Hints & Tips

Coloured clothes are now the majority of anyone's wardrobe and it is important that they stay as bright as the day they were purchased, allowing you to feel and look good every time you wear them. Use the following hints and tips to ensure your whites stay white and don’t turn grey.

• Detergent - make sure when washing coloured clothes that you use a 'colour' detergent. These do not contain bleach or brighteners, which are responsible for that faded look. You can purchase colour detergent in powder, liquid or tablet form according to which you prefer. To help you track it down on the shelves of the supermarket it normally comes in purple coloured packaging.
• Wash inside out - if all coloured garments are turned inside out it will protect the fibres and prevent a worn out faded appearance.
• Wash no hotter than the label - often dyes that have been used in fabric have been set at low temperatures and if the garment is washed above this they can often bleed from the fibres giving a washed out faded look.
• Choose which colours you mix in a wash load carefully - when creating a wash load put dark colours together, bright colours together and light colours together.
• Choose the Dark Garment programme - using this programme for your black and navy garments will prolong the colour. The programme is specially designed to prevent colours fading over time.

Have you thought about Miele Ultra Colour Liquid?

Keeping white clothes bright and fresh looking can be a bit of a chore with lots of additional soaking in special brightening agents. If you start off laundering the garment correctly the whiteness of the garment should stay fresh - even the white school socks. Use the following hints and tips to ensure your whites stay white and don’t turn grey.

• Detergent - make sure when washing white clothes that you use detergent that contains bleach and brightening agents. This can only be found in powder and tablet form, as liquid detergent does not contain any bleach. To help you track it down on the shelves of the supermarket it normally comes in green coloured packaging.
• Wash only your whites together - try not to mix any coloured garments into the load as these can often bleed their colours and taint the white fabric.
• Washing hot enough - cotton and polycotton fabrics if washed on a cool temperature regularly will begin to look dull. The hotter the wash the better the whiteness of the garment is maintained, but be careful not to go over the care labels temperature as this can cause shrinkage and maybe greying.

Have you thought about Miele Ultra White Powder?

How you look and what you wear is often important, and it can make a difference to your confidence levels when your outfit looks and feels good. Use the following hints and tips to ensure your clothes stay smooth and professional all day long.

• Use the correct load size - to prevent fabric from coming out of the washing machine with excess creasing ensure that you do not overload the programmes recommended capacity. These can be found inside your instruction book.
• Use the right programme - all programmes have been specially designed to care for your fabric, so ensure that the garments being washed are in the right programme. A delicate garment in a cotton or minimum iron programme will result in a creased finish.
• Use fabric conditioner or Easy Iron conditioners - these help keep the fabric from creasing and also help the iron glide of the surface more effectively, making ironing less of a chore.
• Adding more water - for a particular garment, which tends to crease in the wash adding additional water during the wash will help cushion and protect the fibres preventing them from creasing. This can be achieved by selecting the Water Plus option on all machines.
• Use the right spin speed - each programme has been designed with the right optimum spin speed. For certain garments, which have a tendency to crease reducing the spin speed can help.

Have you thought about Miele Fabric Conditioner?

Ensuring your clothes do not aggravate an allergy is really important to all sufferers. Reactions to an allergy can be caused by dust mites, pollen and chemicals used in the process laundering your clothes. Use the following hints and tips to ensure your clothes stay free from allergens that found in the process of washing your clothes:

• Detergents - these can be the cause of the allergy and it may take a while to find one that you do not react to. The two most common ingredients in detergent, which cause a reaction, are the enzymes in Biological detergent and the perfumes. To establish which one, try switching to a Non Biological detergent which does not contain enzymes, if this does not help then change the brand, as it may be the perfume that is causing the reaction. Fabric Conditioner can also cause a reaction - look for the sensitive versions.
• Additional Water and rinses - to be confident that all detergent has been removed from the fabric additional rinses water levels can be programmed into all Miele machines.

