Miele 12034070 Blizzard CX1 Cat & Dog Bagless Cylinder Vacuum Cleaner with Turbo Brush for Pet Hair, EcoTeQ Floorhead, HEPA Lifetime Filter, Large Operating Radius, Mango Red

Product Information

No air relief valve - yes that old simple hole in the handle that reduces suction - which is fantastic on carpet but its a bicep workout moving the head around - giving my wife the excuse she needs to ensure the vacuuming is on my to-do list.... Alternatively, you could opt for Miele's other bagless cylinder vacuum cleaner range, the Miele Blizzard, which features twice as much capacity, and an extra metre of cable length and has a much more sensible on-body storage system for the attachments. The downside is that it weighs 2.9kg more than the Boost CX1 (8.7kg vs 5.8kg). Now that may sound like a weird phrase, and it is, but it’s everything you want in a vacuum cleaner right? The only thing you have to do is make sure you clean out the filter every 6 months. And if you’re in a house with long hair then you’ll need to clean out the brush that will get wrapped with hair. But a small price to pay for an appliance that could last you 20 years.

Where it doesn’t match the CX1 is there’s no HEPA filter, so this isn’t a good choice for anyone with allergies. If you don’t suffer you likely won’t notice the difference but if you tend to sneeze from dust you’ll want to go with the CX1 above. Henry Hoovers are similar in price to the basic C1 model but if you’re wanting a better vacuum it’s going to cost more for a Miele. This means you’ll find that new Miele vacuums are more powerful in terms of suction than older models despite the lower power with the vortex suction system. It’s also almost 9kg which is heavy for a cylinder vacuum cleaner so lifting it upstairs could be more difficult, if you’re fit and healthy you’ll be fine, however. All of the tools, the flexible hose and the steel telescopic tubes are well designed and built to last. In particular, the tubes are robust, if not light, and extend with ease thanks to a large collar that releases the clip mechanism. We found that half-extended was good for floor cleaning, with the extra length useful for high-up cobweb busting.

How do I choose the correct dustbag and filter for my Miele vacuum cleaner?

The HEPA filter has been designed to remove even the finest dust particles and airborne allergens – the perfect remedy for anyone with dust allergies. The Active AirClean filter features active charcoal for neutralising unpleasant odours in the air – ideal for pet owners or smokers. Never experience the awkwardness of visitors noticing the unwanted smells you may have grown accustomed to. Shark are muscling into Dyson for that top spot in the vacuum world so I thought it’s worth comparing them. The CX1’s curved handle allows the hose to exit underneath and rotate. Both features are designed to reduce wrist strain. It’s fitted with a good-sized, pull-down dusting brush. It’s a neat design, but the integration into the handle does mean the brush can’t be used with the tubes for long-distance dusting. For that you’ll need to use either the crevice tool or the small upholstery brush, both of which are stored on the rear end of the cleaner’s body. Hard to tell when dust container is full - the clear case fills with dust in the first seconds so you cant tell how full it is until its too late and you hear the motor struggling. Great longevity. What happened to the old simple light?

I have had this vacuum cleaner for a couple of years, and I am disappointed in it, wish I hadn't bought it and I will never buy another Miele product ever. I can see the idea of a robot vacuum cleaner being a good one, but your money is better spent on a better quality vacuum cleaner in my opinion. Once again, the long tubes and lengthy handle come to the rescue. You can reach a fair way up a flight of stairs with the cleaner itself safely at the bottom. The 6.5m cable was just long enough to get the cleaner to the base of our stairs, but another metre or two here would have added greater overall range and allowed us to heft the CX1 up the stairs, cleaning as we went. The CX1 Cat & Dog certainly lives up to its name and is a superb performer for pet-centric homes. Perhaps in an ideal world we’d have liked a second, smaller air-powered turbo brush tool for pet beds and the sofa – Miele’s own Turbo mini tool, for example – but that’s a minor omission against otherwise excellent cleaning results for homes with pets.Plastic not so fantastic - feels cheap and like bits are going to snap off with dust container removal and brush nozzle fitted to handle. The only place it doesn’t hold up is on furniture, it does an OK job and has a crevice tool to get into it but if you want to clean the furniture you’ll want the cat & dog powerline model. The Cat & Dog head pushes that cleaning performance up another notch, and not just for pet detritus. The beating action of the brush bar agitates dust and dirt free from the carpet pile, cleaning carpets deeper and more efficiently than is possible with the standard EcoTeq head.

With the bin removed you can unclip and pull out the separate filter canister from the cleaner. Inside is an innovative material filter made by Gore. It offers Allergy Foundation-approved HEPA-level filtration and features a self-cleaning system. Automatically following a few cleans, or manually using the Comfort Clean button on the cleaner, small prongs rotate inside the filter to dislodge dust into its canister. You simply open it up and tip out the dust every few cleaning sessions. Just like the C1X, there are a couple of different models of the C3, the cat and dog and the Total Suction Allergy.

How do I know when to change Miele filters and bags?

Emptying the enormous bin is as simple as holding it over you dustbin and releasing the large flap. The internal layout of the cyclone resists debris becoming caught up around the main circular filter gauze, so it empties cleanly all of the time.