hi, I'm interested in your dilemma because I'm on the verge of purchasing a Miele FL washer myself...

Which Bi-O-Kleen detergent are you using? Liquid? Powder, or powder with enzymes?

I ask because I found the Bi-O-Kleen regular powder made my clothes very scratchy and stiff... their Liquid and their Premium Powder with Enzymes work much better for me. I don't know why, exactly, but I wonder if it has something to do with there being a higher concentration of sodium carbonate (washing soda) in the plain powder.

I bought some powdered Charlie's Soap a couple of weeks ago and I'm getting good results with that. Have you tried other detergents/modifying the dose?

My point is, maybe it's your detergent: the Miele doesn't use much water, and if you're using a powdered detergent with washing soda in it, it may be getting too concentrated in your new machine.

Do you know if you have hard water in your area? Soft water + washing soda can = wear on fabrics.

Are you shaking out each item before you put in into your dryer or hanging it on your clothesline? I know this may sound tedious, but it makes a huge difference in reducing wrinkles.

Please let us know if you figure this out.

Just had another thought:

Orange streaks sound like rust... are you in an area of Michigan that could have a high iron content in the water?

Hi. Thank you for your suggestions. We have city water and do not have a water softener. We live in more of a rural area. I don't know the levels of minerals in the water. The BioKleen products that I've been using are liquid, one for cold-water formula with enzymes, and the all temperature free & clear liquid formula (I don't think that this has enzymes, but I'm not sure). I do shake out the clothes from the washer to the dryer. One other point is that I paid a certified Miele trained installer to hook up the unit just to make sure that there wasn't any problems with the installation.

Excessive wrinkling can usually be improved by drying at a lower temp and giving the clothes room to tumble freely. High spin speeds get the clothes so dry they will dry much faster in the dryer, and if they dry before the clothes have tumbled enough to get the wrinkles out you can end up with lots of wrinkles. Lab coats may need a lower temp in the dryer and more room to tumble. The wrinkles won't come out if the clothes are too crowded.
Good luck.

Holes in the children's clothes, linked to spin speed, is strange. Are the holes in the pattern of the drum holes?

For the orange, are you sure nothing was in the pockets of something? I'd do a couple cleaning cycles to make sure the unit is clean and check pockets carefully.

For the wrinkling, could you be overloading the machine?

On the children's clothes, could they be catching on a zipper or something? Maybe try rubbing your hand around inside the tub to make sure there isn't a rough spot. If the clothes are older, could it be a coincidence that they're showing damage now? I'm more inclined to think they're catching on something though. Again, are you overloading the washer? I'm not sure what the capacity is on this unit.

have the water tested by a water company - culigan or kinetico. There might be a high mineral content

how much deteregnt do you use? sometimes scratchiness is from too much detergent left in the clothes

you are probably overloading the dryer. cut back a little and see what happens

also - dont use dryer sheets as they will coat the dryer sensor in the drum. eventually you will have to clean the sensor bar to remove all the junk that is on it

I own a W1986 and love it! Are you using roughly a tablespoon of detergent and have you tried using fabric softener? Also, how are you drying the clothes?

Thank you for all of your suggestions. I'm going to order Charlie's soap detergent. I might have my water checked by the co mentioned. Also, I will try to decrease my load size in the washer (it is a 6k unit). Usually I dry my clothes in a high temp setting with permanent press (I have a GE Profile dryer). I don't think that the holes in the clothing are lined up to the drum holes. BTW this unit doesn't have the current honeycomb drum holes. It is stainless steel inner and I think outer drum as well. I've checked for any rough spots and it is fine. The machine seems to be almost pulling the fibers of fine shirts (polyester and also cotton t-shirts). As mentioned initially, the bottom of poly/cotton pants seem to fray more easily. Also, my cotton towels fray at the ends at even 900rpm. Thank you for all of your suggestions. Any additional advice would be greatly appreciated.

You mentioned " I wash the lab coats in a cotton setting at 60c or hotter,"

and later that some of the fabrics you're having wrinkling problems with are poly/cotton blends...

I'm thinking maybe the 60C (140°F) wash water in your new machine may be contributing to the wrinkling/wear on your clothes... my understanding is that high heat is best for cotton & linen, and that it can cause wrinkling in synthetics.

