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bela1

Forget Miele, just get TL Speed Queen and have no problems!

bela1
14 years ago

After much deliberation over miele vs sq we bought sq tl and love it. It is fast and the clothes are really clean. It is super simple to operate. The warranty is 3 yrs and the price is 1/3 of miele if you count the extended warranty needed with hte purchase.

Why are people still buying mieles after all the problems on this site and the poor warranty provided by manufacturer?

Just get SQ and set it and forget it.

Comments (71)

  • fahrenheit_451
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    @bela1, if you are happy with your purchase (and that's all the really matters), then I am happy for you. Life's too short to look back. Enjoy!

  • bela1
    Original Author
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    thank you fahrenheit 451.

  • briant73
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Speed Queen has a heater option and I think shiny whites happen because of how you wash. Now price yeah the SQ is expensive but it's built like a tank.

  • ghetterly
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    bela1, after 9 months of terrible disappointment with our Miele washer and dryer we are going to take your suggestion and "Forget Miele, just get TL Speed Queen and have no problems!" We will pick the new machines up on Monday.

    We have had every kind of problem with our Miele's (performance, support, service, quality, delivery, etc.). So our hopes are high for the new machines.

    As a side note, after months of frustration Miele gave us a 100% refund. You just have to ask in a nice, but firm way. Our Miele machines cost $2900 and the Speed Queen will work out to $1300, a bit more than 1/3 the price but still quite a tidy savings. Really, I would have paid $2900 happily in it had meant having a good washer and dryer.

    I will report back in a week or two with an update on how the new machines perform.

  • hidroman
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    That Miele set is way overpriced in Canada !

    Here that washer costs round 830 euro = 1140 CAD while the matching condenser dryer T7644C costs 690 euro = 950 CAD

    So 1140+950 = 2090 CAD in Europe vs 2900 CAD in Canada, meaning 810 CAD less :o

    However, let's face it : they can offer a 100% refund cause they have a very low rate of unsatisfied customers, otherwise they were on bankruptcy.
    Which other manufacturer could do the same ? Guess just Speed Queen

  • mara_2008
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I'm really surprised that SQ doesn't make a washer larger than 3.3 cu ft capacity, that spin speeds are so slow, that they have so few cycles, and that they only have two wash speeds -- especially in light of their expense.

    For us, SQ just isn't practical. If I'm going to spend that much money, I want my money's worth.

  • looser
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    bela1 said: "Also our european friends love american tl much more than mieles b/c it uses a lot of water and really rinses all the soap."

    I am not sure who your European friends are, but I am German and know a lot of other Europeans here in the US who do not like TL's at all. I don't have a Miels, but a Bosch w/d set and I love them.

  • sshrivastava
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I have only had excellent experience with Miele products, installation, and service. The Miele W4842/T9802 is the best washer/dryer set I ever had. They perform flawlessly and have exceeded my expectations. There are good and bad experiences with every manufacturer, just remember that what you read in these forums is only half of the story.

  • ghetterly
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Well, a week or two has spread to a month or two, but better late than never for an update.

    For the record, I'm in Canada and Speed Queen doesn't exist up here (someone else owns the name) so our machines are "Huebsch" branded but are identical in every way. I will call ours "Speed Queen" to help for people searching in the future. Our Huebsch modle numbers are: ZWN412 and ZDE3LR. Our Miele model numbers are: W1612 and T7634.

    I cannot stress enough how happy we are with our new machines. Nor can I stress enough how poor Miele's service and support system is.

    The biggest difference in machines for us breaks down like this:

    Miele = Laundry all day Friday (7:30am to 10:00 pm) plus 2 loads Sunday evening (6:00pm to 11:00pm) = 19.5 hours per week of laundry.

    Speed Queen = A return to "Laundry day" Friday, start at 10:00am (I get to sleep in) and done by 1:30pm (2:30pm every 2nd week for an extra load, I do 3.5 loads a week in the SQ machines.)

    The quantity of laundry these new machines put out is staggering compared to our Miele's. More than double the capacity and less than half the time. A full load in the Miele's takes 4 hours round-trip. Speed Queen is 1.5 hours round trip AND the load is twice as big.

    The quality of laundry that the Speed Queen's put out is in a totally different league than our Miele's. No matter what we did, 1/3 of the laundry came out of the dryer wrinkled. My fiancee has a couple of tops that were unwearable as long as we had the Miele machines. They were synthetic material with a little bit of stretchiness, not ironable and came out looking like they spent months at the bottom of the hamper. We tried lowering the spin speed, hot water, cold water, warm water, washing alone, washing with other items, etc, etc to no end and eventually just gave up wearing them. The Miele's mangled my boxers (smooth, stiff cotton like a high thread out sheet set), they would fold up any doubled over part (the fly and the leg openings) and crease them folded. I could iron these, but I'm not really into ironing. The Miele's just could not put out good laundry. After just 1 cycle in the Speed Queen everything started to relax. It took a few weeks, but pretty much all of the Miele wrinkle damage was undone.

