Which Miele W1?

[littlegreeny]

I am researching compact washers and dryers to replace my unitized Frigidaire laundry center. I much prefer front loaders and unfortunately the way my closet is set up I need to go to a compact set. And I am limited to one 240 volt outlet in the closet. If it weren't for those limitations, I'd get the LG 4000 set or their wash tower but those are too big and won't work.

Originally, I was strongly considering the Miele WXR860 but read through Hippo's thread and that kind of scared me away. Plus, I don't really know how reliable the M Touch is in the long term. Part of me just wants to get their entry model (WXD160) but the lack of prewash and extra rinse options kind of turns me off. I 'think' one might have access to those options through the Miele app but I have read so many horror stories about their app too.

I am also considering their second to the top model, the WXI860. I like the recirculation pump and QuickIntenseWash. I could do without TwinDos and would probably just try to refill the canisters with a different brand detergent...I hate they don't trust Americans enough to allow them to choose what they want and have refillable containers like they have available in Europe. Ugh...

The T1 dryer seems pretty nice and I like you are able to access the condenser to clean it if necessary, unlike Bosch's heat pump dryer.

So I'd love your opinions and advice. Is Miele the way to go or should I strongly consider something else like the Bosch 500 series pair or ???

 

[henene4]

The M Touch and the model down actually have the same control underneath.
So any flaw the M Touch has the other most likely has aswell.

If you were considering LG already, their compact offerings are pretty good aswell.

If there was a vented dryer in place already, there are a few compact vented dryers on offer aswell.

Beko makes the cheapest set - pretty cheap and cheerful.

Asko makes them too and the current Asko line is pretty OK aswell.

The GE set that is on offer is a pure Haier machine and thus pretty similar to the Fisher&Paykel set.
Except the GE can be had with touch!

I would avoid the Bosch dryers.
Reversing is a must on compact dryers.

I would also avoid regular condenser dryers.
Either vented or heat pump.

 

[jerrod_six]

The WXI860 looks like the washer I have, except that it has powerwash enabled and mine does not. I have the WWH860 series washer that was introduced in 2019 and haven't had any problems with it.

As for Twin Dos, I use it and also use other detergents by dosing them through the dispenser. Twin Dos detergent is actually kinda nice since you don't have to use that much to get a good clean and the cartridges last for months, plus I buy them when Miele is having a sale and get them a little cheaper that way.

 

[littlegreeny]

Thanks for your replies.

Henrik, unfortunately the LG won't work because I don't have an extra power outlet in the closet. I was looking at Beko. They seem nice and have a powerful heater. And the Asko's are nice. For both the Beko and Asko I just wish there were more reviews and videos. There are so many for Miele! And thanks for advising me not to get the Bosch. Have you heard of any issues with the M Touch screen? I heard it's been around many years. Do they hold up against all the dust, heat and moisture you see in a laundry room? It just seems like that would be the first thing to break.

Jerrod, thanks for letting me know you haven't had any issues with your WWH860. And it sounds like you're pretty happy with it. Did you ever have to call for service or get that water inlet error or have issues doing a prewash?

I think I'm pretty set on buying a Miele, I just need to figure out which one.

 

[chachp]

Miele

 

<span style="font-family: helvetica;">It's as if I wrote Jerrod's post.  I agree with everything he said.  I didn't think I would use the Twin Dos either but turns out I do use it quite a bit. I switch off between that and the dispenser with another favorite laundry detergent.  I dated this last set of cartridges and it was 06/11 when I put them in.  They are just about ready to change.  I'd say I do about 50/50 maybe more Twin Dos vs. other detergents.  I am disappointed in the new app but I'm hopeful it will get fixed.  Good luck trying to fill the Twin Dos dispenser with another detergent.  It's not too easy.  I thought the same thing when I bought mine.   </span>

 

<span style="font-family: helvetica;">I had the inlet error once the day I got the machine and haven't had one since.  Overall I'm very happy with the performance of this set.  I bought the adapter that turns the one 220 volt into two plugs one for the washer and one for the dryer.  I was a little concerned about the heat pump dryer but I have no issues with that either.  I don't wait hours and hours for loads to dry but it's only two of us so the loads aren't huge either.</span>

 

<span style="font-family: helvetica;">I stacked mine as well and have the drawer in between which is nice when you are taking clothes out of the dryer.  Overall very happy with mine.  They are about two years old.  No service calls.</span>

 

[littlegreeny]

Ralph, thanks for the reply! It's great you like your set and they have been problem free. I would also be getting the outlet adapter for them to plug into. I would stack them and didn't consider the drawer. I'll have to look into that.

I'm glad you mentioned the dryer because that doesn't get talked about too much. I hear it's pretty fast, especially for a heat pump dryer.

