The alleged capacity of machines is often over-rated IMO. I overloaded my machine a couple times but once I figured out what the actual capacity is, I don't have any problems with wash loads of any size, and I have a large capacity machine, although it's not a FL.

The word Prewash says it all. Prewash ÃÂ is pretty self explanatory versus Heavy Soil. In this case I think Miele (in their efforts to make their product easy to use/understand) meant to sub-label the Prewash button with Heavy Soil to make sense out of this wash option and the Heavy Soil detergent compartment (which is still labeled Heavy Soil), and someone in their development team accidentally sub-labeled the Extended button instead. ÃÂ I was playing around with my friends' W4842 and tested the Prewash button and it does exactly that - a prewash that takes the detergent from the Heavy Soil detergent compartment.ÃÂ Not a major issue but I will probably wait until Miele prints their control panels correctly before I hunker down the big bucks. Suppose it is my retentiveness. Now if only Miele would relabel "Sensitive" to "Extra Rinse."

Not sure about alternatives but what your local salesman said appears to be true. I talked to Miele customer service yesterday to ask about the w4840 vs the older w1215/1213 and he gave me the same info. The w4840 heats to 158 degrees Farenheit which isn't even as high as my current GE FL (170 degrees on the sanitize cycle -- although I've not been able to measure it, it's just what they claimed when I bought it). The new Mieles including the 4000 series are 110v and I was told that is why they don't heat higher than 158F -- I would think it also has to do with the American market's propensity to use bleach which at temps above 158F will react and break down the rubber gaskets etc.

Here's my take on comforters. We have fairly thick polyester-filled comforters that we wash regularly in our Miele W4840 with 3.07 cu ft drum. That's the actual drum size, not the "IEC capacity" of 4.0 cu ft, which I think is becoming an obsolete measurement. Largest size that I wash is full. My wife once bought a "full/queen" comforter, which I tried putting in the washer. It was so tight that I was afraid it might twist the door boot, so I didn't risk washing it. We eventually gave it away. The machine I'm looking at now (actually waiting on plumber and electrician quotes), Asko W8844XLW, is 24" wide with an extra-deep drum of 2.83 cu ft capacity. Asko says it'll wash a queen-size comforter, but they must mean a thinner one than we use. Given the drum shape, I guess a comforter has to be folded differently than in the W4840. If we eventually ended up with a Miele Little Giant because it was the largest true-temperature washer we could find, I guess we'd use only our twin-size comforters, or buy new ones that fit. Laundromats are a problem for us because we use free-and-clear detergents. We used a laundromat last year when the floor was being replaced in our laundry corridor, and the laundry came out smelling like a mixture of everyone else's detergent scents. It was a nice clean laundromat, but I think the scent transfer is inevitable.