Solved
Miele

Extra wash cycle programmes

CECeltictaj
Asked over 19 years ago 2,427 views
0

A while ago I posted that I was having problems with my 11 year old MieleW980 washing machine. While waiting for the lovely man from Miele who sorted everything outfor me I decided to re read the instruction manual. I have discovered that pressing several buttons at once I can access programme features additional to the ones shown on the no nonsense dial. I have now programmed the machine to start by flushing both of the draws in the powder tray. This has been very useful as we live in an extremely hard hardwater area. I now put some powder and a small amount of soda in the prewash tray (which flushes first) and thenput the rest of the powder and a limescale prevention tablet in the second compartment, which flushes a fraction of a second later. The results have meant a much cleaner detergent tray.

I have to say that loathe to admit it , it proves "him indoors" right; he always says that one of the main rules in life is RTFM (as in Read the F* Manual). So I'm feeling bit sheepish for possibly not having RTFM to its entirety.

On reflection it would have been good if the existence of additional progs was pointed out when choosing the machine.

Solution Summary

AI-generated from this discussion

This thread was marked as solved. Here's a summary of the problem and the fix, generated from the discussion below.

Miele W980 extra wash programme features found in manual

The problem
Owner of an 11-year-old Miele W980 washing machine discovered additional programme features not shown on the main dial and had not previously been using them.
Likely cause
No appliance fault was evidenced in this thread. The issue discussed was lack of awareness of hidden user-selectable programme options described in the instruction manual.
What fixed it
The machine was reprogrammed using the additional button-press options from the manual so it flushed both detergent drawer compartments at the start of the wash. This improved detergent tray cleanliness in a very hard water area. No repair was described.
Checks to try
  • Instruction manual re-read
  • Additional programme features accessed by pressing several buttons at once
  • Machine programmed to flush both detergent drawer compartments
Cause identifiedGenerated 12 Aug 2026 · AI summaries can make mistakes — read the full thread below.
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1 Answer

Accepted Answer
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WH
WhitegoodshelpVerified Engineer
Answered over 19 years ago

I suppose people can be categorised into 3 distinct types. Those that never read instruction manuals, those that browse them, and those that mash a cup of tea, sit down, and read them from cover to cover. I'm in the latter category (not a boast) and often even relish reading the instruction book <fileStore.core_Emoticons>/emoticons/default_smile.png There's hardly a product where you can't learn something about how to look after it or how to use an obscure but useful feature - even with something you'd think you just plug it and get on with it (like a fridge) has important and useful information inside its instruction book.

Sometimes to be fair it's quite a job, and I often leave a big instruction manual lying around for several days and just read it a bit at a time but it's definitely worth making the effort.

Ah, the sales person most probably didn't read the instruction book either <fileStore.core_Emoticons>/emoticons/default_wink.png

( Related: Washing machine instruction books and user manuals )

Whitegoods Help — appliance repair expert and forum host.

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