Miele machines are renown for its build quality and performance. Use the following hints and tips to ensure your machine is maintained to prevent any future problems:

• Use quality detergents - these ensure that your machine receives the maximum care. Branded detergents are the best to use as the ingredients, which not only care for your garments but also for the mechanical parts of the machine. It is a miss conception by consumers that branded companies supply the detergent for Supermarket brands this is not the case.
• Correctly dose detergents - under dosing on detergent can cause a build up of limescale inside, this can be harmful to areas in the machine. Limescale builds up over time as not enough water softener agents are being used through the quantity of detergent. The quantity needed can be found on all detergent packets. The quantity is based on the hardness of the water and the type of soilage. If the right quantity of detergent is used you will not need to use additional water softeners like Calgon. This can be added to your machine if your water is extremely hard.
• Low temperature washing - this is good for saving energy but can cause long-term damage to the machine. When washing constantly at low temperatures the machine can build up with body oils and dead skin cells, which in time can damage the rubber parts of a washing machine. The build up of body oils etc. can be observed by a stale smell in the machine or laundry and black mould around the door seal. A maintenance wash can keep your machine fresh and free of such build up by washing regularly at Cotton 95°C. Put a few dishcloths in the load to prevent over foaming.
• Washing machine cleaners - you can now buy purpose cleaners for washing machines, which will clean out any limescale, grease and odours inside your washing machine and can be used as often as needed.
• Cleaning the filter - each washing machine has a filter, which protects the drain pump. This should be checked every 3-4 months for any foreign particles such as coins and buttons. Any fluff or tissues will just drain away through the pump.

Have you thought about Miele Washing Machines Descaler?

Clothes today have become quite a statement and keeping them looking good is important to individuals. More and more people are purchasing designer wear, which often needs special care. Use the following hints and tips to ensure your clothes keep looking fresh and stylish.

• Use the garments care label - all clothes manufacturers indicate clearly on the garment label the instructions to correctly wash the fabric. If this is followed correctly the garment should have maximum life expectancy. If the garment is washed wrongly the fabric will be affected in many ways, e.g. colour loss, bobbling effect, shrinkage and stretching. All Miele instruction books have a glossary of what care labels symbols mean to ensure that garments are washed in the correct programme with the correct detergent.
• Remove laundry promptly - leaving laundry in the machine for long periods of time will cause excess creasing which can affect the life and appearance of the garment. To keep you garments looking good remove from the machine on the same day it was washed.
• Use correct detergents on wool and silks - these fabrics are protein based and if washed in a Biological detergent the enzymes, which would normally remove protein based stains, will actually eat the fabric. If used the garment would literally fall to bits in time. For Wool and Silk garments use a Non Biological detergent to ensure full care.
• Use correct detergents for colours and whites - to prolong the colours in garments ensure that Colour detergent is used, as this does not contain bleach or fluorescents, which gives clothes a faded look. For white clothes ensure you do not use Colour detergents are the white fabric needs the bleach and fluorescents to keep bright.
• Wash inside out - washing garments in side out will protect the correct side of all your clothes. Any wear and tear that could build up during the washing process will only show on the inside, which no one will see.

Have you thought about Miele Delicates Detergent?

Walking down the aisle for washing detergent in a supermarket can be a confusing experience, as there is so much choice today. Use the following hints and tips to unravel the detergents that are required for your washing:

• Essential detergents you need - in every home there is an array of fabrics and garments to be laundered, the essential three detergents that are generally needed are: Biological (powder or tablets) for whites, Non Biological (liquid only) for woollens and silks and colour (powder, tablets or liquid) detergents for all coloured clothes.
• Fabric Conditioners or Fabric Enhancers - Fabric Conditioners make you clothes soft and easy the elbow grease needed for ironing. However Fabric Conditioners can prevent the towels in the home absorbing moisture, making it difficult to dry oneself. Fabric Enhancers can be recognised by the ‘iron easy’ label on the bottle - these do.

Have you thought about Miele Ultra White Powder?