    What can't be undone is the damage that the Miele + Persil combination did to our wardrobes. I'm not sure if it was the high temperature of the Miele "Normal" wash or if it was Persil "Universal" powder having bleach in it but we lost many items to colour bleed. Before the Miele's (Whirlpool and Maytag TL's) I had ruined maybe 3 or 4 items. The Miele + Persil Universal combination bled colour out of or onto at least 2 dozen items, socks/shirts/pants/you name it, I ruined it. Miele told me this was normal. A single black sock tucked inside something is enough to ruin most of the other items in a load of colours. Heaven help you if that black sock gets into a load of whites. None of my other machines/detergents have done this. Many of our dark t-shirts look decades older, black having been turned to a faded navy blue and many of our white or coloured items are long since in the landfill.

    Miele, through all this, just kept telling us that there was nothing wrong with our machines. Our first dryer wouldn't heat up and clothes came out still wet. Miele phone support said this was exactly how they were supposed to work. Eventually I got fed up and wrote a letter, I sent out 3 copies (local retailer, Miele Canada, Miele Germany.) The retailer didn't reply at all. Miele Germany replied with a PFO letter. Miele Canada's response was quite impressive, they actually sent the Western Canadian rep to my house. He determined that my dryer was in fact defective and had it replaced (repair wasn't an option as parts were months away.) This dryer worked much better and clothes came out only damp instead of wet. Miele said this was normal. The second dryer also seems to shed parts at an alarming rate. I picked 3 small plastic parts off the the laundry room floor over the course of 9 months. The rep that I talked to sent me the service manual pages on how to replace the parts inside the dryer (a job the local factory approved tech could not handle.) The quality of the machines and the support system are HIGHLY DUBIOUS.

    I should note that, being Canadian, I have absolutely no "Buy American" prejudice. I would NEVER buy an American made car (universal crap), Canadian or Japanese for me. While the Germans have a reputation for high-quality, I haven't had great luck with their stuff over the years. I've had 2 older BMWs that were "OK" at best, a dishwasher and 2 vacuums that were pretty good (Miele's actually), and a newer Mercedes that was junk.

    Alliance Laundry on the other hand (they own Speed Queen/Huebsch/Unimac/etc) are simply amazing. My dryer arrived with a small dent in the lower front panel. Normally I wouldn't mind, but since it was visible and since everyone we know has heard about our terrible Miele experience I felt we should have a pristine set of Speed Queen machines to show off. We picked our machines up on a Saturday (had to drive 13 hours to the nearest dealer) and first thing Monday morning I e-mailed Alliance using the "Contact Us" form on their web page explaining that we had a dented panel and didn't want to go back to our dealer because they were so far away. Less than 10 minutes later I had a reply e-mail saying that the part will be shipped out immediately and that I would receive another e-mail with tracking info shortly. That second e-mail came through as promised and the part showed up on my doorstep later that week! The service level at Alliance is something else. You really have to experience it to believe it.

    If more American companies would take a page out of Alliance's book, I know I would buy more American made stuff. These things are built to last (unlike my old Whirlpool TL) and perform as good if not better than anything out there. These machines cost little more than the crappy, bottom of the line Kenmore/Whirlpools ($1100 for basic Speed Queen and $700 for basic Kenmore around here) but are vastly superior. AMERICAN MANUFACTURERS - IF YOU'RE WONDERING WHY THE IMPORTS ARE TAKING OVER, IT'S BECAUSE YOU'RE BUILDING DISPOSABLE JUNK AND PEOPLE ARE GETTING SICK OF REPLACING IT EVER FEW YEARS!

    When it comes right down to it, the Speed Queen/Huebsch/Alliance Laundry machines are superior in pretty much every way. If you're considering the pros and cons of these two brands, I wholeheartedly recommend the Speed Queen toploader.

    Sorry for the long post and the "soapboxing"!

  • hidroman
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Ghetterly wrote :

    "What can't be undone is the damage that the Miele + Persil combination did to our wardrobes. I'm not sure if it was the high temperature of the Miele "Normal" wash or if it was Persil "Universal" powder having bleach in it but we lost many items to colour bleed. Before the Miele's (Whirlpool and Maytag TL's) I had ruined maybe 3 or 4 items. The Miele + Persil Universal combination bled colour out of or onto at least 2 dozen items, socks/shirts/pants/you name it, I ruined it. Miele told me this was normal. A single black sock tucked inside something is enough to ruin most of the other items in a load of colours. Heaven help you if that black sock gets into a load of whites. None of my other machines/detergents have done this. Many of our dark t-shirts look decades older, black having been turned to a faded navy blue and many of our white or coloured items are long since in the landfill."

