Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Re: Miele – not as good as everyone says.
Unfortunately – and this does not really help – things do occasionally go wrong. That can centre on the appliances themselves or customer service. People should be allowed to make mistakes and people should be able to complain, and Miele produce far fewer ‘mistakes’ – literally! – than many other manufacturers.
We have had Miele out for our machine – it was fine – and the service was very good from beginning to end. The visiting engineer was pleased that we had been looking after the machine and know what we’re doing – much of the thanks to UKWhitgoods and elsewhere! 🙂 – which makes life much easier for people like him. 🙂 Education is the key. 🙂
Miele and ISE machines are great, and the ISE customer service is notable. 🙂 We have suggested to friends and relatives to get either a Miele or ISE if possible and to explain the advantages.
And hello, Jim (iadom)! 🙂 We haven’t forgotten the advice you gave last year on the dreadful Hotpoint (Indesit-made) we had that was very quickly replaced with a Miele! I know northernmary on here, too. 🙂 I do pay regular visits here still, but I will try to keep in touch on here more often given some better health. 🙂
Oh, and I am ‘only’ 28, although I know that is still younger than Mr northernmary here. hehe 🙂 I do wish I still had the Hotpoint Microtronic L.E. 🙁 A few brush changes, no new motor, no new pump… nothing! 🙂 Dad and I changed the brushes every few years ourselves, and it went on from 1983 until 1995 without a hitch! 🙂 I picked it aged 4 because I liked the green lights and LED; Dad picked it because he knew it would last. 🙂 It was silly that we did not get it repaired. 🙁 (He had worked in retail and some repairs beforehand. :))
Take care, all. 🙂
Regards,
Carl 🙂
Re: Hotpoint SDW80 Dishwasher: Machine Started Up Again!
Thank you very much, Martin. 🙂
I can certainly agree with you – there have been so many strange incidents with this machine, although it took until today for anything more ‘dangerous’ or very worrying to occur.
Regarding our “poisoned dogs”, we can only assume it was the dishwasher because, after trying the Intensive programme (which performs two cold rinses and a third 65 degree rinse instead of the just two cold rinses on the Normal programme), things seemed to be better! 🙂 Intensive washes at 65 degrees, not 60 like on the Normal one.
However, dogs being dogs, they can get upset tummies at any time, but this problem did seem to go on for a few days or so until we noticed the dishwasher’s rinsing getting worse. Switching to the Intensive programme seemed to help.
I know we certainly provided rather a lot of information there, but that’s Carl for you! 🙂 We just thought it best to give a history of this machine, which does tend to throw up some strange ‘episodes’ sometimes. I know when it arrived, my husband’s words were along the lines of, “What is this?! It’s nowhere near as good as the Bosch-made one!” We had also bought a Bosch-made Hotpoint before that lasted from 1992 to 2001, which was very good! 🙂 We knew they were actually Bosch-made but that it changed a few years ago, hence our reluctance at being given an Indesit-made Hotpoint.
Thank you very much for your help. 🙂 We shall decide what to do with it very soon, but I am certainly minded to replace it very quickly for safety reasons and not repair it given their poor reputation. Also, if Indesit come to look at it and cannot find anything wrong during the visit, they may charge us, which is money that could go towards a far better machine.
Regards
Jackie
Re: Miele Premier 520
I recently purchased one of these machines, so I hope I will be able to help, although I am not an engineer of course.
As has been said already, which detergent do you use and how hard is the water in your area? To find out the exact hardness of water in your area, type your water company’s full name into a search engine like Google. Their website should provide details of the exact hardness in your area, which can vary considerably. Some companies even allow you to enter your postcode.
Ariel powder or tablets are very effective and good for your machine. If not that, then Persil powder or tablets. Liquid or liquitabs/capsules of any brand are not as effective as powder or tablets. Stain removal at low temperatures (40 degrees or below) is better with biological detergents, so check if your detergent is biological. I know some people worry about biological products with eczema – I have eczema – but it is thought that Mieles are so good at rinsing, particularly with Water plus on, that many with eczema can get away with using biological detergents in their machines that they could not before.
