Miele W1 owners

[sudsmaster]

Well, the official operating instructions for the W1918 is unequivocal: "Do Not Add Chlorine Bleach!" it says in the section about adding detergent. It also states, in the "Economy" section, "Miele recommends the use of powdered detergents, as their characteristics allow them to perform better in this machine than liquid detergents."

 

[launderess]

"Miele recommends the use of powdered detergents"

Well they would wouldn't they? European washing machines sold then still emphasized the virtues of long profile washes (even at hot to boil temps) using detergents containing oxygen bleach.

 

[bewitched]

Older machines had a compartment for dispensing bleach. Miele never had it except for the little giants where that feature could be enabled. I used chlorine bleach sometimes in my older Miele machines and occasionally in my dishwashers too but i never had any problem. My new W1 washes exceptionally well with its own twin dose detergents so no need to use chlorine bleach or other detergents. The Miele tecnician who installed the machine told me that spider corrosion happens when lower temperatures than 60 degrees centigrade are constantly used, along with liquid detergents and big amounts of fabric softener. Miele w1918 (i guess it's similar to the 918 I had many years ago) has an iron spider, the same I asked to install on my Supertronic w5000 (it didn't need a new spider anyway). He also told me that on particular situations, heating element can produce an arc through the wash bath that can in the long time produce a hole in the stainless steel tub. My W1 can be programmed for every kind of detergent I want if I don't want to use the miele products. I can choose to dose a detergent with the bottle n1 and a softener whit the bottle n2 but I see no reason to do that. The Miele detergent has a nice scent by itself and gets rid of even very soiled items. I usually use the quick power wash which I found very good for almost every thing I wash, coloured and whites.

 

[logixx]

The European W1 models also have an option for Chlorine Bleach. It's hidden in the technician's menu.

Here's a screenshot from a YouTube video where you can briefly see it.

 

[sudsmaster]

I think at the time the Miele Novatronic line was produced, liquid detergents were generally high sudsing, even those labeled "HE". I bought some along the way that said "HE Compatible", which mean they were too high sudsing, IMHO.

 

I believe I've read the other objection on the part of Miele back then was that liquid detergents didn't have enough water softening ability, nor did they have oxygen bleach.

 

YMMV

 

 

[launderess]

When Tide HE liquid first came out received a small sample. Packet stated contained enough for one wash so in it all went (am an idiot aren't I?).

This was with my first front loader (Malber) and sat sitting in front of machine watching froth build up the port hole. It kept on building until coming out of machine.... Stopped washer and rang up service man who advised pouring some type of oil (I used Wesson) into about a quart or so of water, then pouring down dispenser drawer into washer. That did trick in killing suds so that was that, and never again.

Was off Tide (HE or not) for ages until Tide Cold water free, and Free/gentle came out. By then it seemed P&G had gotten their act together in regards to liquid detergents and front loaders.

 

[sudsmaster]

I found a big jug of Persil liquid at Costco one day and used that for months. Then it ran out... and I couldn't find it any more. So I finally got a big jug of Tide liquid - this winter - and in combination with a Tbs of STPP it works fine. With ANY detergent you have to titrate it by suds level, so I always add less than recommended to start off with. And, duh, the soil level, type of laundry load, and machine design makes a HUGE difference in suds level. This is why I don't buy pods or tablets etc as if one size fits all. It simply doesn't.

 

Like I said, early claimed HE liquid detergents, in my experience, were mostly too high sudsing. The industry appears to have improved on that since then.

 

Today's key word, boys and girls, is:

 

 

<span style="font-size: 36pt;">TITRATE</span>

 

 

[askolover]

Tide turbo pods work fine for us with soft water.  Even a very large load of outdoor work clothes with 2 pods won't over suds.

 

[sudsmaster]

Neptune vs. Miele update

 

A while ago I mentioned that the Miele 1918 was able to handle four bath sheets, while the Neptune 7500 could handle five such. Actually one can easily fit six bath sheets in the Neptune, but it has so much trouble balancing that load that it usually winds up doing a lower speed final spin which sort of defeats the purpose. And as the Neptune is just a hop skip and a jump from my office setup, I get tired of listening to the poor Neptune spinning, stopping, banging, and trying to drain repeatedly before it finally manages an anemic low speed final spin. It does not have that problem with five bath sheets.

 

Today I decided to tickle the tiger and stuffed five bath sheets into the W1918. The last one was a bit of a squeeze, but they all fit, once I rotated the drum and found the last bit of space for the fifth bath sheet. The cycle ran just fine, although there wasn't quite as much of a drop as is optimal. But the bath sheets came out quite clean. I used Persil Megaperls detergent for them this time. Have to see if I can get some more of that.

 

So, yeah, the Miele can handle just about as much as the Neptune. The Neptune isn't going anywhere, but it's interesting how two quite different front loaders handle the same load.

 

[mrboilwash]

And the moral of the story is that there`s so much more to consider than drum volume or ratings by dry weight to make washers capacity comparable ;-)

 

[irishwashguy]

It can hold as much as my mother’s old Maytag washer

Hello there,
I believe it would keep up just fine for a family of 5-6. It holds more than my mother’s Maytag which claims to hold 18 lbs. The new Miele w1 hold 18 lbs that can easily do a queen comforter or a king duvet while doing the best wash of your life. I do laundry for my husband , myself and three dogs.(8 loads) I also do about 12 loads a week for my wash and fold . With this being my second Miele washer, they made them better. Average wash for me is 1:10min on hot plus regular. I enjoy the versatile dispenser that I use to add my washing booster. I usually don’t need softer. The base model is $1199 worth every penny. This machine has everything a person requires to do fabulous laundry. They will outlive many of the plastic giants many brands sell. This machine is quality the others aspire to. My previous Miele was 20 .