    Ghetterly ... don't wanna be rude, but the more you complain about your past Miele experience, the more it is evident the actual problem it's you, not the Miele.

    Your own words say you haven't any basic clue about doing laundry :

    1)Persil universal contains oxygen bleaches and optical brighteners so it is a detergent developed just for WHITE and FAST COLOURED laundry, NOT FOR DARK GARMENTS. You write you knew it ... no matter you used it to wash dark clothes and they bleeded. WHY ????? It does not seem a clever behaviour .... is it washer & detergent fault or MAYBE did you make a huge mistake ????

    2) Miele W 1612 temperature selection - In the Cotton/Normal cycle YOU CAN choose : tap cold - 85F - 105°F - 120°F - 140°F - 170°F - 203°F. It's not the machine that decides on its own, it's YOU that have to choose the proper temp according to the garments you're about to wash.
    Can't believe you didn't know how to run the normal cycle on cold ......

    3) Mesh bags to wash socks and stockings aren't rocket science .... if you forget a coloured garment inside the washer and start a white load it is not a machine fault, irregardless it's a frontloader or a toploader .... it's just YOUR fault

  • ghetterly
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    hidroman,

    You're not being rude, I'm just not being clear enough.

    1. Persil says Universal is "It is for all washable fabrics made from natural or synthetic fibers and their blends, except for wool and silk." That would suggest to me that it will work on pretty much anything. I think they're probably correct and Persil Universal IS universal!

    2. A "Normal" wash comes up as 60 deg. C on my machine. Most of the laundry I do is "normal." I've never done a cold water wash in my life.

    I suspect that a normal machine, with a normal cycle, with Persil Universal detergent would work GREAT! The Miele Normal cycle is way too hot for Persil Universal and dark clothes. But if you've never had colour run before and you have a new machine and new detergent, how do you tell if it's the detergent or the temperature? I went out and bought some Persil Color detergent and sill had the colour running problem, so then I started lowering the temperature until it worked OK. By this time, LOTS of clothes had been ruined. My crystal ball was in the shop that week! ;-)

    On my new machines, like my old machines before the Miele, I just put in detergent (still using the Persil I had left over), clothes, turn the dial to a "Normal" wash and everything comes out better than it went in! That's the difference between Miele and Speed Queen.

    3. I've never used a mesh bag for washing anything, I don't know why you would... I've never forgot or missed an item in the washer. What happens around here is, someone (not naming names!) manages to get her socks packed inside another item (say pants or a shirt or whatever) and one goes through with the wrong load. With my Speed Queen set, that errant sock and everything else comes out just fine! Why would the Miele be any different?

    If everything is my fault, which is what Miele has told me every step of the way, then how would you explain the dryer dropping parts on the floor? Is it because I don't slam the door closed? Why didn't the first dryer dry? Why didn't the second dryer dry? Why does stuff come out wrinkled? My new machines seem to be able to put out smooth laundry. Why can't Miele support their products? I booked an appointment to have the Miele machines picked up and returned to Miele 3 months ago, I waited all day for them and I'm still waiting for them to get around to pick them up!

    I'm not saying Miele doesn't make good products, since I bought these awful machines I've bought a Miele dishwasher (excellent) and 2 Miele vacuums (very excellent). What I'm saying is MY Miele laundry set is TERRIBLE! I'm sure yours is great, and I'm happy it is, but that doesn't do much for me!

    I know this board is HUGELY Miele slanted, so I'll never "win" (although we all know what winning an argument on the internet is like), but what I'd like to pass along is:

    I have had an exceptionally GOOD experience with my Speed Queen washer and dryer and with Alliance Laundry in general.

    I set up my post on Thursday to compare my Miele experience with my Alliance experience. After going through what I've gone through, I've come to agree with bela1 and the original title of this thread, "Forget Miele, just get TL Speed Queen and have no problems!" I know there are other people out there like me and bela1, we may be few and far between but it was this thread that led me from Miele to Speed Queen and I'll never look back! I don't intend to try and sway any of the users here one way or another, everyone is fairly well dug in, but there are people out there searching for a solution to a bad set of Miele machines; I hope they find this thread and take heed:

    Forget Miele, just get TL Speed Queen and have no problems!

  • dadoes
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    60°C = 140°F. That's very hot for color-sensitive, non-colorfast, bleeding-type clothing.

    It's up to the machine's user to be aware of temperature settings per the items being washed and make a selection accordingly. As HidroMan mentions above, even if the Miele "normal" cycle defaults to 60°C, there are options to run it at lower temperatures, less aggressive cycles. The Miele machine has onboard water heating, yes? A "normal" cycle of 60°F temperature will assuredly reach that temperature ... thus the danger of making a wrong selection. The "normal" cycle surely isn't an appropriate choice for everything you're washing, such as stretchy synthetic tops.