Make sure you do not use the Quick Wash or Automatic programmes – they may not get stains out particularly well, and they really are just for freshening up clothes. Towels, bed linen, etc., can usually go on the Cottons programmes; most modern clothes would have to go on the Minimum Iron or Delicates programmes.
I hope I have not stepped on engineers’ toes here, or else I’m going to get smacked with a drain hose… 😉
Carl
Re: Ecover – Dangerous?
carlstock wrote:One question: is Ariel more difficult to rinse out than Persil? I just find more foam towards the end of the rinses at the end of an Ariel wash than with Persil. I do dose properly. 🙂
Quoting myself here (hehe), but I am led to believe that any excess foam/bubbles apparent – it’s only a little – in the drum towards the end of the rinses where no fabric conditioner is used is possibly zeolites (part of the water softener) left over from Ariel.
There is very little foam at the end, and I know the Miele is fine because the Hotpoint and Bosch machines left a little foam at the end, too, with Ariel, although Persil does not do this. I would guess this is because Persil is different.
We use one Ariel tablet and Water plus all the time, as well as not overloading the machine or putting the wrong programmes on. We never use quick wash programmes.
Re: Ecover – Dangerous?
Thanks very much, Penguin45. 🙂
I am sorry I did not get back to you sooner. I always try to respond within a few days, but I honestly used up all my energy on sorting out a refund for the Hotpoint. It worked in the end! 🙂 🙂
We have found that a good detergent, especially with Miele, is fine. I cannot tell you how good it washes, rinses and spins – it’s great! 🙂 It’s not until you get something a Miele that you realise how good they are – it was worth it.
We always use Water plus, and we make use of the Soak or Short features where necessary, as well as picking the right programmes, too. The machine does about two 60 degree loads a week, as well as daily 40 ones. Every couple of weeks, it goes on 75 for those funny E-cloth things we use. 🙂 Then of course it goes on 95 for the monthly maintenance wash.
One question: is Ariel more difficult to rinse out than Persil? I just find more foam towards the end of the rinses at the end of an Ariel wash than with Persil. I do dose properly. 🙂
I’ll be sticking around because there is a lot of very useful information here, and you’ve all been a great help. Thank you very much. 🙂
Regards,
Carl
Re: Ecover – Dangerous?
Martin wrote:
cab wrote:
yep ecover has all the good bits of a detergent removed to make them efriendly.Easy now lets not get too carried away with Ecover please :lesson:
Environment friendly and all that is not being totally truthful and many are ready to get on the bandwagon by being so misled. Simply sticking a GREEN label does not necessarily mean that all the ingredients used in the product are found from natural ‘tree hugging’ sources?
In the case of the majority of detergents you will find they contain some degree of Tetra Acetyl Ethylene Diamine or TAED as it is called in the trade, and Ecover is no exception to that rule. 😯
Ecover = GREEN..?……not really :rolls:
My apologies for taking so long to respond.
You are quite right, Martin. I worry about the environment, but not all products are necessarily suitable for (a) me or (b) the machine they are to be used in. The fragrance-free Ecover powder may not be too bad in some respects, but some of the other Ecover products have some fragrance ingredients that may be natural but are allergic triggers for some (lavender, linalool, limonene, etc.).
I have decided to use Persil non-biological tablets because the perfume is very mild – there are no extra ingredients from the ‘fragrance mix’ (linalool, limonene, etc.). We have used Persil since the year dot anyway. LOL I know Ariel is a better performer, but we use Ariel biological tablets in the drawer to clean the machine monthly. If something is horribly dirty but not mine, we use the aforementioned Ariel tablets.
