Front Load Washer Cleaning Video - Miele

[logixx]

Here's a video I made of how I usually clean my grandma's Miele washer. Being a true European model, it does not have a Clean Machine cycle.

What I do is run it through a boil wash with some citric acid and catch the cleaning solution at the end of the main wash. Then I switch over to spin and put the drain hose into the dispenser. When the machine begins its continuous spin cycle - no earlier - I add some of the hot cleaning solution via the dispenser. This aggressively and effectively cleans the entire outer tub and also the internal hoses.

I have done this on Bosch and Electrolux washers, too. Works very well and certainly better than just an empty hot wash because the spinning action gets the water everywhere.

Alex

 

[nrones]

nice

I started doing the same few months ago, when I tried to simulate beginning of wash in GrandoEvo on my Grando Plus (it spins at the beginning). And then I accidently noticed that there is a lot of limescale going out the drain hose (which was put in the draw like you in the vid) and it was COLD water lol... guess how many went out when it was hot.. I was literally amazed how a 1.5 year old washer could have got so much limescale

Anyways..how long has it been since you cleaned it before this vid? How did it got so dirty? low temp washes, or sth else?

Dex

 

[iheartmaytag]

Though It does have a dedicated "Clean Washer Cycle" If you try doing this with a Whirlpool/Maytag Duet machine it will trigger the Sudz routine and take you an hour before you can open the washer.

 

[logixx]

How did it got so dirty? low temp washes, or sth else?

Well, my grandma really isn't into appliances at all. She just bought the Miele washer and dishwasher because it's Miele and Miele is the best in her opinion. It just runs in the family that no woman cares for appliance maintenance (or any other household-related things, for that matter). So she just loads it with sorted clothes, dumps some detergent in there and a little softener, puts it on Cotton 40C or 60C and that's it. She also does the laundry for my two cousins, which tend to have rather dirty clothes. Needless to say, their clothes still smell after washing. I once put their stuff through an Extended wash with Water Plus and, wow, clean clothes! But there's no point in trying to make my granny understand the value of o-p-t-i-o-n-s that one can add to a wash cycle.

BTW: there's a discussion on the German forum where a Miele tech told the story of a lady that always used cold washes and liquid detergent. She complained about her smelly washer. Miele came out and even used diluted hydrochloric acid to clean out the machine. Nothing helped. Finally, Miele decided to take the machine with them. Turned out that the tub was so encrusted that a chisel was necessary to get the cr@p off the tub! True story.

Alex

 

[nrones]

Look at this

That story is so true, completely obvious with some users today :O

Look at the video in the link... It is my latest wish to womit when I saw it...Shorty wash, 30, and put those crap balls... that woman and their family will soon end up in the infectious clinic :S more than disgusting. :/

Dex

P.S
Test institute in Slovenia tested those balls, exactly the same load, exactly the same machine and done 3 washes: 1- normally with detergent, 2- without anything (just water), 3- With ball... Result turned out that it washed better on wash nr2 than on nr3... that's why I'm sick of them

 

[joe_in_philly]

Washing in cold water without detergent? Wow, that is gross. See the socks she is wearing? The bottom of her socks are filthy.

 

[iheartmaytag]

EWWWWWW!!
Need detergent.
For some reason I felt she and the washer needed to get a room.
bet I know where she's sitting during the spin.

 

[qualin]

Some of my wifes clothing explicitly says on the label to wash in cold water.

I've always been in the habit of washing in warm water and I shrunk a $50 pair of her pants as a result. She doesn't let me do the laundry anymore.

Those ecoballs are a scam, they were selling them at the Calgary Stampede. Ionizing the water my butt! I love the smell that detergent leaves on my clothes.

I personally find that the hotter I wash with, the better my clothes get cleaned.

The best hot water wash I can coax out of my machine is 60 C and that's if I temper it. Warm water washes are probably closer to 30 C here due to the very cold water. Cold water washes are about 5 C.

 

[haxisfan]

It looks effective!

Hi logixx, your 'Miele Washer Cleaning' strikes me as being very effective, but I'm not sure how I can get the washer to spin with water in the tub. Perhaps you wait until it actually starts spinning and then you start pouring the solution in?

I'd really like to do something as effective as that with my washer, as nowadays it doesn't seem to freshens clothes as well as it used to do even on cold/cool cycles! I have to wash everything on 40 or above, otherwise my clothes get some kinda musty smell after they've been stored for a few days. They never used to do that even if they were washed on cold... so, that suggests that my washing machine must have developed some funny growth inside!

 

[aquarius1984]

Good idea, although Im surprised the Miele did not register the pump not catching up with the water and forcing a static drain. Most modern machines surely abort spin to pump out if the water is not clearing fast enough???? thought that was the case.

