If you know the drum capacity, in liters, you can calculate how much laundry can be washed in kilograms. In theory, it takes 10 liters of drum volume to correctly wash a 1 kg load of laundry. That's in theory. However, since front loaders rely on "lift and drop" mechanical action to get clothes clean, real world numbers are usually lower. Here are some ratios that may be useful (from www.laundry-and-dishwasher-info.com)...

Typical Load ratios for a range of materials:

Cottons (towelling/linen) light soiling is 1:12 (12 liters drum volume per 1 kg of load)

Cottons (linen) heavy soil 1:12.5 (12.5 liters drum volume per 1 kg of load)

Poly-cotton (Linen) (Light Soil) 1:15 (15 liters drum volume per 1 kg of load)
Poly-cotton (Linen) (Heavy soil) 1:17 (17 liters drum volume per 1 kg of load)

Woollens 1:20/25 (20-25 liters drum volume per 1 kg of load)

Duvet quilts (Internal) 1:20/22 (20-22 liters drum volume per 1 kg of load)

Mops 1:9.5 special low ratio to reduce knotting (9.5 liters drum volume per 1 kg of load)

So, if I were washing woolens in my W4842 w/ 80 liter drum volume, I can expect to successfully wash 3.5 kg (8 lbs) of woolens in my machine without sacrificing cleaning performance. I think weighing your laundry is an excellent method to measure how much to load your machine. The above ratios indicate that I can wash 6.5 kg of towels in my machine, so next time I'm washing towels I will weigh them all and ensure I am not putting more than that amount into my machine. But then again, I am more anal than most when it comes to my laundry! :)

Remember, this is just a guide and everyone will need to adjust up or down based on their results.

Are these weights for clothes when wet or dry? Very intriguing.

Dry weight

@sshrivastava: thanks for the info as i was reading your post i was thinking hmm maybe i should weigh my laundry and by the time i finished reading your post, alas you do as well.

thanks for the info... i think i have to learn a lot more about laundry i.e soap, different programs and also drying and not using dryer sheets anymore.

Yeah...NO dryer sheets in a Miele dryer. I think the manual says you can use them, but Miele USA and the Miele Tech told me no, no, no for dryer sheets. Not only do they get stuck to the lint filter intake vent-holes during a cycle (and can cause the dryer to overheat and shut down)the waxes and oils build up on the moisture sensor & also clog the filter mesh/screen!!

@larsi: I ordered the elux but will follow the no dryer sheet rule.

The reason they are a "no no" in the Miele is due to the sheer volume of air that passes through. It would suck the dryer sheet onto the vent as @Larsi described above.

Other makes (like Electrolux) may not move air as quickly and would be fine with a dryer sheet.

I don't use them anyway (don't like them) so it was never an issue in my Miele.

@livebetter: I was searching for this thread re: weight of clothes.

To comment on your no dryer sheet, we were told not to use because of wax content from the dryer sheets also i read on this forum the same thing and how it makes things a bit "rough" instead of soft.

@ livebetter

I wouldn't attribute this as much to volume of airflow as I would to dryer design. The location and size of the Miele dryer's vent holes makes it very likely that a dryer sheet, small washcloth or even socks will get plastered over the air intake holes at the front of the dryer drum. This is a design flaw. The Miele dryer moves 400 cfm of air - I don't know how that compares to other dryers - but is comparable to the lowest setting of a heavy-duty kitchen fan hood. Bosch dryers move as much air as Miele dryers, I believe, yet I have never read of any issues of FS sheets or other items sticking to the vent of that machine.

If Miele had designed the air intake and lint filter a little better, this would not be an issue. My Asko dryer had a better lint filter design. Nothing ever stuck to the intake holes and the lint filter was a double filter design with a very fine, micro mesh on the back side to ensure almost nothing made it to the dryer duct. Miele's lint filter is pretty lame and lets quite a bit of lint pass through to the vent duct.

There has always been the occasional load where I want to use a half-dryer sheet (I never use a whole one), even before our Miele dryer. In our T9802 Miele dryer, what I"ve done is safety pinned two corners of the half-dryer sheet to an old washcloth. Pinning two corners keeps it from 'bunching up'. The weight of the washcloth, as well as the size, allow it to be grabbed by the rest of the items being tumbled, and keep the dryer sheet from staying on that airflow area on the lint filter. (Take that, OM (Odyssey of the Mind) LOL)

The other design flaw I see in the dryer is that horizontal area one could call a well, where the very bottom of the lint filter sits. Lint collects there and it's a challenge to get it out. Half the time, it falls off my brush and lands on the exit area. *** Ironically, the crevice tool on my Miele canister vacuum is not long enough to reach it. Hmmm ..... German engineering.....