There is no programming control or option to disable the lid lock. Pausing the cycle should unlock the lid without requiring complete cancel/restart. Pause, open lid, add detergent, close lid, press Start to continue on. Adding detergent into the agitator as directed in the instruction manual should prevent any staining of the clothes. It'll mix with water beneath the tub and during the EcoActive recirculation phase at start of the cycle. I've been using F&P washers since 1999, have not had any trouble with detergent staining clothes.

What is the specific model of your machine? There were three Intuitive Eco models sold on the U.S. market -- IWL12, IWL15, and IWL16. IWL16 uses a different method to detect off-balance spin than IWL12 and IWL15. I have an IWL12. Rarely have off-balance situations. No trouble ever with sheets. Items of hugely-differing fabric weights ideally should not be washed together (large cotton bath towels with lightweight knit casuals, for example). I also don't wash towels with sheets being as sheets are typically lighter-weight fabric. I have on occasion washed a set of sheets with typical casual, oxford-type button-down shirts ... the fabric weight is similar. When loading sheets, do not wrap them around the agitator. Gather up a sheet into a loose bundle and place it in the basket. Gather up the other sheet the same way and place it on the opposite side. Fill the space between with the pillow cases or other similar-weight items (lingerie is fine). If you have two sets of sheets to run, place each one in a quadrant of the basket, with the pillow cases evenly/loosely on top. Note that there is a designated LifeCycle for comforters. It's preset for high water level, a specific agitation profile, and runs two deep rinses, with no spin until after the 2nd rinse (the softener dispenser cannot be used). As a safety factor, the machine pauses before the spin, beeps for attention ... the display advises the user to press the item down below the medium-high water level marking on the agitator, then press Start to continue. Overstuffed/bulky items such as comforters may trap air and float/billow somewhat up out of the wash water. The pause and advisory before spin is to insure the large item is not sticking up out of the tub where it could get damaged/ripped/torn from contact with the machine or tub top. The creasables option reduces the spin speed from 1010 RPM (high) to 300 RPM (slow) ... or 600 RPM (medium) if the option is changed accordingly in the secondary menu. It also increases the auto-sensed water level one "step" higher (but of course not higher then maximum) so the clothes float more loosely in the wash water for less wrinkling, and adds an extra rinse before the first spin. Looking at my User Guide right now, it says A. Add detergent - Add detergent down the center of the agitator stem. There is no mention of mixing detergent with water before adding it to the machine. I've *never* done that, with either liquid or powder detergent. The instructions do say to dilute chlorine bleach with water.

Hi there Dadoe, I’m back again for your wisdom, I still have the Iwl16 machine and it’s been working great since you last helped me out, the drain pump went out on it in February 2019 and I replaced it, however now whenever it runs out of water but the machine still has it engaged it’s making a screaching sound that’s pretty noticeable even with the laundry room doors closed. Pump sounds fine as long as it actually has water to pump out or recirculate...once it gets to the rinse and spin phases where the pump is engaged but not having much water to pump is where the problem comes in...I have tried another brand new pump and it’s actually worse than the one I installed a year ago, I even tried a new motor controller board only to have the same issue. Am I missing something or are they just really making crappy quality pumps now?? The machine works fine, just noisy now and it’s definitely the drain pump but I’m not gonna keep purchasing drain pumps til I get a good one...any advice would be appreciated

suseyb, Until about a year ago, an all-brands washing machine repairman named John Shipkowski was a regular poster in the washing machines forum of consumerreports.org; he was an invaluable resource in regard to all washing machine questions, but he has stopped posting there now. Here was his response when asked a question similar to yours there 15 months ago: "Bosch front load washers are good machines for concrete floor laundry rooms. On wood flooring--the Bosch / Siemens front loaders are a high risk for shakes / vibration / noise. For wood floors--any Samsung front load washer or any *square door* LG front loader will offer smooth & quiet spin cycle performance." I have included below a link to the full thread in which the post containing the above quotation was excerpted. If you search YouTube for videos of the Miele Honeycomb Drum, you will see what it is and what problems it seeks to solve, but -- as you know -- Miele washers are expensive. Samsung, however, has imitated Miele's Honeycomb Drum with its Diamond Drum (probably the diamond shape rather than a honeycomb shape avoids patent issues), which should (may?) provide many of the same benefits. Chief among those is the reduction of the threading of small local areas of fiber through the drainage holes of the drum during the high speed spin cycle, which affects the rate of fabric wear. Here is a link that might be useful: A Consumer Reports Forum thread about Bosch washers