Hi Cat mom,
I have tried the new Miele tabs and they are very good, although I have not cut them in half. I have the new G 5935 SCi (La Perla III) dishwasher and have not changed the settings. This models detects the type of detergent you are using by sensing whether or not you are using rinse aid or salt. Miele still recommends to use salt if your water is hard, but not necessary to use rinse aid. I have found the drying results to be very good with these combi tabs. What model Miele do you have?
Cheers

We have an Optima (installed in spring '07). We use both salt and rinse aid. The softener is set to "kick-in" if the hardness detected is 6 or higher. The rinse aid is set a notch above the default, which I believe is 3.

We've always cut the old tabs in 1/2, and I think people are cutting the new ones in half, too. If the consensus is that 1/2 tabs work very well, I would be inclined to cut them in half (why use more soap than I need to, and it saves $ too). If more people find that whole tabs work much better, I have no problem going that route though.

Hi Cat mom,
I looked at your manual. I would use the 2 in 1 function as this tab includes rinse aid, otherwise you will get a double dose. If the drying isn't good then set the rinse aid to 1 and don't use the 2 in 1 function.
cheers

When I purchased a box of the newer Tabs last fall, the first thing I did was use a pair of scissors and cut all of them in half and placed them in a tupperware container with a lid. I did not make any changes to my Diamante (G2143SC) which I had set before to 4-6 grains for water softener (the factory default was 0-4 grains), and 1ml for the rinse aid (the factory default was 3ml).

With an Optima, it does had the "Tab" function, but from what I understand that is for tabs similar to the Finish brand that have the rinse-aid ball that stays in there unit the final rinse (thus dissolving for the rinse aid). But the newer Miele tabs do have a small amount of salt and rinse aid, but that is only while the Main Wash cycle is being used. The pre-wash cycles before still use the built-in water softener, and the final rinse cycle will dispense the liquid rinse aid.

What I would suggest is that you you 1/2 of a tab, leave your Optima settings where they are, and make sure the "Tab" function is turned off (that way it will dispense the liquid rinse aid). See how that works out. You may try (like it did) a lower rinse aid level, as I found 1ml to work just fine, as 3ml or more made plastic cups feel sticky.

By the way, half a tab works great 99% of the time when using the "Normal" or "Pots & Pans" modes. I personally like the Pots/Pans mode since it has one 10 min pre-rinse, one 60 min main wash, one interim rinse that gets rid of any left on detergent, and a final rinse with the rinse aid dispensed.
The Normal wash is OK too, but it has two pre-rinses (that I find unnecessary), then the main wash is only 30 min, and then a final rinse with the rinse aid (there is no interim rinse).
Both the Normal and Pots/Pans modes take exactly 2 hours, so I use the Pots/Pans mode because of the longer wash cycle, and the extra rinse in-between the main wash and final rinse.
There have only been a few occasions where I've used a full Miele tab, but that was only when the unit was extra loaded down and had a lot of baked-on stuff (such as Thanksgiving or Christmas).

This is great info. Is the Pots/Pans cycle the reason why half of a tab is working so well?

I switched to the new Miele tabs (was using Somat) a month ago. All loads have been the Normal cycle with the Tab option selected and a whole, wrapped tab in the dispenser. These were +/- 85% full, mixed loads. Unless there's an obvious piece of food I don't rinse anything before putting it in. I attributed the spotless cleaning to that combo, but a whole tab may be overkill.

Is it advisable to use the salt if you are using the Miele Tabs and your water is just " a little bit" hard? We have the Diamante.

I use the new tabs as is, so far. Our Optima is still on its factory settings and run in the normal/turbo/tab mode. Water hardness is naturally very low, and no salt has been put in the salt dispenser. Rinse aid is used, and is slowly depleted. Input water is warm.

This setup shows a time of around 1:44 when starting. Dishes and glasses come out quite clean without any rinse aid odor (although the escaping vapor when opening the door at the end of the cycle contains some odor). Dishes are generally put in with minimal food attached, but may stay there unwashed for a few days.

kas

If your water hardness is 6 grains or higher, it is advisable to use the built-in salt water softener. Keep in mind that it is activated every time the unit fills with water (pre-wash, main wash, rinse, final rinse) so the water is at the proper softness. The only time the liquid rinse aid is dispensed is during the final rinse.

As I said earlier, I have used the half-tab in the Normal and Pots/Pans cycle, but also have with the China/Crystal mode when washing Christmas dishes with gold edging. The half-tab works OK on all modes, including when using the Turbo option. The only mode that I don't use is the Express, since it does a 3 min pre-wash, 10 min main wash, and 5 min final rinse. That just really isn't enough main wash time to clean some baked-on foods. So that is why I have used the Normal and Pots/Pans modes. The half tab works just fine with both of those.

Remember, if your unit has a "Tab" function on the front display, selecting it (turning it on) will disengaged the internal water softener and not dispense the liquid rinse aid at the final rinse. That's why I said it's best to have the Tab set to off, so you can use the built in water softener and the rinse aid at the end. From what Miele told me months ago, the small amount of salt and rinse aid in the new tabs are ONLY to help with the wash cycle, it is not to replace using the normal salt and rinse aid.

Yay--lots of constructive input! Gotta love GW!

We use Normal cycle all the time. Because we always have glassware in the DW, I hesitate to run the pots and Pans cycle (hotter water?).

The DW detergent setting on our Optima is "disabled," meaning neither gel nor 2-in-1 tabs is lit up. This is in line fauguy's advice.

I might bump the rinse aid down a notch (back to the default setting of 3 perhaps to start with, and work my way down from there if necessary) after running a load or so with the new tabs. I don't notice any rinse aid residue on items run through the DW, at least, I don't think I do. I'll have to remember to make a mental note of smell, and perhaps sudsing on freshly cleaned glasses and dishes (by adding some water to them when I take them out of the DW).

If a full tab isn't necessary to get my loads clean (if they would not be any cleaner using a full tab vs a 1/2 tab), then I'm all for cutting them in 1/2.

Thanks so for the input so far!!!

I, too, assumed Pots/Pans heated water to a higher temp but sounds like it's about wash time and rinse stages.

After one month I don't expect evidence of etching but I'll definitely try one-half tab next time. Rinse aid at 2ml achieves the best results for me currently. The door opens by itself after a cycle which contributes to dryness levels by letting some steam out. I'm over thinking this but curious about the half-tab results too!