Anyway try getting citiric acid easily in the UK.

Tried a few places to get some to descale a machine on the cheap. those proprietary machine cleaners cost a fortune imo for 2 sachets and they dont seem to work as well.

Ended up trying a pharmacy to be told no, never realised 'dealers' use it to cut 'products' and as a result its not sold on most uk high streets.

Never looked online, dont fancy being visited by over zealous cops, if there is such a thing these days.

 

[logixx]

Yes, I add the water when the machine is ramping up to spin. If I pour it in earlier, it'll just keep draining because it senses the water level.

 

[donprohel]

For aquarius1984: Citric acid in UK

I've been buying citric acid since four years and never had any issue, maybe you can take a look at the link, hope it helps.

But the way, does anybody knows the difference between Citric Acid Anhydrous and Citric Acid Monohydrate? To descale they both work well.

http://mistralni.co.uk/catalogue/product/12/Citric-Acid-Anhydrous

 

[haxisfan]

Hi back...

Thanks logixx, I will try to do that as soon as I can get some of that stuff... even though, in my case, it means unplumbing the washing machine to get the hose in the drawer.

I feel a little embarassed to say that I actually used 'milton' in the washer running a long cold cycle but I'm not sure whether I can confidently say that it's done the trick. As I said above, I have no problems with towels, whites and light garments in general because they always get warm/hot temperature cycles... but I tend to stick to 30 degrees when I have a dark load... but now it's been a while that I've been washing my darks a 40 degrees to avoid limited freshness.

Last thing... couldn't it be a bit abusive for the bearings to cope with high amounts of liquid while the drum is spinning? I mean, its pressure could force it past the seal and cause some problems in the foreseable future. Well, that was just a thought... but anyway, I'm sure Mieles are strong enough to tackle this scenario, although it might be the 'last straw that breaks my Hoover's back' LOL

 

[nrones]

Haxisfan

I think that reason for limited freshness may not be just your washer, but the clothes that don't get washed propperly at 30.. specially if the wash is quicker. After 20 washes like that you realise they aren't that fresh as they should be

About worrying about bearrings, for one time surely nothing will happend, but in multiple times I don't know, I done that in my Candy 3 or 4 tiems so far, and she is still perfect, however I ask other users, will it get bad after few times more? Is this water spin killing bearrings?

Dex

 

[dj-gabriele]

Is this water spin killing bearrings?

Definitely no.
It's not some litres of water that will strain the bearings, they're designed to withstand the extreme force of the spun clothes!

Anyway, I couldn't do that with my machine, it would stop and drain out as soon as the pump gets "chocked" with all the water

 

[rolls_rapide]

Part of the problem is the design of the modern machines.

Machines from the 1970s and '80s used lots of water, so were self-cleaning.

Some '90s and 2000s machines used less water, but had bursts of spinning during wash and/or rinse (e.g. Hoover New Wave, Zanussi Jetsystem). This helped to self-clean.

Today's lot use so little water, it is inevitable that they are going to be crudded up. I don't know why modern machines don't spin-wash, but they ought to.

 

[logixx]

I don't see how water could make it past the bearings as the spin speed forces water away from the shaft.

Totally agree about the spin wash thing. Our Electrolux start every spin cycle with a burst that makes water slosh around between the tubs. This machine is super clean inside despite its plastic tub. OTOH, considering the balancing act in modern washers, how long would a cycle with multiple spins washes take...? ;-)

 

[haxisfan]

@ logixx

Hi ya... I wasn't thinking in terms of water pressure generated by centrifugal force... that is indeed pushed away from the centre. I was considering the constant stream of water that would be passing by the bearings... in a similar fashion as the visible sudslock you see at the front of the drum. I thought of this because when I was a young child I was in the habit of killing my mum's washer by advancing the dial to spin (once the water level had gone below the typical click of the pressure switch). By doing this the washer required a bearing change every couple of years or less. Sorry mum!

As for the spin wash... I don't see too much of an issue as most washers are not particularly sensitive in balancing a load for a low spin speed... like 400 rpm or something. There's actually a modern washer that does that while mixing the detergent and during the main wash as well... the Candy GrandO Evo. I saw it in operation and it didn't seem to be affected by the out of balance control system, however, I saw it with a full load, so perhaps a small lumpy load would have been another story.

Bye now.

 

[Maturasigma]

Cold wash and less detergent

Here in Germany, that is a really big Problem, the most people are washes at only 20 or 30°C and the washers are so dirty and them smells horroble!!

Let´s see this, that is an AEG and the washer was run as only at easycares 30°C, and after the wash the door was closed.

It was so terrible to repair it, but everything was dirty and smells... EWW!!!