    The SQ/Huebsch model you reference is a toploader. It's unlikely to have onboard water heating, or run at 60°C/140°F on the "normal" cycle ... unless perhaps you specifically select hot water and your household water supply reaches that high.

  • sshrivastava
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    There was once someone on this board who said Asko dryers were terrible because his kept overheating and eventually caught on fire. He mentioned all of the steps he took and all of the things he did, but never did he ever mention cleaning the lint filter. When I asked him if he had, his posts fell silent. While something that is so obvious to us can be completely invisible to someone else, you just can't fix stupid.

  • dadoes
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    The Miele machine has onboard water heating, yes? A "normal" cycle of 60°F temperature will assuredly reach that temperature ... thus the danger of making a wrong selection.Oops ... I meant 60°C, of course.

  • hidroman
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    "I'm not saying Miele doesn't make good products, since I bought these awful machines I've bought a Miele dishwasher (excellent) and 2 Miele vacuums (very excellent). What I'm saying is MY Miele laundry set is TERRIBLE! I'm sure yours is great, and I'm happy it is, but that doesn't do much for me! I know this board is HUGELY Miele slanted, so I'll never "win" (although we all know what winning an argument on the internet is like)...."

    If you bought whatever other brand of european frontloader, ***you would have had the very same issues no matter it were a Bosch, a Fagor, a euro made Whirlpool, a euro made Electrolux***.

    In all of those machines having a LCD screen, when you select a cycle it comes up by with the most used temperature / spin speed by default. *** This DOES NOT MEAN YOU CAN'T MAKE ANY CHANGE to the default temp and spin speed to customize the cycle to your needs ... It is not rocket science, you just have to read user manuals ....

    Whirlpool Europe AquaSteam 6th Sense is a frontloader that also has a screen and it works in that very same way as Mieles
    check it here

    {{gwi:1998360}}

    This is a Zanussi-Electrolux frontloader screen. You can see it is displaying 60°C and 1600 rpm ... but you can also see the "TEMP" and "SPIN" keys to customize each cycle
    image taken from here
    {{gwi:1998361}}

    I guess you own and use an oven ... each time you use it, don't you set the proper temp according to the food you are cooking ?!? I guess so, then I can't catch WHY you weren't able to do the very same thing with a washer, to the point you had to switch to a dummy-proof "hot/warm/cold" SpeedQueen

    Last words about your stretch tops : I bet you have always washed AND dried them on "normal" @ 140°F ... never read EASY CARE printed close to knobs ?? What's that for ?!? LOL

  • sshrivastava
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    This thread is cracking me up! Perhaps the title should be changed to "How now to do your laundry".

  • hcj1440
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Wow -- most entertaining thread I've read for a while. Frankly I'm impressed Miele gave a full refund for what sounds entirely like user error except for the part where the dryer parts fell to the floor (although given the rest of the errors, part of me wonders if that was also user caused). In any case, glad they found toploaders that work better for their method of doing laundry.

  • sshrivastava
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    We rarely, if ever, read the full story here. Postings are usually very one-sided and you'll always read more complaints than praise. Let me point out a few inconsistencies:

    What can't be undone is the damage that the Miele + Persil combination did to our wardrobes. I'm not sure if it was the high temperature of the Miele "Normal" wash or if it was Persil "Universal" powder having bleach in it but we lost many items to colour bleed. Before the Miele's (Whirlpool and Maytag TL's) I had ruined maybe 3 or 4 items. The Miele + Persil Universal combination bled colour out of or onto at least 2 dozen items, socks/shirts/pants/you name it, I ruined it. Miele told me this was normal.

    As others have said, every cycle has temperature options and you need to use your brain. If you are old enough to read, you know that Persil Universal is for colorfast laundry. If you didn't test your colored clothing for colorfastness prior to using it with Persil Universal, it's your own fault. This is clearly USER ERROR.

    I should note that, being Canadian, I have absolutely no "Buy American" prejudice. I would NEVER buy an American made car (universal crap), Canadian or Japanese for me.

    So in the first sentence you say you have ABSOLUTELY NO "BUY AMERICAN" PREJUDICE but then in the next sentence you say you would NEVER BUY AN AMERICAN MADE CAR. Which is it? Do you read what you write?

    The quantity of laundry these new machines put out is staggering compared to our Miele's.

    That's because your Mieles are small capacity machines. You can just as easily say the same thing when comparing your Mieles to the newest XXL size front-loaders or even Miele's own W4842 - the increase in capacity is staggering because you're coming from very small capacity machines! This has nothing to do with top-loaders having more capacity than front-loaders. Your comparison is flawed.