I know a lot of washers have a "cool down" step in their synthetic perma press cycles... I think if these fabrics are wrung out while hot, wrinkles can be set in.

Does your machine have a setting that adds cool water before spinning... I'd try that.

You may also want to try lowering your dryer heat setting for poly/cotton blends, and setting it to "less dry."

Hi again. Thank you for your suggestions. One question asked is how I'm drying the clothes. I have a GE Profile gas dryer (propane). I will dry at lower temperatures to see if this helps, and also reduce the load of clothes. For the people who own a Miele w1986, please let me know what settings you wash your towels, and or clothes. Have you had similar problems with the fraying/ and fibers loosening (tears or small holes) at faster rpm settings? Thank you.

I have a 220 volt Miele 1926a washer which sounds similar to yours (no honeycomb drum, etc.) We've been using ours for many years with none of the issues you are reporting. We've washed literally tons of clothes in our Miele, and haven't had any of the fraying or holes that you write about. We've got kids shirts and pants that have been through 3 different kids now, so if our washer was destroying them, they wouldn't have lasted this long.

Are there any strange noises coming from the machine? Have you felt the drum to see if there are any sharp or broken parts? We've noticed that our front loader seems to cause less wear on our clothing than our previous top-loading agitator model. Your experience is puzzling to say the least.

For wrinkling, I've found that the amount of time spent in the dryer has more effect on wrinkles than anything the washer does. Try drying for a longer time on lower heat.

For cleaning issues, try changing detergents. I don't have any experience with BioKleen, but have had good results with Persil, Sears HE powder, and Costco (Kirkland Signature) Environmentally Friendly liquid.

As for the rust stain, could it be a plumbing issue? How old is your home?

I have the same machine as Kaipl. I have loved it for over 10years. I have none of the problems that you describe. First things first, I use mainly persil and the miele care products. I have used Persil from the beginning and have not had any issues with fraying or holes in my clothes.
I have organic cotton towels and they are mainly white towels that I wash at 155F with a second rinse. I use vinegar for my towels. I use a mix of 70% vinegar and 30% fabric softener for all my other items. I have all cotton clothes mainly. I wash my white sheets at the same temperature. I do iron my sheets but don't always need to iron other products. I would start by getting a box of persil sensitive, and using only one tablespoon to calibrate the new washing technique.

Good luck!

I would buy a bottle of the Tide HE with bleach alternative which tested at the very top of the latest Consumer Reports tests. I don't understand paying top dollar for a machine and then getting poor cleaning performance due to inferior detergents.

There is a very slim chance you made a mistake we made when hooking up the hoses. We had the hot and cold reversed, so everything got washed in very hot water. The hot water ruined and seriously wrinkle my favorite blanket.

using high heat to dry permanent press is not good. Go to medium heat.

Hi again. Thank you for all of your suggestions. I'm waiting for my first order of Charlie's Soap to arrive and I will let you know the difference. One person suggested that the clothes might be catching on a zipper of pants. I think that this might be possible, and I'm going to separate pants when washing from any shirts. I will also test washing in colder temps (30-40C) for my children's clothing and permanent press. Now I wash almost everything under the delicate cycle, except for towels and sheets (used under permanent press and 50-60C). Also, I don't exceed 600rpm. I know that this is crazy, however, i don't want to have anymore clothes ruined by fraying and or small holes. There are a few blogs that I've read in GardenWeb that have mentioned small holes possibly related to zipper/button catching. So I will separate the pants and zip up and button all of the pants. Again, thank you so much for all of your advice.

Do you have the manual to the Miele Novotronic 1986? It tells you which clothes to wash in which program.
Miele has a longer running cycle in some programs. You use those programs only when your laundry is very soiled. The extra washing cycle is well worth it. You achieve clean clothes without the use of bleach! Actually, the manual does not recommend you use bleach!
Front loaders are different from top loaders. They save on water and energy and they get clothes very clean. The trade-off: higher cost of machine and longer cycles. It's a different way to wash!
P.S. If I were you I would use Persil for white towels and sheets; Persil Bunt for all other clothes, and for wool and silk items Perwoll. You can purchase all these products from Miele directly. If you buy $150 worth of products shipping is free! Please bear in mind that Europe has harder water than here in the U.S. Therefore, use less detergent than listed on the package. A little goes a long way.
Good luck!