 

[combo52]

Show Me Your Load

Reply #70

 

First of all I am not knocking 24" Miele FL Washers, they are Very Good Machines, very capable and well built.

 

And they are large enough for large American families, they will wash as large a load as any [ real ] DC Maytag ever did [ note MT never claimed that the large DC washer would wash 18 pounds of clothing ] and it won't , they will wash 8-12 pounds.

 

The stumbling block with a Miele pair is the dryer, it is 1/2 the size and power of a typical US dryer, this is also true of the millions of 24" US built dryers that we have and still build and sell in this country. These smaller dryers cannot dry more than 6-10 pounds of clothing and even at that it is slow and wrinkled when done.

 

The picture below is a load I washed last week in a GE TL washer with a dual-action agitator, it was a maximum load for this washer. It was dried in about 1 hour in a 7CF WP gas dryer.

 

It is 12 mostly large bath towels, the dry weight is 13 1/2 pounds, this load will not fit in any 24" washer or dryer ever built anywhere and wash and dry properly.

 

John L.

 

[ozzie908]

Miele W1

I have a W1 powerwash 2 washer and it is said to hold 9kg dry weight on the cottons cycle. Now when I wash the bathroom set that consists of 2 bath sheets 2 hand towels a large bathmat a toilet mat and face cloth it washes it perfect and always spins at its said speed of 1600 rpm I used to struggle getting it dry in the AEG heatpump it could take hours as the mats are very thick, Well since managing to get a Huebsch gas dryer of the USA variety I don't have any bother getting any size load dry the gas dryer which by the way are very rare for domestic use and with thanks to John L for getting me a new lint screen as I could not find one that fitted, and putting a new drum seal on its as good as new and even though its 26 years old its quiet and fast I am so impressed its ace I hope to keep it going for another 20 years at least -

Austin

 

[appnut]

Today I washed 12 pounds of towels in my 4.3 cu. ft. Duet.  Consisted of 8 towels, 8 wash cloths, and 4 hand towels.  Two of the towels are bigger than 30 x 60" but not quite bath sheet size.  (I got those two sets of towels at Target several years ago).  There was enough room I could have probably got another set of towels in the load if I had ones that would go with this load.  I'd say the load's volume was between 3/4 and 7/8 full volume-wise.  I also washed my two queen size sheet sets.  They weighed 10.5 lbs.  

 

[foraloysius]

Interesting Bob! I did a bit of a conversion. 12 pounds is 5.44 kilo. Your drum is almost 122 liters in volume. In comparison my Siemens washing machine has a 60 liters drum or at least thereabout. The rated capacity is 8kg, but I'm sure I wouldn't be able to get the full 8kg into it. But pretty close I'm sure. Comparing your machine and mine and looking at the weight of the load, it looks like there could be way more laundry put in your machine than you did.

Approaching it from another angle, a drum of 122 liters should be able to hold 12kg according to old fashioned standards. The norm used to be 10 liters of volume gives space for 1 kg of laundry.

Your other load was 10.5 pounds. That is 4.76 kg. Those two loads combined are 10,2 kg. In theory both loads could have fitted in the drum together. In theory, I don't know how thick the towels are, but if they are not too thick, you should still have left room for a clenched fist at the top of the filled drum.

 

[appnut]

Luigi, thank you for taking the time to do the comparison.  I'm not sure the washer could have ever been able to balance with 2 sets of sheets as well as towels. (wash cloths and hand towels can end up in the pockets of the fitted sheets and that creates havoc) As for the load of towels, yes it could have held some more, but I didn't have anything else that could go in that load.  Bear in mind, the two sets of towels from Target are the newest ones in the load.  Two other sets of towels are from 1985 and the other 4 sets are from 1987 to 1989.  When fall comes, I switch towels to darker colors and I have more of them that will really fill up the machine.  I'll do a follow-up for sure!!!

 

My washer adjusts the wash time based upon weight of the load.  With the sheets, the detergent Precision Dispense injected 5 times and added 8 minutes to the wash time.  For the load of towels, it injected detergent 11 times during fill and wash time increased by 22 minutes.  

 

Also, the towel load never did balance itself for the final spin and ended up ending the cycle.   That's probably only the 5th time in the almost 9 years I've had the machine.  And this load gets washed regularly.  I didn't load the towels according to instructions--large items first.  This time I just haphazardly loaded all the items.   

 

[foraloysius]

I'm not sure why it would matter to load the large items first. At the end of the cycle things have tumbled so much that they are mixed up, but that is just my idea.

I guess you need more towels! lol

 

[launderess]

If it at all can be helped fitted sheets are only laundered with linens only wash loads. Even then pillow slips often still end up bunched inside the things causing problems.

Thankfully only own a handful of fitted sheets. We keep to the old ways using flat sheets and mitered corners for bottom.

Spend time in nursing school or on the floors and you learn a few things about bed making. *LOL*

 

[askolover]

I miss hospital corners....all our hospitals now have fitted sheets!  But I can still make a pretty mitered corner tuck in a second.

 

[launderess]

Just as well really

Don't know what these nursing schools teach nowadays, but what once were called "nursing arts" seem to be long gone. Bed making, bathing, etc... all quite forgotten.

As for fitted sheets, believe some of that push may have been in aid of reducing laundry costs. Fitted sheets are just tumble dried and folded; they rarely can be put through mangles.

https://wyomingmedicalcenter.org/pulse/day-in-the-hospital-life-not-your-mothers-laundry-room