New Miele Little Giants
Em Rod
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
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littlegreeny
5 years agoShannon_WI
5 years agoRelated Discussions
Miele Professional (Little Giant)
Comments (39)We have had three sets of Miele's over the years since 87 when my daughter was born. We gave our c.1987 Mieles to our daughter when she was 20 and moved into her first condo. She's now in her new home (she built the thing!) and her Miele's moved with her into the new house. They've been thru a $700 factory service reconditioning ten years ago, and never had a service call on either of them over the years. These machines are now 31 years old and still working like all Miele's do. Amazingly well! We bought a pair of "Little Giants" when we were building our retirement home about five years back. I just didn't want to buy another pair before I left this world...and the way they run, it looks like my investment will eventually pay off on that score. While the 'standard' Miele's have been "Americanized" and dumbed down - like they no longer run on 220v current and the washer now doesn't heat about 158 degrees, etc., the Little Giant's have a built in heater for hot water and it will get to 195 degrees and be held there for the entire wash cycle. These things are fast, efficient, and work as well, if not better than the Miele's of 15-20 years ago before the "Americanizing" of the standard US Models. The dryer we have is electric and vented. Our electrician had to put in a couple of extra 220 vac circuits for the Washer and Dryer, and it was money well spent. They do not use a lot of power except when heating. But given the 1400 RPM spin speed, the clothes don't take long in the dryer anyway. Maybe 1520 minutes to completely dry a load of towels (and we don't buy skimpy towels in this household - they're Egyptian long staple cotton and made by some mill in the UK and last forever, even though they're about 70/each for a bath towel and 90-100 for a bath sheet. That same company that makes the towels holds a royal warrant and supplies the linens to Buckingham Palace and the Queen's other residences as well. Not cheap but we've still got some we bought in 1994 and they are still looking great - of course you NEVER use chlorine bleach in a Miele. With decent detergent (Persil Powder is our fav) and hot water and enough time, almost any household stain comes out and towels are left in good shape and blindingly white, too. The Little Giant pair we bought cost me about $7100 all together including delivery and set-up by Miele Factory Service and a visit from their Scottsdale Store Manager to teach us how to use them (totally unnecessary but she didn't know this was our 4th set of Miele's over the years, although none in the pro series till these.) And we did learn some finer points about the machines and the various programs already built in and how to create a custom program if we wished to do so. My spouse has dozens of silk shirts and they did get a custom program designed just for those garments. Perfect results every time - better than our cleaners could manage and a hell of a lot cheaper than paying the dry cleaner $15 dollars each to toss the shirts in with who-knows-what kind of dirty fluid, and then press them and leave them smelling of cleaning fluid under the plastic! Ugh! I'd much rather have them washed at home - cleaner, wear longer, and the colors look better too! The savings on our dry-cleaning and laundry bill has probably paid for the Little Giants several times over during the past few years. And our dry cleaner's prices keep spiraling upward. I took in some cotton sheets to have them done while I housekeeper was off on vacation. I got nailed $18.50 for each sheet (king) and $6.50 for each pillow case and (get this!) $10 per sham. Doing that one change of sheets cost me over $100 at the laundry. In fairness we own a Miele Ironing system and a Miele Rotary iron so doing the sheets at home is not difficult and our housekeeper says she actually enjoys ironing them with the Miele products! And it takes her less than an hour to do the sheets, pillowcases, shams, and duvet cover... thanks to the investment in the Miele ironing system and rotary iron. I didn't feel I could do them as well as she does, hence my braving the cleaners and getting ripped off royally in the process. Sorry. Bottom line for us is the Miele's are amazing. The residential machines were excellent. The Little Giants Pro Series are simply AMAZING! Pricey? Yes they are. But if you are fussy about laundry, do a lot of table linens, sheets and fine shirts, blouses, etc., that you probably send out - these things will more than repay the investment in savings, durability of towels and sheets, etc. My mom gave us some Porthault sheets for Christmas a few years ago. I didn't have any idea they were over $3500 for a hand-embroidered set of sheets, cases and shams. But we do them at home, in the Miele's, and have been since the day we got them. The look brand new today. No fading, no color bleed. and their condition is like they came out of the package last weekend, not three or four years ago. BTW: we use them often because they're our favorites although I cannot bring myself to order more at those prices. If it weren't for Mom's generosity I'd have never owned a set. <grin> If you're doubting or questioning the value and durability of the Little Giants - my advice is BUY THEM. You will have no regrets. We certainly don't!...See MoreChristmas & Bday arrived today...BIG MIELE NEWS. Little Giant BIG!!
Comments (94)I never wash my down beds - that clumps the feathers ! I do hang them out in the winter to fluff them up ! Like the German story for children : Frau Holle :) I guess it is a preference :) but Germans never wash their down comforters ( they usually cost about 300 dollars and upward , depending on the feather fill ) I just got rid of some my mom used to have about 45 years old !...See MoreMiele Little Giant Sluice Program
Comments (17)The manual for the UK version of the Little Giant cites the UK health standards met by the sluice programs. Those standards refer to "foul laundry", which seems descriptive but not overly so :-) Oh, and the UK manual says max load 4.0 kg for sluice, so 14.3 lbs. in the US manual is a typo. There are sewage grinder pumps for house plumbing, which grind up stuff straight from the toilet. Seems to me that the Little Giant drain pump doesn't have to work quite as hard, because the tumbling action breaks stuff up. If you washed foul laundry a lot, you might want the washer to discharge into a standpipe, not a utility sink like I have. The stand is rock-steady on the floor, and the machine is firmly attached to the stand. But the stand flexes a bit, enough so the upper part of the washer visibly rocks back and forth under some conditions. I can live with that, as long as it doesn't keep the machine from reaching full spin speed, or prolong the time needed to reach full spin. I think it is stepping up to full speed on final spin (unlike my W4840, I don't have a Kill-A-Watt meter to confirm it). The rinse spins aren't anywhere near full speed, but it doesn't seem to be having any difficulty, so I assume they're working as intended....See MoreNEW Miele Little Giant Dryer finally HERE! Yipeeee!
Comments (40)@Alex and Larsi, thanks for the great info! I hope you don't mind my hijacking this thread. Sadly, I need to stack. I agree, I hate to spend that kind of money on a dryer. Part of the issue is that my current Frigidaire pair is literally jammed in the laundry closet. And it's small for washer/dryers these days! Add that with my dryer being broken, I'm looking at options. Of course the most cost effective is to repair, which I will anyway (and forward to a family member) and jam it back in and hope it doesn't need any repairs until my back and shoulders heal, lol. Or replace now with a set that fits better. I'm on the fence. Is a condenser dryer shrink cotton polos on low hot, or just hot because it's a closed loop? What are average times for say jeans and towels? Or polos and chinos on low heat? The washer is my dream. As a massage therapist, I buy a washer based on how high the temp gets for getting massage oil/cream out of my sheets. Being able to process quickly will be great too. Thanks for the insight, I wish I could see them in action. I've only seen them unplugged. Are they quiet, like the residential ones?...See MoreH Seattle
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5 years agowhirlpool_trainee
5 years agoH Seattle
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5 years ago
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