I have a Miele front load washer that had a terrible sewage/rot odor for years. I live in AZ so it's very dry here, but we always leave the washer door open, thinking maybe that would help. I tried running baking soda, vinegar, Smelly Washer, etc. through the machine and they all helped for a short time before the smell came back. All of our clothes gained that gross smell to some degree and God forbid you leave the clothes in the washer for more than 5 minutes after the wash cycle was finished. After cleaning the door gasket even though there was no mold there whatsoever, we finally switched to POWDER DETERGENT and the problem went away after 4 or 5 loads and has not returned over the last few months. We make sure to run a hot water load once a week, but I think the rotten odor was 100% caused by liquid detergent (we never use fabric softener). Even using small amounts of the HE liquid detergent perpetuated the problem. It's hard to find dry detergent these days, but it's worth it to hunt some down! It SOLVED OUR STINKY WASHER PROBLEM.

I just can't see the big deal about a heater that is active on all cycles Have you read the group FAQ on heaters? If the current sanitary kills 99.999% of the bactaria then why the need to have it hotter? how huge improvement would that be? Well, first of all, I question your figures. In truth, just washing and drying kills *most* of the bugs and bacteria, but not necessarily the ones you should be most concerned about. For dust mites you need protracted heat at a genuine 140F; most of the washers with heaters already did that, those without heaters would be hard-pressed to maintain even 120F. To kill E. Coli needs 160F; not all washers, even those with 'sanitary' cycles, can get there. For conjunctivitis you need to go as high as possible, preferably with bleach as well. In fact, the additional microbiocidal effect of temperatures above 80C is well-established, cf Davis, S., & Ainsworth, P. (1989). The disinfectant action of low-temperature laundering. Journal of Consumer Studies and Home Economics, 13 , 6166; also Belkin, N. L. (1998). Aseptics and aesthetics of chlorine bleach: Can its use in laundering be safely abandoned? American Journal of Infection Control, 26 (2), 149151. Of course, one can argue that science is "asinine" and we should just make stuff up about the utility or lack thereof of higher temperatures for laundry. In fact, someone who made their living selling washing machines might well argue that the machines they sold were all one would ever need. And the heater on cold fill, sounds great but if you are already drawing the hot water from the water heater as an assist and yet boost it up to adequately remove stains for stain removal and stain treatment, what more do you want? The extra cleaning power from heating gradually from cold in the machine is well-established, which is why so many European machines have moved to cold-fill-only. I think the performance feature is quite adequate enough? One man's adequate is another man's dirty. Many people here talk about how they only wash at low or medium temps and their clothing is perfectly clean. However, according to the experiments described here: http://www.sifo.no/files/file48506_fagrapport2003-1.pdf if you wash your underwear at, say, 40C, then whatever you wash with it will be teeming with e. coli when you remove it from the laundry. You don't see the e. coli, so might think you are putting on a nice clean shirt, when in fact you are draping yourself in germs. In fact, recent studies indicate that this is not just a theoretical consideration, and that there is a correlation between illness and doing laundry in cooler water without bleach, see Larson, Lin, and Gomez-Pichardo (2004) Predictors of Infectious Disease Symptoms in Inner City Households. Nursing Research, 53, 190 - 197 While we needn't obsess about temps (after all, you can always add chlorine bleach or phenolic oils to a cooler load to kill germs), there is no denying that higher temps offer more, genuinely useful options. - DR

SQ Website says 440G not 400G, up almost 50% from old 300G. Also, other cycles for bulky and favorite shown on electronic model. Take a look at the control detail, quite a bit of flexibility. Also, default normal wash is 45 min (it's lit up in the picture that way); 52 min with 3rd (extra) rinse (that's about what it adds on my SQ FLW when I select extra rinse). Cycle time inside of a drying cycle, not a bad idea if you have a lot of laundry to plow through. Hvtech, I can see your point if laundry room is a long way from water heater, mine is 10 feet, so not an issue for me. In regards to dynamic water bath temp control, it is an important option in heavy duty commercial machines with a thermistor in the tub, regulating to about +\-5 degree. I suppose the right US home consumer could find utility in this, but the DOE has extensive data that shows Warm wash dominates for most home consumer washes. I have never run a cold wash, I suppose because our water can be crazy cold in the winter drawing from a frozen lake at times. In my house, it's 95% warm, but I don't have a job, or a spouse in a job, that gets very dirty. Only the nastiest work out clothes, socks, and stinky tennis shoes get the hot wash. Should be in stores soon if on the SQ website. April date probably a general availability so people don't complain if their dealer does not have stock, and as you can imagine, they need to restock every retailer of their equipment. Some retailers will likely have some sooner IMHO. Call your local dealer, he may have an order in already and would have a firmer delivery date. There should be some actual owner reviews soon.

My FL that I ditched was a Duet made for Sears. The manuals were Duet. Mine did have a 2 hour sanitizing setting that I did use routinely. 2 hours to wash kitchen towels with not enough water - hot or not, never got them stain free and did not get the washer clean. And if you left the load in the washer with the door closed for anytime at all -- stinky!! And a rewash. My manual said to check under the rubber ring if you washed small items. I hated that washer!!! I think I hate it more now that it is gone! :) I'm sure there are great FL's made. I have a Miele vacuum I love, but it was very expensive. I never looked at the Miele washers. I admit, when I finally decided to get rid of the FL, I did not shop for anything other than the Speed Queen thanks to the information shared on this forum over the years. I was delighted to find a local dealer who also does their own service. I have followed pinky's "adventures", and still bought a Speed Queen. I am hoping for a positive outcome for you. I am watching out for any signs of a problem-so far none. I did buy the AWNE92 - electronic controls - the longer warranty sold me, as I intended to get the manual controls. It does have hot wash, but my hot water out of the bathroom faucet measures 130. I'm going to measure the hot wash next time. I did measure the 'cool' wash - it was 62 and it felt warmish to me, so that is the cycle I am going to try for our clothes. I think washing and rinsing in cold water causes wrinkles.....but that could have just been the FL. I am re learning how to do laundry. At least it is fast and I can open the lid and watch! My FL had a dark smoked lid and I could not see anything inside even shining a flashlight thru it. Jayme - still no regrets ditching the FL! In fact I feel stupid putting up with it for so long.