Miele’s patented honeycomb drum has revolutionised laundry care. The success story experienced by this invention which has guaranteed optimum laundry care since its launch in Autumn 2001 is now set to continue with its inclusion on other appliances in the range: Toploaders and washer-dryers are now also available with this superb feature
The honeycomb drum is an invention which relies heavily on structures which occur in the natural world around us. Why shouldn’t what is second nature in the world of biology find its way into the realm of state-of-the-art appliances? For example in a washing machine drum? Bionics ““ a term combining biology and technology ““ describes the technical application of biological systems, a trend which is starting to take off in industry.
In a honeycomb drum, items of laundry glide on a protective film of water over the structured drum surface. During washing and spinning, laundry is given particularly gentle treatment as textiles no longer penetrate the much smaller drum perforations at high spin speeds. The excellent gentle treatment of laundry under this regime has been underlined by a third-party expert report published by Germany’s leading laundry-care research body, W¤schereiforschung Krefeld (WfK). Their report explicitly states that after 15 wash cycles using pre-damaged standard cotton fabric, Miele’s honeycomb system shows clear benefits over comparable machines. Impressions left on laundry at the end of a programme through fabrics being forced into drum perforations were not noticed on Miele’s honeycomb system. Laundry tumbles into a loose heap in the drum.
This highly successful technology is finding its way into more and more models in the Miele range. A further 8 models are now to be added to the 14 already in the range: Five toploaders and three washer-dryers. The toploaders are characterised by a horizontal-axis drum which is loaded through a hatch in its circumference. On account of their different drum suspension system, these appliances are narrower than their front-loading counterparts, but can still accommodate a full 5 kg load. Anyone pushed for space in a small flat or bedsit would do well to consider a toploading machine with a smaller footprint as an alternative. And now, purchasers of toploaders no longer need to forfeit the benefits of Miele’s patented honeycomb system. As the honeycomb comes as part of the Softtronic package, the same consumer benefits as for frontloaders apply: Shorter programme running times and a reduction of water consumption to 45 litres (in the 60°C Cottons programme) thanks to a patented approach to rinsing.
Anyone opting for a washer-dryer ““ a combination of washing machine and tumble dryer in one and the same casing ““ will soon come to cherish the benefits of the honeycomb drum. On account of its 3D relief structure and the reduced size of the drum perforations, laundry is no longer plastered to the drum walls. Instead it falls into a loose heap at the bottom of the drum. This makes unloading simpler, laundry has fewer creases and floats gently in the drying cycle.