 

[chachp]

Drawer

 

<span style="font-family: helvetica;">David, if you don't have a counter next to the Washer/Dryer the drawer is really nice to fold clothes as they come out.  I have a counter in my laundry room so I didn't need it so much for that I wanted it to store the Miele detergent caps when I thought I would use them.  But in reality I don't use them.  We have soft water and one cap is way too much detergent for a load so instead I store the dryer flacons in there.  What I really like the drawer for though is to catch the rogue dryer ball or socks or things that would fall to the floor as I am taking them out of the dryer.</span>

 

<span style="font-family: helvetica;">If I remember correctly, I think they also make just a shelf that might save a few inches if you have a height restriction in your laundry closet.</span>

 

[jerrod_six]

So far I have never had the water inlet issue that has been talked about. I do a cold prewash from time to time and everything seems to be OK.

The App: I have my phone set up so that I must approve of every app update that arrives so after I heard about the problems with the new version I have not updated the app. I am still on the old version and it works perfectly. I use a Google Android phone so approving an app update might not work on IOS. Not sure.

 

[littlegreeny]

Jerrod, I'm glad you never had that water inlet issue.

What cycles do you typically use? Do you know if the washer reaches the set temp during most cycles?

 

[jerrod_six]

I use Wrinkle Free for some cotton t-shirts and I use a 120F wash for them. At this temperature, there were be a cool-down period at the end of the wash but at 105F there might not be. It seems to depend on the temperature of the water at the end of the wash.

I use table linens/curtains for sheets. I figure sheets are kind of like curtains so I use that.

I use pillows for pillows. When I want a quick rinse I use that program which gives 2 rinses with the last rinse pulling water through the FS dispenser.

I use baby clothes for other cotton loads, underwear, comforters, and even t-shirts if they are dirty because this cycle on mine defaults to 3 rinses so I can get 4 if I want an extra rinse, plus the cycle heats a bit longer in the wash than Wrinkle Free. I enable max rinse level for the comforters which will bring the water 1/3 way up the door glass.

I use sportswear for my gym clothes and also fleece items that I wear in the house during the winter. I use a sports detergent for the gym clothes - and do 3 rinses for them.

I use Darks for any good dark shirts or items and use a detergent for darks.

I use Extra White for white items, but this cycle will also work for colored clothes too. There is only 1 temperature for extra white and that is 140F.

I use sanitize for kitchen towels and other clothes not so much to sanitize them but because the wash temperature is around 170F so that works well for soil marks. I don't use LCB on any items so the higher heat helps with oxygen bleaching.

I use quickintense for normally soiled items. You only get two rinses but there is a lot of water in use especially because it sprays and spins through most of the entire rinses.

If I have one to three items I will select a cotton cycle and then use the single wash option. This will use a small amount of water to wash and rinse the clothes. You can get up to three rinses with the single wash option. It seems similar to the express cycle, except that express will only rinse 2 twice and you are limited to warm or cold water. With the single-wash option the temperatures you can use will depend on the cycle you have selected to run.

I use Dress shirts for dress shirts and also for pants. I will sometimes follow this program with the steam smoothing option which will slowly tumble the items in steam after the wash. The steam helps to smooth wrinkles.

I plugged the machine into a Kill-o-watt meter and watched it through the cycles so that I could tell when the heater was engaged. The heater will heat in all cycles except Normal and will at least heat to the temperature you select then click on and off as needed. It will continue to heat longer on some of them such as baby clothes. It will also hold the count down if necessary in order to heat.

The only cycle that does not heat to the set temperature is Normal. On my machine, the heater runs for the first 13 minutes of the wash and is then never heard from again. If I run hot water to the machine and the water temperature is above the set point then the heater will not turn on at all. On my machine, the spin speeds for Normal are 1600rpm, or hold, or no spin. I don't want to spin every load that fast plus I need better heating so I never use Normal. Normal will also use slightly less water in each fill than other cycles even if the max rinse level is turned on. I figure this is the energy star rating cycle so this is what you can expect to get from it.

There is another thread on this forum that has a spreadsheet of the programs and their temperatures and options so you can check that out. I think the thread is by Steven. If you want more information go to the Miele website and download the user manual for the machines you are interested in.

 

[littlegreeny]

Wow, thanks Jerrod!

You have been extremely helpful! I never would have thought to use the table linen program for sheets.

I was just looking at my down pillows today when I was changing my sheets and they could use a wash. Not sure if your pillows are down or not but I was wondering how long down pillows would take to dry in the T1.

I have read through the manuals for both the washer and dryer several times. I am about ready to pull the trigger and order these and am much looking forward to having a good washer for a change! Thanks again!

 

[jerrod_six]

There is a down cycle and one for pillows. I did wash an old set of down pillows but was not sure what cycle would be best. I choose the one for down, but perhaps the pillows would have been better since I think it starts with a spin to help remove trapped air. Anyway, the pillows washed ok.

I don't have a T1 dyer and instead, have a vented natural gas model. I dried the pillows on low since you don't want high heat on down and IIRC it took several runs to get the pillows dry. I would give yourself an entire day or at least an afternoon.

