Six Trends in Modified Plastics for Household Appliances

As plastics gradually replace steel, the household appliances around us are quietly shifting toward “plasticization.” Inside appliances, screws, gears, and other structural components have already begun to be made from plastic materials; meanwhile, on the exterior of appliances, plastic’s malleability allows products to take on virtually any desired appearance. In fact, the key to achieving “both internal and external excellence” in plastic appliances lies precisely in a technological advancement.

With the advancement of plastic modification technologies and the improvement of people’s living standards, modified plastics are increasingly being used in fields such as home appliances, kitchenware, and personal care products—covering nearly all related products.

Take small household appliances as an example. Common small household appliances include electric pressure cookers, induction cookers, noodle makers, steamed bun makers, soybean milk makers, cooking robots, juicers, water boilers, hair dryers, straighteners, and shavers. During use, these small appliances frequently come into contact with each other, making them prone to wear and tear. Moreover, prolonged exposure to water, oil, and salt can easily lead to corrosion. Additionally, when used for extended periods in high-temperature environments, they tend to age rapidly. Furthermore, long-term exposure to sunlight may cause discoloration and loss of luster. Therefore, these products have high requirements for the aesthetic performance of their materials—materials must exhibit strong scratch resistance, be easy to process, and offer excellent cost-performance.

How to reasonably apply modified plastic materials to reduce the cost of small household appliances while ensuring product quality is one of the key approaches for these products to gain market share.

Plastic Material Selection for Common Small Household Appliances

(1) Microwave oven

The plastic components on a microwave oven are primarily external parts, including the outer casing, base, handle, knob, and others. All these components must possess heat-resistant properties.

The plastic materials selected include heat-resistant ABS, flame-retardant HIPS, heat-resistant PP, and PC/ABS alloys, among others.

(2) Rice cooker

The plastic components on electric rice cookers are mainly external parts, including the outer casing, base, lid, handle, switch, and others. All these components must possess heat-resistant properties.

The selected plastic grades are uncoated ABS and high-gloss PP.

(3) Air humidifier

The plastic materials selected include: colored ABS, uncoated materials, transparent components (PC, GPPS), and high-gloss PP.

Main materials for exterior components

ABS coloring: Excellent heat resistance, high surface gloss, dimensional stability, easy to process, convenient for spraying, and can be made into different colors according to requirements.

PP with fillers: low cost, good flowability, dimensional stability, and easy to process;

PC material: high strength, high-temperature resistance, and excellent transparency;

PC/ABS alloy: It features excellent heat resistance, high surface gloss, excellent dimensional stability, and is easy to process.

The primary material of the decorative components

Transparent materials: transparent ABS, PMMA, PC, etc.;

Electroplating material: Electroplating-grade ABS;

Non-spray materials: High-gloss non-spray ABS, non-spray AS, non-spray PC/ABS, non-spray PP;

The coating-free material features high gloss, metallic luster, excellent workability, vibrant colors, outstanding flow properties, and scratch resistance.

Six Trends in Modified Plastics for Household Appliances

Appearance Color Module Solution

The combination of technology and fashion has made personalized-colored home appliances an unstoppable development trend. The main solutions are as follows:

(1) Use bright, high-gloss, scratch-resistant materials, etc.

The material offers a wider variety of colors, such as glossy black, purple, green, vibrant red, and blue.

(2) Prohibited spray coatings—such as pearlescent and metallic finishes.

Plastic products with silver-white, gold, silver-gray, and other metallic effects can be manufactured without the need for spray plating.

(3) Other special effects—marble, crystal-veined marble, crystal-veined.

Give plastic products the same effect as marble or granite.

Safety Material Module Solution

Security equipment has become a fundamental element of current development.

(1) High-flame-retardant materials, halogen-free and low-smoke materials

For example, internal and external components such as refrigerator, air-conditioner, and washing-machine motor housings are made from low-smoke bromine-phosphorus synergistic high-flame-retardant PP/ABS/PS or low-smoke halogen-free flame-retardant PP/ABS/PS/PBT materials, meeting requirements such as 1.5mm 5VA and GWIT 850℃.

(2) High-performance materials

Permanent antistatic colored materials such as PP, ABS, and PS are widely used in applications including refrigerator, air-conditioner, and washing-machine housings. High-flame-retardant materials with high leakage current indices—such as ABS, PP, PA, and PBT—are employed in electrical control components. Meanwhile, conductive materials like PP, ABS, PS, and PBT are utilized as internal functional parts. All these materials comply with the White Permanent Antistatic 109 standard and feature high CTI values (600V) as well as other relevant requirements.

Lightweight Material Module Solution

Extending lightweight products from automobiles to household appliances has become an inevitable trend.

(1) A material that uses plastic instead of glass, featuring high transparency and high rigidity.

Highly transparent materials such as PP, ABS, PMMA, PETG, PES, and PSF are used for observation windows and other components to meet food hygiene requirements or to ensure transparency while also providing scratch resistance and high strength.

(2) Materials that use plastic instead of steel, offering both rigidity and high dimensional stability.

Materials with high strength and a high glass-fiber content (exceeding 50%), as well as long-glass-fiber-reinforced materials (LFT-PP/PA), are widely used in technical structural components for appliances such as refrigerators, air conditioners, and washing machines. Meanwhile, special engineering materials reinforced with glass fibers (PPS/PEI) are primarily employed in wear-resistant parts. These materials perfectly meet the stringent requirements of structural components for high strength, excellent wear resistance, resistance to boiling, and thermal stability. Moreover, under the same strength conditions, microporous foamed materials can significantly reduce the weight of plastics used in household appliances without causing warping or shrinkage marks, while also offering higher strength and superior processing performance.