    A "Normal" wash comes up as 60 deg. C on my machine. Most of the laundry I do is "normal." I've never done a cold water wash in my life.

    And anyone with a brain knows that 60°C=140°F which is not appropriate for fabric types washable in cold, warm, or even very warm. If you can't comprehend that YOU are in charge of the temperature you select according to the fabric types you are washing, then you are beyond help. Is the machine supposed to be psychic and read your mind?

    I went out and bought some Persil Color detergent and sill had the colour running problem, so then I started lowering the temperature until it worked OK. By this time, LOTS of clothes had been ruined.

    So you ruined your entire wardrobe because you didn't want to or know how to change the temperature on your Miele's normal cycle? Instead of using basic common sense, or even following the directions in the manual, you went through two boxes of detergent and ruined your entire wardrobe before it occurred to you to change the temperature? Are you familiar with the song from Wizard of Oz called "If I Only Had a Brain?"

    On my new machines, like my old machines before the Miele, I just put in detergent (still using the Persil I had left over), clothes, turn the dial to a "Normal" wash and everything comes out better than it went in! That's the difference between Miele and Speed Queen.

    No, the difference is that the Speed Queen's default settings happen to meet your needs better than the Miele's. But anyone who launders based only upon the default cycle settings and expects great results regardless of what they are putting into the machine is asking for trouble. I don't mean for my post to be offensive, but come on! Ghetterly, your post is by far the most ridiculous one I have ever read on this forum. You have further lowered the bar.

  • mr_wash
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I have to agree with sshrivastava and dadoes. Ghetterly your post really highlights your ignorance and not taking responsibility for your actions and blaming others when things go wrong. Apart from the dryer having a technical issue, no wonder you had problems with your washing when you couldn't be bothered following the care labels of your garments and modifying the temperature. The W 1612 has a coloureds cycle called Automatic in Australia and Europe. This programme was designed for people like you who can't be bothered or have no idea about laundry.
    This programme adapts the cycle by recognising the fabric mix. If you have more of a synthetic load then it carries out more of a wrinkle free wash and more cottons will do more of a normal cycle. It also adjusts the water level and temperature to prevent dye runs. The max temperature is 40 degrees. Also detergent for coloureds is important, rather than universal powder, especially the european detergents which contain bleaching agents. In Australia and the US because of the additives users add to the wash, there is no bleaching agents in the detergent, therefore less likely to fade coloured items, but they don't make whites very white, therefore you need to add oxy bleach or chlorine bleach when washing whites.
    Toploaders are not idiot proof either, i suppose it boils down to what you are used to and how much your willing to adapt to new laundry appliances.

  • suburbanmd
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Miele customer support might have been more helpful. They should know that North Americans are unfamiliar with European washers and detergents.

  • sshrivastava
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Many of us have criticized Miele and others for "dumbing down" their machines for the US. As we have seen here, there is clearly a market for this. Judging by this thread, Miele hasn't done nearly enough.

  • hidroman
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    To have a clue of the machine we're talkin about, here it is its control fascia, with the now famous "60°C / 1200 rpm" setting coming up by default on the "Cottons" (aka "Normal") cycle

    {{gwi:1998362}}

    Now it's evident that even a child would be able to change temp and spin settings ...

    It has even a DARK GARMENTS cycle ..... and the manual says to use NOT universal detergent but LIQUID detergent for COLOURED garments

    Anyway have to say I prefer the old style one-dial controls like this. Holly, don't you think so too ? It' s mistake-proof, one can't forget about setting the proper temp, even when he/she is in a hurry.

    {{gwi:1998363}}

  • suburbanmd
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    What with Miele's selling point being "fabric care", I can see that a novice owner would think they could safely wash their normal clothes on the normal cycle without having to change anything.

  • sshrivastava
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    @suburbanmd: We all know that Miele puts a big focus on fabric care - look at the honeycomb drum, unique wash action for different clothing types, automatic load sensing, on-board heater, MasterCare cycles, etc. However, wouldn't you agree that everyone's definition of "normal" is different? For this reason alone you may need to use a little bit of grey matter.

    @hidroman: Does the W1612 have memory like the W4842? In other words, if you select "normal/cottons" and change the temperature or spin speed, won't the machine remember the change next time you select the same cycle? That is how my W4842 behaves. Once you determine your 'normal" washes need a lower temperature, making the change once will make it permanent. How could it possibly be easier?

  • suburbanmd
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    From the "How to wash correctly" section of the W1612 manual:

    "Select a temperature / spin speed
    You can modify the suggested temperature and/or spin speed."

    So the 60°C setting on Normal, apparently the default, is described here as a suggested setting. Well, if I'm a regular North American consumer, not a THS or automaticwasher.org reader, and I just bought this wonderful fabric-care machine, it makes perfect sense to accept the machine's suggestion. After all, it knows more than I do.

