Wow! I use 104, or occasionally 120, for all our street clothing. DH farm clothes get 140. My synthetics have been very stable with the 104f temps.

To me the real indicator that the temp isn't working isn't how the garments look or smell just out of the w/d but whether you can smell yourself shortly after putting the garments on-indicating that the temp wasn't high enough and has left body oil residue in the clean garment.

i wonder how many machines hit 105?

I think few machines hit 105, let alone hold the temp for about 30 mins of wash agitation!

My clothes smell, look and feel as fresh at 105, as they did at 115 or 120. Now, if I have a particularly dirty load, I have no problem (and enjoy ;) cranking up my Miele's internal water heater!!

Larsi, I've wondered about this, if you have a particularly dirty load or heavily sweaty load do you do a prewash?

I use prewash with liquid detergent for sweaty loads. Also, raised it to 14 minutes from default of 8.

I don't have prewash so I use drain/spin extra rinse and that gives me 16 minutes of wash time before drain. Has worked well for me.

My washer only lists Hot, Warm, Cold. I know the hot is not straight hot water from the tap. To go above that I have to use a Sanitize cycle and that adds what Samsung calls "Silvercare". They press small silver strips against the rotating drum to put tiny particles of silver into the wash. I don't do that too often because the Sears sales rep. told us that those strips wear out if you do. I'm not sure what temp Hot is because the door locks and I can't get in there to measure.

I have maybe done prewash 1-2 times, it never seems necessary in the Little Giant. The Cottons Universal Cycle with 3 rinses and Water Plus is about 1 hour, or 1:05. This includes about 30 mins of WASH agitation...more than enough!!

"They press silver strips against the rotating drum"

What?! Another clueless Sears sales rep... http://www.samsung.com/silvercare/3steps.htm

So if I have this right the silver strips are supposed to sanitize? So its not a thermal sanitize? Now I've heard it all.

Do I need a LiGi to get that specific with temperatures?

The silver ions were a big selling point for Samsung years ago. I can remember it even supposedly worked in cold water. Supposed to last for 10 years.

I just throw a silver ingot in with the clothes.

@ cal122...there are not many machines available for sale that list specific temps. Miele Little Giant and Asko Pro are the only ones that come to mind.

I LOVE knowing exactly what temp I am using, whether it be tap cold, 85, 95, 105, 115, 120, 130, 140, 150, 160, 170, 180, 190 or 200F.

LiGi is the ultimate in user control.

Silver is antimicrobial. It is utilized in wound dressings, creams and in clothing and linens. There are a lot of questionable claims though. You have to have a way to liberate silver ions in adequate amounts in liquid. Nanoparticles are the most effective way to do this. One question I would have is, is the silver bar on the washing machine one solid piece or layers of nanoparticles that are more easily liberated.

Yes, Larsi! I have switched my go-to Universal wash from 120F to 115F, and have found myself dialing it back to 105F more and more -- especially with darker loads.

Re. pre-wash. I do a pre-wash (little to no detergent) with almost every load of whites. Why? The bulk of my whites load is washcloths from the shower, still caked in some soap residues and other general body funk LOL. I like to get that rinsed away in warm water before starting a 140F-160F wash. Will also occasionally do a pre-wash on the housekeeper's cleaning rags if they are caked in visible soil.

@larsi....that's amazing. Making me reconsider my W3048 purchase which is still held for delivery pending construction work being finished.

Little Giant lowest temperature, other than "Cold", is 75 when set for Fahrenheit units, and 25 when set for Celsius. Celsius temperature settings are in 5 degree intervals throughout. That 115F - 120F combination is annoying, if I think about it. Seems too close to be meaningful. I have my Little Giant set for Celsius.

For those of us living where there's plenty of inexpensive water, a prewash is easy and fast enough, and can only help. Also, the supervisor menu has settings for Cottons prerinse and Minimum Iron prerinse. I tried Cottons prerinse once. As I recall, at the end it drained and then started the main wash fill without even the little 30 second spin that follows a prewash, so I decided to stick with prewash.

Oh, and the two prewashes on Kitchen Linens is not to be overlooked.

Cal122, I have a w3033, and I don't regret it. It is smaller than the Little Giant, and maybe not the fine tuning of temp options and extra specialized cycle adaptations, but it is a terrific little machine. If I had king sized bedding I would have got the Little Giant. Otherwise the options that the regular sized miele are all fine for me. The cost difference is significant too, on an already expensive machine.

@Enduring.... Agree, the price increase is substantial. Initially I didn't have room to add power outlets for the LiGis but now I'm being told it might be possible. And since I have all King size bedding, now I'm really thinking. LOL

Well, sounds like a LiGi might be in your future. Sounds like a great opportunity.

Larsi, Alex and others, did you dial back the temps on your LiGi's because you were noticing premature wear at the higher temps?

Great question Greene. We're there any other reasons for going lower on temps?

Inquiring minds want to know. LOL.

I've always reserved those extra hot washes for bedding and kitchen towels..except for the rare tough job.

I've always said those temps of 150 and above are not friendly with todays textiles.

I still wouldn't go so far as to wash bedding in 115/120 I want the d ust mites killed in the wash.

Greeny, Enduring and Mama....I noticed absolutely no wear or damage to fabrics, but when I switched to 115F from 120F and everything was still flawlessly clean, fresh and stain free, I figured why not try 105F?!

Washing daily clothes at 105, everything was still as fresh and clean as 115 and 120. Wash times are the same for Cottons Universal whether using 105 or 120. It gives a good solid 30 mins of tumble time, before draining and rinsing (I have my LiGi set to 3 rinses, but you can set from 2-5).

@Mama....dust mites cannot survive the HOT environment of the Miele Condenser dryer. It will obliterate dust mites!!! LOL

That's what I wonder about. Dust mites thrive on warm moist enviornments...in order to kill mites in the dryer the sheets must be dried completely than run another 15 minutes at 131 or above. I don't like doing it this way as it frys the sheets.

As a caregiver, I have organic soils to deal with, so prewash comes in handy. I'll often do a cold prewash with no detergent, to prevent setting the stains due to high temps. even though I have the LiGi set for a cold intake, I'm afraid it heats so quickly (to approx. 50c in 10 or so minutes) to work on cooler water stains. That and I want to flush the soil before the main wash.

As larsi mentioned, I'm washing at lower temps now that I know what temps I'm washing things in. Darks clothes i.e. Polos, t's, trousers are usually 35c. Jeans and sturdy cottons at 40c. Light polos, t's and khaki's at 40. Sturdy light cottons at 50c. Dark/light towels at 50c and sheets 50-60c. Whites get at least a 75c wash, I haven't had any wear issues at this temp, even elastic and microfibres. Delicate items are washed at 30c or below. As suburbanmd stated, I like the control of centigrade temp settings.

I'm finding that I'm using way less detergent than ever before, this is my 4th fl set, so I'm used to less soap. I think this is a big reason my clothes are showing less wear these days.