Miele with solid fuel burner
The Miele works as following:
Put washing in, close the door and lock it (chrome handle on the right front), close the water outlet valve (left handle at the drain tube), turn water valve on (left rear, white porcellain handle) and fill the machine. The glass window at the right front shows you the level of the water (three lines: minimum, medium and maximum).
Switch on the motor (switch is at the rear where the motor is situated).
Detergent is added through the top box while the motor is already running .
Then open the front fire door and put paper, small woodden sticks and coal or wood-locks on top of it and light the fire. Close the door and regulate the fire to full air until it comes to the simmering point (watch thermometer in the left front) then gradually regulate it down to moderate flames and later when boiling starts to low with the air-regulator grid in front of the door.
Let the machine boil for about 15-20 minutes while washing goes on until the fire has gone down.
Then turn on water valve and fill the mashine to half of the door window. Stop motor and open the drain valve.
Start rinsing with fresh water three times. Valves must be operated manually! (Fire will extinguish gradually during this time by itself)
Finally take washed garments out of the machine and spin them in a spinner or put them into a hydraulic press.
Coloured items will be heated just to 40°-60° C - so a small fire is adequate for that purpose.
As far as I know the machine takes up to some 8 or 12kg in one go!
The machine had to be connected to a chimney of course and sometimes a copper boiler (like a bathroom boiler) was built between the exhaust to produce hot water for hot rinsing (essential when soap-powder was used) or next hot or warm wash-load with the heat of the escaping smoke.
Ralf