    Oh, elsewhere in the manual it says

    "Using the Normal 60°C program instead of the Normal 95°C program will result in energy savings of 35% to 45%. This setting is quite sufficient for most levels of soiling."

    which makes it sound like 60°C is downright moderate and responsible.

  • hidroman
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Sshriva, yes it does.

    Whatever current Miele has the "Memory" thing that can be switched on or off, depending on individual needs. As you know, it saves and stores every setting for each cycle, not only temp and spin speed, but also options like extended/short/prewash/soak/water plus.....

  • sshrivastava
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Another thing to keep in mind is that the effects of color bleed can be magnified in a front-loader. A front-loader uses 75% less water than a traditional top-loader. Washing the same load of bleeding colored fabrics in a front-loader will result in the wash water having quadruple the concentration of dye in it. It's pretty easy to see the negative effects that would have on the entire load.

  • dadoes
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    ... which makes it sound like 60°C is downright moderate and responsible.Not if one understands that 60°C = 140°F and is not appropriate for synthetics, knits, delicates and such. :-)

  • hidroman
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    forgot to say that on whatever Miele washer (even those models sold in Europe only) one can enter into programme mode and set temps displayed in Fahrenheit degrees

  • ghetterly
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I'm really amazed that this thread has taken off!

    I would tend to agree with everyone that suggested that colour bleed is my fault. I think that's what Miele (and other Euro machines) intend to do with these hugely configurable machines - move responsibility from the machine to the user. It makes perfect sense from a support standpoint, it's never their fault.

    Here, in Canada, in the past if you bought a new washer and dryer set and the laundry didn't come out good, it was the machine's fault. There were limited (less than 5 or 6) cycles and no real programming options. Laundry worked as a "magic black box" of sorts, you simply put dirty laundry in one end of the box and get clean, dry laundry out of the other end. If things didn't work out, you needed different machines. My parents have returned sets that didn't put out good laundry, and they made sure their friends and family knew to avoid those machines.

    These Euro machines shift responsibility to the end user for programming everything. If your laundry doesn't come out nice, now it's your fault. Even if you sort the way they want (which I did), use the detergent they want (which I did), and use the appropriate cycle, there are sill dozens of variables that I didn't set (or didn't set correctly).

    I strongly suspect that if you have enough if/then statements, and years of experience, you could get laundry AS GOOD as my Speed Queens, maybe slightly better.

    You certainly could not get AS MUCH laundry out of the Miele's! I did an entire week's laundry yesterday, the first load started at 11:50 am and the dryer buzzed on the last load at 4:05 pm. It would have been 12 - 16 hours in the Mieles.

    For me, it all comes down to this:

    I am not a laundry enthusiast! I have better things to do with my time and energy. I don't care about water or energy savings. I just want to get laundry over and done with every week with a minimum of fuss.

    I bought the Miele's originally for 1 reason only: lifespan. I was sick of throwing out Whirlpool TL's every 2 or 3 years after multiple part failures. The salesperson who sold me the Miele's said they would be as easy to use as my old machines, "Just put it on Normal and press Start." It's clear now that he was just trying to close the sale. The correct machines for me are the Speed Queen.

  • hidroman
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Ghetterly, I really hope that's all a prank ....
    Actually you are Rowan Atkinson and you' re about to write the plot of the next Mr. Bean episode ("Laundry day"), don't you ?

  • bean_2010
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Haha! That's great!

    Hence forth I will be known as "Bean"!

  • rosesark
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    The only thing i would like to say, is hey, enjoy your SQ. It does not matter what anyone else thinks. If you need laundry info here, then you will get info. But the constant debate on the Miele's is getting to be like a grade school class. "MY washer's better than yours". Each to his own, maybe not everyone wants one. Maybe everyone does not drive or like a BMW(shocker!) I for one would just like laundry info. I was raised that it was rude to brag about what you have all the time, or to others who may not have as much. But at times here, guys, it is starting to be snobby.

  • bean_2010
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    That's where I've been since I got my Speed Queen machines. They're fantastic and that's all I care about!

  • rosesark
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Glad i am not the only one! I was looking for the perfect machine, and wound up with the one i liked best, so it is nice to just finally enjoy and go on. I also liked the speed queen, but needed the large size i have due to 2 dogs, 5 cats, 1 outside cat that was abandoned, and a rescued mom with 3 kittens. Thats why i have an ark!! I use LOTS of sheets to preserve my furniture, towels, rags, cat beds, the list goes on, but i can get it all done in a sanitizing load. Hope to find good homes for the kittens and the mom before i get more attached than i am already!!

