I live in Germany and I’ve used Lenor the last 4 years. It’s ok, but I miss Tide. And here I find in this thread i could have been using Ariel all along! (just as I’m getting ready to move back to the US in a couple months) Learn something new every day!

Luna, thank you! That was super helpful [also I promise to never use homemade detergent again]. Lenor is downy though? I thought downy was just fabric softener [which I have never used and don't understand] but the store near me has a lot of varieties of the brand for detergent [dark,color, baby, some gold color one] so would those be additives like a fabric softener and not a true detergent? Asking as they are not in english. Also Ariel being tide, do you know what the ariel packaging means if it has "bio" or a big E on it, is that enzyme washing? [also not in english and I am new to all of this].

If you tell us what it says on the label, or if you post pictures, then we can probably translate for you

Cool, next time I'm over there I'll makes some notes and try to figure out how to put pictures here [new to the platform, joined just for this quandary]. There are just so many choices. I didn't understand that laundry was so complicated, and weirdly fun...

Ariel and Tide are both P&G brands. However, being European, Ariel has probably more enzymes and, of course, it comes in a regular (with oxygen bleach) and a color version (no bleach, no brighteners but color transfer inhibitors).

If you see Ariel BIO than that is probably British. The UK is like the only country selling detergent without enzymes "non-bio" because they link enzymes to skin allergies. Other contries don't do that (besides special detergents for wool and such).

Lenor is another Procter product. It's a good fabric softener but I don't like the heavy use of scent pearls. If you run your hands over an item rinsed in Lenor (or even dare to scratch yourself through the garment) these pearls release a super concentrated scent that lingers on one's hands even after washing - I find. Like Downy, there are a ton of different scents to choose from.

Some countries, Germany for sure, also have Lenor detergent (powder, liquid and pods) and it... to put it mildly... sh!t. Our consumer magazine gave it 0 points because it cleaned so, so poorly.

Thank you that was very informative. I'll steer clear of the lenor products, lingering scent sounds like a nightmare.

my aunt has a Miele (don't know which model) and she swears by Persil powder. I tried it in my LG front loader and didn't see much difference over the Kirkland Signature (Costco) powder I usually use, and the latter is cheaper. Both work very well.

Following. And congrats on the W1! Sounds like quite an upgrade from your previous setup. You’re off to a great start, and I’ll look forward to hearing what you like.

I‘ve had my W1 about 6 months and I love it more every day! I’ve only used the Twindos so far, and an occasional load with LeBlanc Linen Wash or Ecover for woolens.

Happy laundering :-)

Yes! Massive upgrade, I had to sneak it in when my landlord was away, but no regrets. I have the model just under twindos, the 060 with the 1600rpm and steam. I've had bosch axxis machines in my upstate place and the W1 is just acres above in performance. Since I first posted the Outdoor mielecare detergent came and I used it with the outdoor program on a musty tent and it came out like new [just need to rewaterproof it now]. Also the extrawhite cycle with the miele ultrawhite and a prewash with sodium percarbonate is getting my vintage irish linen bedding dazzlingly white [even though some were so yellowed I needed to run them through 2-3x]. I used to avoid using the bedding since it was such a pain to maintain and now I am having so much fun restoring it! I'll add the LeBlanc Linen wash to my list of detergents to check out, thanks!

I am absolutely loving the Target brand Ever Spring! It has the same amount of enzymes as the #1 cartridge for the TwinDose and is not quite as expensive. I do not know about the scent ans I am using the unscented version.

Luna- have you had any over sudsing problems with PurClean like some people have reported? Also, have you noticed any fading on darks/blacks with your setup?

Luna, I am not understanding some comments you made above on June 7 and I hope you won't mind clarifying them for me. When you mentioned Blueing -- what detergents are you talking about? I don't want blueing instead of real clean either, but I don't know which detergents you are talking about. Are you saying that Tide PurClean works as well as any other Tide product or Persil or Meile? I understand you like Tide products but is there another product you would use besides Persil and Meile if they were the same price as Tide?

I'm sorry that I need more clarification. Thank you.

German Persil isn’t widely available in the US to my knowledge. It is not the same as the Persil available in mainstream USA supermarkets, unless something has recently changed.

When I got my Miele washer, I did like you and printed off the great guide and bought a bunch of recommended detergents. That was 8 years ago and I still use the same detergents for the most part. German Persil Megaperls Universal (for whites) and Colors, Perwoll for woolens, Perwoll Renew for darks/blacks, Ariel from Mexico for kids brights/colors (not necessary since I have Persil but I did like it. Haven’t replaced in a while), Miele ultra white (using now bc Persil wasn’t available on amazon when I needed it. Like it), LeBlanc linen wash (liked it but not enough to get a new bottle), Tide original for when I use a cycle that requires a liquid detergent, Tide Ultra with stain fighter for rags and other really stained clothes, Oxiclean in the prewash sometimes.

The Persil widely available is not the German version.

I stick with Miele detergents in my W4842. I use a few specialty detergents like The Laundress but all my regular laundry gets Miele powders and the color liquid.

