Congrats! I love mine, as I've said. My door opens wrong way with the dryer vent as well. Have you seen my Cheat Sheet? Might be helpful. I was told 20 year life when I bought it but I don't believe anything any appliance manufacturer says about longevity these days. I bought the extended warranty online with 10% discount and glad I did.

My issue was having profile hot water wash for whites and stain & odor removal. I liked my Bosch but it didn't have the onboard heater so I wasn't getting anything over 130F. There's always a trade off and not everyone cares about hot washes.

Hope the Miele has a long useful life for you. My Bosch axxis is still working well with no repairs after two and half years of heavy use, I sure hope it continues to work for several more years.

I forgot to add one more thing I like; the interior of the washing machine is lit; a light comes on when you open the door. That makes a lot of sense!

Oh and, I also forgot ,, it is much much quieter than the Bosch.

I think it is growing on me, despite my initial disappointment that it did not look/feel like a Ferrari.

I have the top of the line Miele washer and dryer bought 4-1/2 years ago. They have each had a service call in the past year. Miele service is very good and they have had all the parts with them to get the problem fixed. My only complaint is that there aren't many technicians and both times I had to wait a week for the first available time slot. A week without the washer was much worse than a week without the dryer! I would buy them again.

Meile was $2563 all in

Does the washer fly first class from Germany?

Happy it's working out for you. I have a dryer that has a door that opens down. It is handy to use as a shelf but it is a long reach to get to the clothes in the back. Amazing how many things are impossible to think of ahead of time. Happy laundry.

I know, HHireno, really! Believe me I was not crazy about it. But there aren't that many choices in compact FL, and darn sure will NEVER EVER buy ANYTHING BOSCH AGAIN, having seen BOTH my BOSCH washer and dryer die in less than 4 years. Have I mentioned this before? Am I yelling? Ooh, sorry.

Chispa, hmm, I need to ask my appliance guy (who we considered letting putting up in our guest room) if he does Miele (sorry for mis spelling everyone!). Thank goodness we have a w/d in the basement, too. If I were totally without a w/d I think id go on a vacation!

I also understand that the technology is such that the Miele is gentle on clothes because there is actually a layer of water between the drum and the clothes.

How did washing machines get a bad rap for being rough on clothes? I've had a number of different brands (all TL except for a FL for less than a week) through the years and never had that problem.

I felt the same way about mieles when I was looking about being rather average/plain looking! I feel the same about their ovens- very plain...

it's a shame that you can't change the door swing at that price! we inherited Electrolux machines with this house and I have got to say I love them- the washer too has a light which is kindof nice!

But Cindy, I'm not sure how you'd know that?

Know what? That some have a reputation for being rough?

Whether one washer is gentler than another in that regard, would really be impossible for a homeowner to know

And yet there are those who swear that their machine is at fault.

Cindy, touche. I think the fault is really cheap fabrics, esp by places like the Gap. But then clothes are dirt cheap today, and the average American buys a new article of clothing every 6 days.

Back again. I gotta say, the Miele is really quiet. Like I am not sure it is on, and my Bosch used to sound like an airplane taking off.

I also did a load on sheets on "sanitize". Wow, the water is so hot the washer is like a woodstove. I really like the "express" wash option; most of my tops and blouses are barely dirty so I think that will be good.

Not sure you want to be boiling your sheets!!! Most of my newer sheets and the pricy ones DH bought, all say they should be washed in warm water. I use the "sanitize" setting to wash the rags that my cleaning ladies use each week. With that setting they come out with no residual smells from any of the cleaning products.

And yet there are those who swear that their machine is at fault.

Well, sometimes it's pretty clear. I currently have the bottom of the line frigidaire top loader and the agitator comes down to about 3/8 in above the floor of the tub, so anything with strings gets caught and wrapped around and around and around the agitator. Also, soft fabrics get caught in there and pinched and sometimes even get little burn spots from the friction.

It was put in by the owner when I was renting and I would have done the same thing in his situation. I endure it for now because I'm debating whether to keep the same laundry setup, which is a small hallway between dining room and powder room with washer on one side and drier on the other, or put a pantry on one side and go to stacked FLs. Hesitating because I prefer a TL to an FL, and the pantry would make working with the laundry tough because of the limited floor space.

Chispa,

These were sheets of a young guest who had an accident, so sanitize (or discard) was the way to go. But yeah, generally, I migrate more and more to cold water. In fact I washed the sheets in cold first because it is better for stains, but then wanted to wash them again.

Writersblock,

You are right to consider floor space, not just the machines. Even with cleaning help 2-3x a week, we always seem to have a laundry basket somewhere. For the set in a closet near our MBR, I purposely did not put the dryer on a pedestal so Id have more room to stack a laundry basket.

@mtn - I've had that happen as well with small visitors. Sanitize actually handles it perfectly since it includes the 20 minute cold prewash followed by the sanitizing main wash. Henkels also makes a disinfectant rinse product that might come in handy.

You may already know the persil store, another of my haunts. I'm very fond of the Perwoll black, their Delicate wash and sports wash. I also get my Pril German dish soap there. Now if Persil Store would merge with Drugstore or Amazon, I'd be set.

I had an Asko washer (the only other washer like Miele at the time) that recommended washing everything in it the first time without any detergent to see how much soapy and dirty water would be extracted from the fabrics. It was a lot.

My impression is that the washer was gentler on fabrics because there was less lint in the dryer and the towels work out less rapidly. Lint is fabric, not dirt. My current washer is turning my towels into rags in record time. (Bottom of the line top loader that came with house)

Thanks, Rococo, I did not realize it had a cold prewash! It's so smart. I'm warming up to it. I just wish the light in side the drum were incandescent, LOL

I think I read that Walmart carries Persil now? Oh the irony. I was thinking of trying to go there today. I looked at Miele's own products on line. $30 bucks for what looks like a bottle of Woolite. Umm, not the way my crew goes through detergent!

'Tis smart, for sure. I like smart.

Yes, Walmart has American Persil. Their liquid 2 in 1 Pro Clean actually came in #1 on a Consumer's Report test, beating out Tide, which sent a frisson through the Laundry forum. The price is competitive with Tide and there were coupons for it floating around from what I read. Walmart also has the Perls.

I'm still using up a box of my Euro Persil which will take another year or more. With our soft water it uses very little.

Rococo, you are my laundry muse now. DH picked up the liquid and powder Persil for me. I bought dedicated measuring spoons for them!

See how you like it. It's clear where you could go as I know this road LOL. Dr. Tina got me hooked. I used to hate laundry. Now I have a little detergent library. I know it sounds a bit compulsive (to be polite) but compared to the laundry forum I'm a part-timer -- and happy to remain so. I agree with Pal that less is more. And I like those extra rinses as I'm not fond of wearing detergent residue.

I love my Miele. Love. Love. And when I did my research and purchased (2011), I also read rococogurl's posts and "cheat sheet" diligently. It is invaluable!

And rococo, I always do the extra rinse too!

@theclose - Glad it helped you out. I use it all the time.