Thanks again for all your help. 🙂 It is much appreciated 🙂 – you have all saved us so much trouble. :tup: I just wish more people would realise all that is wrong with domestic appliances and their use today – people need to be educated, but it’s not their fault.
Take care.
Regards,
Carl
Re: How many Ariel tablets – one or two?
Thank you very much, everyone. 🙂
My apologies for taking so long to respond.
Our Miele Premier 520 washing machine is working perfectly, and we have just got a Miele fridge, too. It is huge inside!
Thanks, everyone! 🙂 I will be sticking around for the odd tip and to make sure I am doing everything properly. 🙂
Take care.:)
Regards,
Carl
Re: Tricity Bendix – Smelly Plates problem
Hi. 🙂
All I will say on this is that those who know what they are talking about know what they are talking about! I do not mean that in a patronising way at all, and I do not doubt the some alternative/traditional cleaning methods may work for some.
The main point here is that engineers often see what happens to appliances once the damage has been done or problems have set in. I am not an engineer, and the closest I have come to this is always speaking to visiting engineers (who I have always enjoyed talking to), or the times when my Dad was capable of replacing the brushes in our Hotpoint Microtronic L.E. washing machine, or the new pump in the Bosch washing machine.
The fact is that with a lot of electrical products these days – and I am also talking about consumer electronics and computers because my experience in more centred on those – is that many people simply do not know how to look after them. I do not mean to take a paternal attitude of “Well, if you do not understand this product 100{e5d1b7155a01ef1f3b9c9968eaba33524ee81600d00d4be2b4d93ac2e58cec2d}, you cannot have it”, but I do wish there was more education about how to properly choose, use, maintain and service appliances of any kind.
We have purchased our first Miele washing machine because we have had enough of the dire appliances from other manufacturers (excluding Bosch, Siemens, Zanussi and Whirlpool), and we want quality – quality that we were used to and could get from Hotpoint in the 1980s and much of the 1990s.
I could take this on further to exactly how children should eat the right food at school and at home à la Jamie Oliver, but that’s for another forum! 😉 There are allsorts of issues in life where good professionals really do know what is best in their particular field, but many chose to ignore such advice.
Anyway, I am not ranting or attacking anyone. This is a professional but friendly forum that imparts sound advice, and I am grateful for the advice. :tup:
Regards,
Carl
kwatt wrote:
I shouldn’t think that any of the funky new Miele stuff would make a jot of difference.Oi, K! You dissing my Miele?! 😉 (Only joking! hehe :)) I can’t help the fact that I have Miele appliances in a three-bedroom, terraced, former council house!!! 😉 LOL
Thank you, everyone, very much for all your help. It is much appreciated. 🙂
Regarding what dougsta, said, if my Science lessons from school serve me well, enzymes work best at around 37ºC. That is partly why 40ºC programmes are suggested.
However, using a programme with a temperature above 40ºC should not necessarily be a bad thing. Years ago, I remember reading AEG (and Hoover New Wave, I think) brochures that mentioned the ‘bio phase’. I believe machines still use this, but it basically means that, even if we wash something at 60ºC with a biological detergent, the machine will heat up from cold with cold fill – the best way – and then gradually heat the water up to around 40ºC and then hold it there for around eight minutes. This is the optimum time for the enzymes to get to work. Once this phase is over, I believe the machine will continue to heat up to the higher temperature – in this, case 60ºC.
The only difference now, I guess, is that P&G and Unilever use GM enzymes that may be able to withstand high temperatures! 😉
If the above still applies today, then using a biological detergent in the maintenance wash may be useful, although whether the enzymes will benefit the machine itself (removing grease) is not clear. I would assume that enzymes really only benefit the removal of stains on clothes.
Carl
Re: How many Ariel tablets – one or two?
I would just like to point out that the powder we used for handwashing was Ariel Biological or Colour & Style, not any handwash powder that produces lots of foam! 😉
Re: How many Ariel tablets – one or two?
Hi, Martin. 🙂
Thanks for your reply.