@

Pat z5/6 SEMich

Luna, I am not understanding some comments you made above on June 7 and I hope you won't mind clarifying them for me. When you mentioned Blueing -- what detergents are you talking about? I don't want blueing instead of real clean either, but I don't know which detergents you are talking about. Are you saying that Tide PurClean works as well as any other Tide product or Persil or Meile? I understand you like Tide products but is there another product you would use besides Persil and Meile if they were the same price as Tide?

I'm sorry that I need more clarification. Thank you.

Blueing is actually sold in a bottle as blueing. You would have to intentionally use it.

As a family, we usually stick to the Tide family of products. Have tried most of them, but have had the best luck with Tide products. Always seem to have coupons and specials if you watch so price is almost always not an issue. I like Miele's detergents, but we have 14 people in our family and we do a LOT more laundry than most so they are usually too expensive. We are sensitive to price, but also need clothes clean. This means we tend to stick to what works well and that is usually Tide products.

As for Persil and many other detergents, their formula is usually slightly adjust for the local water quality. The overall performance is usually very similar within a product line.

Tide PurClean IS a sudsy detergent. We have found the correct dosage for our water quality. With an extra rinse suds have not been a problem.

Re detergents and Miele. I would just be careful that you are not using detergents that will ovesuds. Persil is very sudsy. Those loads will register on the Miele chip and you don't want to go there.

I use Le Blanc sparingly and only for sheets. Incomparable, especially on the linen sheets.

Sounds strange as I was using Grab Green pods for a while but noticed that my towels didn't smell as I would like. Switched to Tide Pods and they are great.

Perwolls are wonderful detergents but again, very sudsy. The delicate has the best fragrance and the black wash does prevent fading. But again, very sudsy.

Have a Bosch compact pair now and I get fine results. But Mieles are pluperfect, as you are learning.

Hi! I hadn't check in here for awhile and there are so many new comments and wanted to thank you all!

1. A few of you noted that German persil is not widely available in the US. I live in a very eastern European neighborhood in north Brooklyn and a fair amount of mom and pops carry European imports. Oddly they are all inexplicably cheap and even carry most of my favorite chocolates from the UK for 60% less than other places [Lion Bar FTW]. It's a unique experience and also great for odd jams and biscuits!

After a quick look [long, actually, because it's not in english] at the box, and a google, the Henkel Polska seems to be formulated differently than the german, but based on my use so far it is working very well. I will try to get my hands on some of the actual german, do a comparison, and come back here with my findings.

2. I promise to not use blueing again. I think I was only doing it since my grandma said that's how things were done? I now know she was totally wrong on that [and other things, like putting hot dogs and rice in casseroles. Together. ].

3. Individual replies:

@Donna-37:Awesome I will look to find the Target Ever spring, sounds like a good twindos dupe. I'm not near bigbox often, but when I next am I will pick some up.

@theclose : You mentioned using tide liquid for when a load would require liquid detergent. When would that be? I read through a lot of the threads in this forum and it seemed like powder was mostly preferable. Is it a certain kind of stain that requires liquid?

@livebetter :Do you like the Miele color powder? I have started with the persil, am loving the Miele Ultra white, but hesitant to buy another variety until I use up the persil box I have [which on 1-2 Tbsps per load might be 2030.

@rococogurl : All Hail the Queen! Honestly your cheat sheet is amazing! I do have the leblanc on my list-to-buy, however my husband was super wary after we installed the machine and then I bought a vast number of detergents and extra phosphate stuff for our miele dishwasher based on reading old houzz forums, so I refrained for now.

I've been very careful about sudsing, when something new [but vintage linen] is purchased I run it with no detergent, prewash with sodium percarbonate, and extra rinse. It's insane when I see how much sud is in the washer when I am washing these items with no detergent. For my first few loads of normal clothing I followed your sheet, but did the measurements by half. I've tweaked with cycles and have come up with what works for our water and only the smallest trail of bubbles ends up on the bottom slope of the door glass. The Polska [not german as I OP'd, but Polish] Persil powder has almost no sud, I have not yet experimented with the Polska persil gels, however the perwoll sport worked well for my workout stuff and didn't rash me [sensitive skin] and didn't sud at all [maybe because sweat?].

I have Bosch compacts at my upstate place and for my rental property. When I wrote my initial ask here I didn't really understand them and was only using cold water and like half a cup of budget liquid detergent [it now sounds insane to me that I was doing that]. I am now using them correctly [using your cheat sheet for them too], getting exceptionally better results, and trying to figure out how to instruct my longterm tenants without sounding insane about fabric softener sheets being outlawed and them using too much soap. I now think the miele and the bosch are equal in result, the miele is just more plug and play and the cost made me actually research how to use it, vs. the bosch I just installed and walked away. Bosch are great machines; It's my own fault for not learning how to use them correctly.

@Rebecca King - You are clearly crushing it. Keep us posted on your discoveries!

You go! You’ve done way more experimentation than I ever did. I do find I still overdose 8 years later (sudsing sometimes occurs). Need to be better about that.

As for liquid, in the Miele manual, it says that certain load types should use liquid detergents (denim and maybe others?). I also use liquid if I have to do an Express cycle and then with delicate and wools since I use Perwoll (normally with new clothes). Not sure it’s a necessity.