Miele C3 Complete Cat & Dog Vacuum Cleaner Review
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Today I have a review for you and it’s perfect for all of us pet owners. It’s the Miele C3 Complete Cat & Dog Vacuum Cleaner and let me just add that it also fits the bill for very ‘flooffy’ rabbits. You can see the culprit Bertie over there on the right in the photo. In fact, that was when he was quite young and he has if anything got even fluffier since that time. Bertie is a house rabbit and as such has the run of certain bunny-proofed rooms of our home where he is happy to shed as much fur as possible. Rabbits go through regular moults so his fur can be as difficult to remove from carpets and soft fabrics as that of a cat or dog.
Miele’s Reputation
Miele definitely has a reputation for quality and I was keen to see if the build of the machine matched up to what I had heard about them. With quality comes a higher price point but if the machine is built to last then it makes the investment worthwhile. I think if you want something that does the job, and does it well, you are going to have to pay a little more for it. The box for the vacuum cleaner is large, warm and richly coloured. Small pets will be scared of the box and large pets will growl at it ☺
The Design
Opening the box reveals a fairly plain vacuum cleaner with a red and black body. It has a traditional design but this is no bad thing as I have found the shape very easy to store in a fairly small corner of the cupboard. The handle feels like the light-sabre used by “Darth Sidious” and then there is a silver tube that connects to a choice of 4 heads. The main one that will be doing the heavy cleaning of the carpets; a head for fabrics; a brush head; and then a nozzle to get into all those hard to reach corners and which was excellent to clean our stairs. What I found also with the nozzle head is that it’s great for picking up all my long hair which seems to make its way onto the carpet. I run over any problem areas on the floor with this before I do a normal vacuum. (Just a tip for those with long hair who will recognise this problem!) The main head is also very easy to open up if you get any hair caught around it, so it’s accessible to clean.
Testing It Out
The main cleaning head is large, rectangular and grey but what is particularly good about it is that it is not heavy. It contains a turbo brush which is meant to lift lint and hair easily, which is what I was about to test. At this point all I had to do once the hose was assembled and head attached was plug to it in. The cord has a better mechanism for extension and retraction than anything I have experienced before. The mechanism is very smooth and this also makes retraction super-fast – so you may just want to hold on to the plug so that it doesn’t whizz away from you. Just make sure the metal prongs of the plug are facing down when it retracts. I do my Count Dooku move and place my hand on the curved, walking stick-like, handle of the Miele C3. Its curvature makes me want to swing it about and point it at Anakin and say “You’re a bad boy because you never had a pet rabbit.” At first, just for a millisecond when switching it on, nothing seems to be happening, however then there is a slow slooosh of sound and then you know it’s on. Then I understand about the quality. The Miele C3 is about 10x quieter than the sound I am used to with my previous vacuum cleaners. (This makes it perfect for Bertie as he can often be frightened by noise but this didn’t worry him at all) It anchors very slightly to the floor and you can adjust the suction on the body of the machine itself from min to max, depending on whether you are dusting, cleaning curtains or vacuuming the floor.
The Action
Holding the handle of it, the curved tube, is amazing. It’s no wonder Count Dooku kicked ass with it. You don’t get wrist strain lifting the whole thing up from the top to the head at the end. There’s no leverage or pull when you lift. It’s balanced. Then there’s something else you notice. The head on the floor doesn’t change distance between its surface and the surface of the carpet. There’s no shift in height when you push it forward or pull it back. It’s one height. Maybe if you measured it with, I don’t know, a laser measurement device (!), there would be a deviation. But the feeling is that it doesn’t change at all. This is a great asset because you don’t feel constant changes in force of movement and the sound of the motor doesn’t change either. Obviously I’m not an engineer but to me this indicates there is no extra strain on the motor – something I have had a problem with in previous cleaners. It also makes vacuuming really easy, the machine glides over the carpet with very little effort and this makes cleaning not only quick but also much less strain on your back and shoulders.
The Question of Fur
The main question you probably have right now is how well does this vacuum cleaner pick up fur? The answer is very, very well. The turbo brush ensures all the black fur from the carpet is removed and even little bits of hay and sawdust – which he seems to magically sprinkle behind him like fairy dust – are gone. The same with the sofa cushions and areas of the room where he likes to sleep as these particularly can get covered in fur. There is also an Active Air Clean Filter built into the machine which helps neutralize any pet odours. The bag in this vacuum cleaner is very strong, which means that even if something a little jagged got pulled into the cleaner, the bag itself shouldn’t rip. This is very important when you think about all that hair and dander inside. My two previous cleaners have both been cyclone models and I have to say that I got quite tired of seeing all the dirt in the body of the machine and it made it very difficult to empty, especially when you have a lot of fur and fluff flying around.
So,What’s The Rating?
As you can see from this review I was very pleased overall with this vacuum cleaner. The high points for me were the ease with which it glides over the floor, the quiet functioning of the machine and above all the ability to pick up easily all the rabbit hair which Bertie leaves behind. Therefore in our ‘Naughty Pet Rating’ I am more than happy to give it a 5!
** For full disclosure this vacuum cleaner was given to me by Miele for review but all opinions are fully my own **
