I have a weird obsession with how heavy washing machines are. Most people look at the energy star rating or the color, but I look at the shipping weight. My Miele W1 weighs about 215 pounds. For context, that’s more than a full-grown mountain lion. When I moved into my place in 2020—back when the world was ending and everyone was baking sourdough—I had to help two delivery guys hoist this thing up a narrow flight of stairs. I still have a faint scar on my left knuckle from where the chassis pinched me against a doorframe. It felt like moving a bank vault.
But that’s the thing. It feels like a vault because it’s built like one. Most modern washers are plastic tubs held together by hope and planned obsolescence. Miele is the only brand left that uses cast iron counterweights instead of concrete. Concrete cracks over ten years; cast iron doesn’t care. If you’re looking for the ‘best’ one, you’re usually choosing between different levels of how much the machine wants to control your life.
The TwinDos thing is a total trap (that I love)
If you look at the high-end Miele models, like the WXI860, they all push this feature called TwinDos. It’s basically two giant cartridges of proprietary detergent that the machine dispenses itself. It’s a subscription model for your laundry. I hated the idea at first. I really did. I actually told my brother-in-law it was a scam for people who are too lazy to pour liquid into a cup. I might be wrong about this—actually, I’m definitely being a hypocrite here—but I use it every single day now.
The machine calculates exactly how much soap to use based on the weight of the load. I tracked it for six months. I used to go through a bottle of Tide every five weeks. With TwinDos, the Phase 1 and Phase 2 containers lasted me nearly five months of heavy use (I have two dogs and a penchant for white linens). It’s annoying that you have to buy their specific jugs, but the clothes actually come out clean without that weird soapy residue that makes your skin itch. It’s expensive, though. About $50 for a set of refills. That’s the price of convenience, I guess.
The interface isn’t intuitive; it’s just German. You don’t learn it, you submit to it.
The specific model I’d actually buy
If you want the best washing machine Miele makes without descending into madness, get the Miele W1 WXI860. It’s the sweet spot. You get the 1,600 RPM spin speed, which is the real secret sauce. Most machines top out at 1,200. That extra 400 RPM means your towels come out feeling almost dry to the touch, which saves you an hour in the dryer.
What I mean is—actually, let me put it differently. If you buy the entry-level WCA030 (the W1 Classic), you’re still getting the build quality, but you lose the SoftSteam feature. SoftSteam is the only reason I don’t have to iron my work shirts anymore. I’m a lazy person by nature, and that 20-minute steam finish at the end of the cycle is the only thing standing between me and looking like a crumpled paper bag at meetings.
- WXI860: The one for people who want the best tech but don’t need a touch screen.
- WXR860: The one for people who have too much money and want a fancy screen that will definitely break in eight years.
- WCA030: The budget pick for people who just want a machine that lasts 20 years and don’t care about bells and whistles.
I genuinely believe that anyone who buys the top-of-the-line model with the full color touch screen is a sucker. You’re putting a tablet on a vibrating box of water. That is a recipe for a $900 repair bill in 2029. Stick to the physical buttons or the basic touch sensors.
Why I refuse to look at Bosch anymore
I know people will disagree with this, and the ‘appliance nerds’ on Reddit will come for my throat, but I think Bosch has lost the plot. I used to recommend the 800 Series to everyone. Then I stayed at an Airbnb with a brand new one last summer. The door felt flimsy. The cycle took three hours for a load of whites. Three hours! I could have driven to a creek and washed them by hand in that time.
Miele is the only one still doing the 20-year life expectancy test. They literally run these things for 10,000 hours in a lab in Gütersloh. I once tried to wash a heavy 5×7 Ruggable rug in my W1—something the manual probably explicitly says not to do. The machine started to thumping so loud I thought it was going to come through the floorboards. I felt like an idiot. I was sure I’d snapped the suspension. But the internal sensors caught the imbalance, stopped the spin, redistributed the weight, and just… finished the job. Any other machine would have shredded its own belt. Total tank.
I also have a personal, probably irrational, hatred for Samsung washers. They’re basically just oversized smartphones that happen to hold water. If you buy a Samsung over a Miele because it has ‘Wi-Fi connectivity,’ we can’t be friends. I don’t need my washer to tweet me when my socks are done. I need it to not leak on my hardwood floors.
Maintenance is a lie (mostly)
They tell you to run a ‘Clean Machine’ cycle once a month. I do it maybe once every four months when the little light starts mocking me. But here is my one hot take: the Miele ‘IntenseClean’ powder is actually worth the $25. I tried using white vinegar and baking soda like all the ‘crunchy’ blogs suggest, and my machine ended up smelling like a salad that had been left in the sun. One run with the official stuff and it smelled like… nothing. Which is exactly what a washing machine should smell like.
Is it worth the $1,500 to $2,000? It depends on how you value your time. I haven’t called a repairman in four years. My old Maytag needed a new pump every eighteen months like clockwork. Over a decade, the Miele is actually the cheaper machine. It’s just that initial hit to the bank account that makes you want to vomit.
I still wonder if I should have just bought the base model and saved the $600 I spent on the TwinDos features. Sometimes I feel like I’m just paying for the ‘clunk’ of the door. That sound is satisfying, though. It sounds like a Mercedes from the 80s.
Anyway, get the WXI860. Don’t get the one with the screen. And for the love of god, hire someone to help you move it.