  • mara_2008
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    The only thing i would like to say, is hey, enjoy your SQ. It does not matter what anyone else thinks. If you need laundry info here, then you will get info. But the constant debate on the Miele's is getting to be like a grade school class. "MY washer's better than yours". Each to his own, maybe not everyone wants one. Maybe everyone does not drive or like a BMW(shocker!) I for one would just like laundry info. I was raised that it was rude to brag about what you have all the time, or to others who may not have as much. But at times here, guys, it is starting to be snobby.

    Well said, roseark. I've enjoyed my Bravos set so much, I could easily start a thread which said, "Forget Miele, jsut get HE TL Maytag Bravos and have no problems!" Thus far, I've restrained myself from doing that, though I was sorely tempted when I saw the title of this thread. ;)

  • sshrivastava
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I don't think it's a matter of snobbiness at all, but rather an issue of whether an entire brand should be judged according to one person's inability to understand laundering basics. The brand in question could be Miele, Maytag, Whirlpool, or BMW. The specific brand isn't the issue here, it just happens to be Miele.

    I don't think anyone here is saying that Miele is the best machine for everyone - it's not. As long as you're happy with your machine, that's all that matters. However, it's not easy to just sit idly by while someone lambastes an entire brand because he or she didn't now how to adjust the temperature on the machine, or didn't understand that 140°F temperatures may cause color fade and/or bleed especially when combined with a detergent that is clearly labeled to be used only on COLORFAST fabrics. Let's call a spade a spade!

    While many machines have a "normal" cycle, everyone's definition of what constitutes a "normal" load of laundry is different. It varies from person to person, state to state, and nation to nation. That's why you can't blindly go by what's on the machine dial - you need to bring your brain into the laundry room as well. Then there is the issue of what it says on the fabric care labels. If your label indicates to wash in cold or warm, and you wash it in HOT because that's what your machine defaults to, then is the machine really to blame? How can a machine's default setting read your mind or know what types of clothing you are washing?

    Some people are going to read this thread and think oh gee, top loaders are better than front loaders, or Speed Queens are better than Mieles. But that's not really the issue here.

  • mara_2008
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Some people are going to read this thread and think oh gee, top loaders are better than front loaders, or Speed Queens are better than Mieles. But that's not really the issue here.

    I hear you. At the same time, there is an overwhelming bias here toward Miele -- also, toward frontloaders. And many (most?) posters do give the distinct impression there is nothing as good as a Miele.

  • larsi_gw
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    mara 2008...nothing is as good as a Miele!! Ha ha ha! Just kidding!

    I am really surprised the NORMAL default setting is 60C. That is SO hot. On my W4842 and my old W4840, NORMAL was defaulted to warm water (about 105F water). If one does not understand what 60C is, you can Google, iPhone, Yahoo, ask Jeeves, etc, etc and convert from C to F!

    I think almost any newer machine lets you adjust water temperature, spin speed, pre wash, extended wash, extra rinses, etc..

    I am happy that the new Speed Queen users are happy! This just shows that for some of us Speed Queen is best. For some it is Electrolux and for some it is Miele!

    I wish happy & clean laundering for EVERYONE on our fanstastic Board.

  • Karen Mickleson
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Resurrecting this old thread to ask this: What are 'shiny whites' referred to here?

  • sshrivastava
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    It's no doubt something you experience while under the influence of an herbal "medication"...

  • caryscott
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I may start wearing only white if someone is marketing a herbal "medication" that provides me with the kind of "shinier" whites sshrivastava is referring to. What brand is it? I am definitely asking my grocery store to order some.

    On the off chance that the inquiry was genuine I assumed "shinier = brighter (as in not gray).

  • Shay02
    12 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I purchased my speed queen 4 months ago and love it! No special soap and in less than 30 minutes it is complete. I can soak my husbands stinky workout clothes overnight. I could care less how it looks because it sits in the laundry room away from the rest of the house. How in the world can other machines that take over one hour to do a load of clothes save on energy? I paid less than $600 for a new machine with a 10 year warranty. It looks like a machine from the 1970's but that doesn't bother me. We also use well water on our property with a filter therefore water is not a issue.

  • Sun43
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Taking a chance and resurrecting this VERY old thread to ask a question about SpeedQueen - Don't want to risk being slammed for not choosing Miele.

    We are Miele fans - have half of all kitchen appliances from Miele - and were definitely considering a Miele laundry pair all along until I read this thread - I'm mostly concerned with the amount of time it takes for a Miele cycle, and since we have hired help doing most of the laundry, i'm worried that the helpers / maids will mess up with the complicated set of setting options on the Miele (and end up using the wrong temperatures etc!).

    We can't get residential models of Speed Queen where we are - but the local Commercial Speed Queen dealer (actually, Huebsch since we're in Canada) offered a commercial TL model that seems to have enough cycle settings to suit our needs.