 

[littlegreeny]

Thanks everyone and especially Jerrod for your help! I am very excited to announce I ordered the WXR860/TXR860 set yesterday! They are scheduled to be installed on December 4th which can't come soon enough! Unfortunately I had to get the regular stacking kit as the others were out of stock. I also ordered the UltraPhase sensitive detergents since we don't like scents on our finished laundry.

 

[chachp]

Pillows

 

<span style="font-family: helvetica;">I did our down pillows and dried them in the T1 dryer.  Honestly, I don't remember exactly how long it took to dry them completely but I know I was surprised at how quickly they dried.  I want to say maybe two runs of about an hour each.  </span>

 

<span style="font-family: helvetica;">Most things dry fairly quickly and what I really like is they don't come out feeling like they have been baked.  There have been many posts here about Heat Pump dryers and I think feelings are generally mixed across members.  I happen to be one of them who is happy with the heat pump dryer.  I have read posts here where some people say normal loads take hours to dry and that has never been my experience.</span>

 

[littlegreeny]

Thanks Ralph!

That's great to know the T1 works so well for you! I'm sure I will like the dryer very much. Across the internet, it is mostly very well regarded.

My current dryer would take at least 4 or 5 hours to get my pillows dry. I previously washed and dried two king-sized pillows in one load and am not sure if you can fit two in the Mieles.

 

[moon1234]

In our house we do pillows every 6 months or try to anyway. The dryer has a pillows cycle. It defaults to a timed dry of 1.5 hours per run and does significantly more reverse tumbles than the other cycles. This helps redistribute the down/feathers so they dry better. It usually takes three cycles to get them bone dry. Or closer to 2.5 cycles. Sometimes I will do two and hang them up afterwards for half a day to make sure. Usually I just do three runs to be 100% certain they are dry. You will know as they will poof up really nice like they were new. The kids all know when theirs have been washed.

All the pillows are queen size in this house, bought at Costco. Most are pacific brand. I think they are a little light on their filling, but I prefer a stiff pillow. My kids like them.

I always wash and dry at least two pillows. This keeps the washer balanced and they fluff against each other when drying and this helps to keep the down redistributed.

All of the models have an lcd/capacitive touch display. The WXR models just have a full size touch lcd vs a single line with a bunch of capacitive buttons. It should hold up just fine. Their commercial models have had larger displays for a long time.

The larger lcd on the wxr models allows for “favorite” programs to be saved. Something not possible on the lower models. They are essentially modifications of the built-in programs that you can put your own name on.

For example:
If you normally wash cloth diapers it would be nice to have a pre-wash, followed by the baby clothes cycle at 140F or sanitize at 170F with extra rinse, allergen and water plus all enabled. This gives you longer heat holding times, extra rinse and extra water. Save it all into a one touch button so you don’t have to use the app to get all of those things at once. In the lower models you can only select ONE extra per cycle directly on the washer. To select more than one you have to use the mobile start program and then configure everything in the app and then start it from the app. So possibly a time saver with favorites on the wxr model.

The rest of the internal parts are the same on the WXI-860 and WXR860. On the LCD display and it’s cabling/plastics are different. The same is true for the top two dryer models. They are functionally the same except for the lcd display and the extra programming flexibility.

 

[moon1234]

As for refilling the factory TwinDos cartridges with your own detergent or oxygen bleach (no chlorine bleach allowed) here are some pictures. Make sense?

 

[hippo]

@littlegreeny
Congratulations on ordering the set! I think you will like the configurability and options quite a lot!

@jerrod_six
That is a very interesting breakdown of your cycle uses, thank you.

I've also tried Table Linens/Drapes for sheets. It surely cleans them quickly and thoroughly but with extremely intense agitation, too much for synthetics in my opinion. Once I finally get rid of all the synthetic sheets and replace them with cotton I think I'll start using it for sheets again.

It sounds like you use QuickIntenseWash more than I do - I've only used it when I'm really in a rush with something dirty, not normally. Do you just like the speed of it?

Great notes about the heater running. I need to get my machine on a meter too!

@chachp
I've washed Queen pillows in the Pillows cycle on my Miele and they dry in well less than an hour on low heat in my vented Maytag, obviously condenser dryer performance will be different. A note however, for those looking to wash pillows in 1600 RPM Miele machines: the cycle is restricted to 1200 RPM. Thinking that more extraction would be better, I followed the cycle with a 1600 RPM Drain/Spin. Unfortunately this pressed the pillows so hard into the lift bars that it rearranged the fill. I'd recommend sticking to the recommended 1200 RPM spin (or whatever Wash Assistant suggests) to prevent this.

 

[jerrod_six]

Hippo

I like to have 3 rinses with spins, so I will only use QuickIntense on light soil loads and then I use the soil indicator and set it to light soil. For regular cotton loads, I use Baby clothes or wrinkle-free. Why wrinkle-free? Because you can wash cotton in that cycle too and you can get a 120F and I think 140F wash out of it too. The heater holding times are not as long as baby clothes but the temperature will at least be close. There is a good amount of water in the rinses too.

Glad you like table linens but yeah it is best for linen or cotton, although I do wash my poly tablecloths using it and they have been holding up well.