Laundry. It’s an easy word to understand. And it’s easy to do. Right? Or should that be it’s easy to do right?
Well, you’d be wrong! There are many misconceptions out there about doing the laundry right and there are even more hacks to making it easier and simpler.
Here’s a few. Using distilled white vinegar helps ensure a cleaner, odour free wash as well as a cleaner, microbe free washing machine. Apparently, it makes your wash brighter, good for tired old hemlines and tackles mildew. (As an aside, it’s also good for removing limescale in the bathroom).
Baking powder – that stuff you put in cakes and biscuits can boost the whitening and cleaning power of both chlorine and oxygen bleach in a mere cup.
Before washing – soaking items in super-hot water and a stripping solution of borax, washing soda, and heavy-duty enzyme-based laundry detergent because it will remove all residue from poorly laundered fabrics.
Salt – it helps remove stains, especially wine and even blood or rust by rubbing it on or making a salt liquid and rubbing it on. But be sure to wash the salt off or it will also stain your fabric.
We can’t testify to the effectiveness of any of the above, except perhaps salt – many a spilt glass of red – but that’s probably because Miele is our go-to appliance.
Temperature and detergent
There’s more – many people seem to think that if you want your wash to come out really white you have to use very hot water. While hot water at 60°C + can achieve better results for some fabrics than colder water at 30°C, it is likely to speed the fade of your best Levi’s and your favourite EFC or LFC top. Long term it will damage the integrity of the material too.
Another fallacy is that the more washing powder/liquid you use the better results you will achieve. Again, not necessarily true. Too much can leave an ugly / skin irritating residue and can also make your machine work too hard.
And here’s the thing, washing your clothes in water that’s too hot with too much product is also not economical.
According to Which? most people choose a 40°C wash and they make the case from their testing that dropping a machine’s temperature from 40°C to 20°C cuts running costs by a whopping 62% because of reduced energy need. The results might be very marginally poorer but can be counteracted by using a liquid detergent rather than a powder. Reducing a temperature from 40°C to 30°C reduces running costs by 38%, again a significant saving.
Quality takes time
So, the thing is about Miele, they have most, if not all, things covered – certainly all the above. They are true innovators. Miele recognises that quality takes time and they prioritise that over getting a product quickly to market.
Take the SmartBiz PWM 300 washing machine, for example. It boasts commercial-grade quality for 15,000 hours of operation, although given it’s Miele, it’s very possible that it’s closer to 15,000 days. It has a high load capacity of 7kg, short washing programmes, offers perfect fabric care through Miele’s patented honeycomb drum and is energy efficiency rated A+++.
The SmartBiz range is perfect if you require 1-3 cycles per day and for everyday soiling. And alongside the SmartBiz PWM heat-pump dryer you can benefit from fast and simple installation and easily stackable when space is at a premium. In fact, Miele have a number of safe-saving models.
Alternatively there’s the option of the Little Giants, available in two high-performance model ranges. Washing machines (and tumble dryers) from the Performance range excel in terms of even shorter cycles, thorough cleaning and superb economic efficiency,
Being environmentally aware is part of the fabric of Miele’s drive for greater innovation. Miele Professional laundry machines are designed for extremely low consumption values and maximum efficiency. The aim at the product design stage is to achieve perfect results by using recyclable materials and no more water, energy and cleaning agents than absolutely necessary.
So in the laundry room, you can go with the vinegar, baking soda and salt if you wish, but you might want to keep it in the kitchen and speak to us today about marvellous Miele’s marvellous machines.