    My question is, is anyone here familiar with the model ******YWN311 of Huebsch*******? The spec sheet says washtub volume is 3.3 cu ft - how does that compare to the "per kg" measurement that's used by, say, Miele?

    Any comments on whether these Speed Queen / Huebsch commercial machines would get "too rough" on fabrics? We're generally just washing sweatshirts, T shirts, school uniforms, beddings, towels etc. I'm not the type to put any delicates or sweaters into laundry machines.

    We haven't totally given up on Miele yet ... well-meant, constructive suggestions (on how to fool proof our machines to not be misused by hired helpers) are welcome. You'd be wasting your breath if you tell me to "go do my own laundry on the Miele" LOL. On the other hand, I'd like to quote a very smart friend of mine from when we attended together a Miele demo session), "if i'm THAT worried about a piece of garment, I'd just either hand-wash it or take it to dry cleaning".

  • ZoapBox
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    @Sun43: Can your dealer order this one?

    http://home.huebsch.com/products/product.aspx?id=428

    This one appears to be comparable to the residential Speed Queens available in the US.

    I would also ask the dealer or the Huebsch web site if the "Two Speed" feature of this model also applies to the agitator speed. It this is the case, it would give you the option to be gentler on your laundry on certain cycles than a top loader with only a single (i.e. always fast) agitator speed.

    The slower spin speed on some cycles of this specific model can also come in handy if you plan to iron, or otherwise want to minimize wrinkles (at the expense of a wetter laundry at the end of the wash cycle).

    The 3.3 cubic foot capacity is bigger than the Miele compact (24-inch wide) washers.

    The Miele residential washers are more complicated to operate. However, if you limit the laundry tasks that you delegate to hired help to only a handful of cycles and options you could probably train an unskilled person to do just those and ignore the other options. Just a have binder near the machine with the programming steps in the order that they need to be done.

    The main wash control knob on the newly introduced Bosch WAP24200UC washer is very easy to figure out. The separate spin and temperature options add a little bit of complexity, but unlike the Miele, you do not need to navigate a screen menu to explore some of the wash options or change settings. All of the selected options on this Bosch model are displayed simultaneously on the front panel.

    Good luck.

  • SQAWN542
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    SQ is always a wise choice for those who value simplicity in doing laundry. It is also a wise choice for durability.

  • laundryvet
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Sun43,

    Top loaders generally have more mechanical action than a front loader and can be harsher on clothing. That said, they can clean dirtier clothing faster than a front loader. If the model you are considering is a two-speed model, a delicate mechanical action is likely offered in addition to the typical normal cycle.

    In regards to capacity, most top loaders are rated around 16-18 lbs, which is about 7-8 kg. I believe this is an 18 lb machine. There are a handful rated to 20 or 22 lbs in the American market, not sure about Canada.

    As you indicate that you have hired help to accomplish this task, you could weigh the benefit of a faster cycle to have your help work on other domestic tasks vs a longer cycle time. Since the loading and unloading times will be close and assuming an adequate buzzer or chime annunciation within hearing distance to alert the help to the cycles completion, capacity may be the only difference in their ability to churn through the laundry assuming they can be doing other domestic tasks while the cycle is running.

    Either choice should provide you satisfaction, and as noted above if you want a less complicated front loader that will be less confusing to the help, Speed Queen/Huebsch also sells a front loader.

    BTW, I have just ordered a Miele dishwasher (fine craftsmanship), but I own Speed Queen W/D, which work flawlessly.

  • Sun43
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    wow, thank you ZoapBox, SQAWN542, and laundryvet for the advice and reassurance! I haven't thought of having an instructions binder - that's a great idea!!! I should probably also have one of those near many of the newer stuff we're gonna have in our new house (esp kitchen ... the Miele MasterChef ovens).

    I don't think our local dealer can get this model - i'll ask. The one he specified seems to have similar specs as the one ZoapBox recommended, the only (crucial) difference is that the one he carries only has one agitation speed. (also 3.3 cu ft, 710 RPM, white exterior / top load). He says he doesn't carry any residential models so i doubt we'll be able to get any front loading options

    I might just take a look at the Bosch WAP24200UC

    or the highly rated top-load new LG (i think it's called the Smart ThinQ)

  • mr_wash
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Interesting that Miele has modified the Normal program in the new W 1623. The program defaults to 40°C and spin speed of 1000 rpm which is not adjustable. Wash temp can be selected between cold to 50°C. There is now Extra white program where the temp is selectable from 60°C to 90°C. It is obvious that there must've been other users who couldn't be bothered modifying the set parameters for the load in question.

  • Edward Holiman
    7 years ago

    @sshrivastava you can try www.enervee.com and use their calculator to estimate the energy/water cost for a Speed Queen. The cool thing about it is that you can enter your zip or state to get a tailored response for your location. The don't have every washer brand or model, but they did have some SQ and Miele units.