I own 2 Mieles (an Incognito and an Optima) and the manual says NOT to use cleaners with soda, ammonia, thinners or chlorides. So I wouldn't do any more freshening with baking soda. The manual also expressly says NOT to connect the dw with an extension cord or it can overheat. They also warn of electric shock. My suggestion is to slow down and call Miele on Monday. Ask for tech support and discuss this install with them. 1-800-999-1360 This dw isn't the same as others. It's best to consult the manual about water hardness, whether or not salt is needed, and about the amount of detergent (very little) -- and which kind to use before you do anything else. An adjustment for drying may/may not be needed with the Incognito (mine needed it). I'd become a regular with Miele tech support until the troubleshooting is past.

re - has Miele done anything wrong here and are they really just a high-end Frigidaire... When all big FL makers settled on using a 120V 15amp circuit for their washing machines it made necessary a set of compromises. Miele obviously thought the 240V issue was a show stopper for them in the USA moving forward. As fans of better laundry performance one can question that decision, but none of us have walked the marketing and sales mile in the shoes of Miele. For most of the makers out there they seemed to compensate for 120V-15amps by leveraging the domestic hot water (DHW) supply as much as possible by using some ATC scheme to make unnecessary an internal heater for all but the hottest cycles or a profile wash cycle (where available). Even then the makers have compromised by redefining cycle temperatures. For example, a *super hot* on a Duet is defined as 120F which is basically what most DHW supplies can deliver. Even the "temperature guaranteed" use-the-internal-heater-in-all-cycles Bosch Nexxt defines hot as 125F so the internal heater needs to only heat the water about 5F over the supply temp. Plus or minus small amounts everyone is playing the same game here where only Sanitary and sometimes select other cycles are programmed to use the internal heater. The problem with Miele is their own doing as they reasonably lead you to believe the internal heater must be used in normal cycle, even forgetting that Miele themselves claim it is used. The manual shows a normal cycle with a hot (140F) and a very warm (122F) option. Since plumbing code in much of the US defines 120F as the max tap temp of a DHW source, how could you possibly get 140F unless the machine's internal heater is used? Miele certainly isn't a high-end Frigidaire (and I have absolutely nothing against Frigidaire whatsoever) but a washing machine that sells for more than some very good used cars should at the very least work as documented. Yes, some workarounds exist but would you accept a Mercedes or BMW where the workaround for a non-functioning sound system was the inclusion of some sheet music and a pitchpipe? With a premium product at premium pricing your expectations should be at least average and accepting workarounds is less than average unless your explicitly told your really part of a beta product release.

Start out with the default setting (3?), and see if you get good results; eg., no spotting, no rinse aid residue (soapy taste on your dishes and glasses), drying ability, etc. You can play with the rinse aid setting if results aren't to your liking (adjust it up or down until you get the desired results). At one point Miele service had increased the setting on ours, finding that some of his customers felt the dishes came out drier, however, we felt it left our glasses tasting soapy so adjusted the setting back to the default. While troubleshooting an issue last year, he suggested trying a lower rinse aid setting (given the rinse aid in the tablet, though we tend to use the Miele tablets cut in half). We ended up adjusting it back up to the default again, as our glassware was too spotty with the lower setting. We always use salt in our machine (Somat or Miele). I think the tech had set our DW to soften the water when it reaches 6 grains of hardness or above. We have moderately hard water, and only need to add salt about once a year or so.

SOP's fine to go down on damp grass, and you can do it now if you want. Really, you're barely off-cycle for an app I scheduled for October 15th. Always read my dates as "somewhere kind of around this date if that's convenient for you." We can always revise the schedule if things really get off-track. Bermuda doesn't require heavy synthetic winterization and the process can actually cause damage the following spring and summer. Greening's unlikely at this point if growth has slowed significantly. However, I don't recommend keeping soybean meal (or any grain) around over the winter as the stuff is a beacon to mice and other less-pleasant rodents. Lighter organic winterization practices won't harm Bermuda, so I'd put it down. If you have shrubs, gardens, or trees, this stuff would also be very good for them at this point in the season as well. I dropped my last organics on October first (in Pennsylvania), being very certain to strike the Thuja, lilacs, trees, and other shrubs with the stuff pretty heavily.