be safely washed in a dishwasher. We put them in a UV sterilizer and dryer after they leave the dishwasher.
Dishwashers can also be used to sanitize toys.
That’s right. A dishwasher can be used to sanitize children’s toys, which is especially useful for parents whose babies are at the mouthing stage. We haven’t tried it, but there are several articles online that tell you how to do so. Only toys from manufacturers who explicitly recommend it should be cleaned in the dishwasher. For example, Fisher-Price recommends dishwasher cleaning for their toys that are “made completely of plastic”.