Our Bosch had a ‘rinse sensor’ and would add extra rinses if necessary. I know the Miele will add another rinse if need be – I managed to read the manual on Miele’s website before buying the machine – and I have noticed the “Excess detergent” light.
The large amounts of foam have only appeared on two cotton loads – one with towels at 60ºC and another with those E-cloths at 75ºC. I would guess this is because those loads did not need two tablets – one would have done. The foam was three-quarters of the way up the door, so we turned it off, let the foam settle and then drained and rinsed the load!
Both loads had Water plus on. In fact, we have Water plus on by default – I have stored it in the machine’s memory for all loads because I have eczema.
There is a little bit of foam on other loads, but it’s no different from our other machines, really.
From what you have all said, this is probably really due to too much detergent on those two loads, which were really half loads, I guess. We thought it may have been due to the loads being hand washed beforehand and not being able to rinse out all of the detergent particularly well by hand whilst we waited for a new machine.
Thank you for all your help. 🙂 I know it sounds like I’m going round the houses about a simply issue, but I know some things with domestic appliances are not always as simple as they may seem. 🙂 I have a neurological condition called M.E., so I tend to be somewhat forgetful at times and cannot have more than about one thought in my mind before it goes into meltdown! 😉
Regards,
Carl 🙂
Re: How many Ariel tablets – one or two?
Hi. 🙂
I must admit that, on two loads with the new Miele, there was rather a lot of foam with an all-towel load and another cottons load on the Cottons 60ºC programme.
I know it’s important not to load too many towels into a machine at once, but we had to stop the machine some way into the programme and put it through several rinses because there was so much foam. This was with two Ariel Biological tablets, and that is partly what prompted me to ask on here about how many to use, as well as pointing out to P&G that there were inconsistencies between the labelling on their packaging and their website.
Considering how there appears to be even less water during a wash than in our B-rated Bosch – this Miele is A+ for energy – I would guess that perhaps the detergent solution is even more concentrated. (I may be wrong on this.)
As I have said, we live in a very hard water area but have a softener fitted. My Dad and I forgot to tell my sister this after fitting it, and she admitted that she had a head full of foamy shampoo in the shower that was foaming all over her head! She thought she was “in Wales again” (at university)!!!
The actual softener we have used is the Hotpoint Calblock:
http://www.theservicecentre.co.uk/Servi … odacc.html
There are a couple of posts on UKW:
https://www.ukwhitegoods.co.uk/modules. … ic&p=11694
I am not sure what you engineers made of this water softener :look: :dark:, but please do not laugh at me if you think it is terrible! 😉
Despite having little faith in Hotpoint/Indesit products, this seems to work, and we have had them for a while now, although we would of course prefer a ‘whole house’ solution. I thought this Calblock would be a con, but it seems to work – especially as my sister was caught out whilst washing her hair! 😉 We have one of these on the washing machine, dishwasher and shower.
It even fits on our shower (which is permanently plumbed into our hot water system) and has completely stopped any limescale formation on the shower head. We descaled the shower head first and then fitted the Calblock.
Many thanks,
Carl
Re: How many Ariel tablets – one or two?
Hi, Greg.
Thank you very much for responding.
I do believe, from the tests and as you have said, that our water will only ever be medium-soft at best, not completely soft.
Also, according to P&G, Ariel tablets can be placed in the drum (at the bottom of the drum and towards the back), and this is mentioned on the box. However, P&G say they should, as you have said, be placed in the drawer for best results; but we have not have not found Ariel tablets to clog the drawer up anyway.
Apparently, putting the powder or tablets in the drawer is most important with Ariel Biological powder or tablets because of the chance of the bleach in the detergent affecting the clothes, especially any with colours, on contact – that is, before the detergent is fully dissolved.
Anyway, I know many of you at UKW have undertaken all of the detergent courses and testing. 🙂
Many thanks,
Carl
