Direct Enamel Front And Sides

[dundee]

What are direct enamel front and sides? What benefit do they offer?

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

Instead of just painting the casing like most others, which would result in just a thin film of protection, easily scratched and chipped (and with washing machines this can start rusting) the Miele casing has a coating of enamel.

"Miele appliances have an enamel coating which is directly applied as a powder, and will not chip, rust or lose its colour in normal use."

Since writing this reply I've carried out my own Miele coin test. Testing the Miele direct enamel coating (The video is about 4 meg but only takes me 10 seconds to download on my cable connection. It will take a few minutes on a 56K modem though)

NOTE: Some Miele washing machines now only have the direct enamel coating on the front, whereas the more expensive models have it on front and sides. If under a worktop, you can argue it's unecessary on the sides.

[dundee]

Thanks - I think I will be taking the plunge with the w4144.

Our current machine is currently plumbed in. How easy is it to remove the old one and fit the new one?

[Whitegoodshelp (Andy)]

It should be quite easy. A question of turning off the taps, unscrewing the hoses and removing the drain hose from the plumbing. Full easy instructions come with the washing machine to remove the transit bars, and new fill hoses come with it. Anyone remotely handy can do it.