New Miele vs older. Since no horsehair, question on ease removing brush, end of handle,bag remover.

[helpmedecide]

Love my 16 year old Miele, but wanting to treat myself to new one. Really wanting bigger bag, longer cord, also more comfortable handle because of arthritis. A power head would be nice too for what few rugs I have. But concerned about:

1) Different Handle. I don't know what others do to deal with it, but my only gripe about Miele is lack of horsehair brushes. Without them everything sticks to the bristles. So my resolve has been using my old rainbow dust brush (with adapter) which is fine, but for the floor my only resolve has been to constantly disconnect the tube/floor brush and vacuum the bristles clean. I do this several times throughout a vacuuming. I don't know how much of a problem that would be with the newer style handles, so want to know if anyone else has dealt with the constant removing of handle and ask if it is any more difficult? especially since there is power up the hosing/tubes which I do not have in older model. Also do those wired connection to the handle make it not a good idea to constantly rub the end of the handle up against the bristles?

2)I saw a review that pointed out that when you open the bag compartment the bag is automatically popped off. In my house there are always socks, cat toys, etc on the floor and when vacuuming I am frequently vacuuming up something that I will need to retrieve out of the bag, so I will be opening that up a lot to retrieve what I lost, but with this new auto pop feature I will have to try to remember to push the bags back on every time. Anyone know if there is a way to stop the auto "pop the bag off" trick?

My house is mostly hardwood with lots of cat x3 hair and dust balls. And just a few smaller rugs. I am wondering if I would be better off just keeping my old vacuum (and finally fixing auto cord rewind which broke about 10 years ago) or can I get the new one but still be able to continue my routine. (I rather, of course, have Miele make horse hair brushes, but since they haven’t yet, doubt it will happen!)

Thanks in advance for your input!

 

[eurekaprince]

To clean the floor brush, why not just use the end of the telescopic wand? Just take off the floor brush alone and pick up the wand end so you are standing upright with the wand end up and the handle still connected. Them just glide the bristles over the wand end to clean them. It does not make a difference what bristles are used, both synthetic and natural horsehair will tend to gather dust and dirt. I always vacuum the bristles on each attachment before storing them away.

 

[helpmedecide]

Forgot to mention.. old Miele vs the new bigger Miele C3

It is the C3 Miele model that I would like to know about.

And now another question. I see people in some reviews of newer Miele attachments talk about how they are not as good as the older horse hair attachments. When did Miele have horse hair attachments? My Miele bought in 2005 did not have horse hair.

 

[helpmedecide]

@eurekaprince

Thank you, I did forget I could switch to using the wand if that is my only option. I prefer removing at the handle though. When I remove the brush, I usually stop when I come across a clump, remove brush, vacuum up clump and also clean brush at that point in time. The problem, if I were to do it at the wand, is that the wand is metal and thin edged, which, if not careful enough, could cause me to scratch the floor.

As far as horse hair vs synthetic. Maybe horse hair isn't what it use to be lol? But I know my old Rainbow dusting brush never gets anything actually "stuck" in it. And when I used to use my rainbow brush for floors, I again never had to actually pull, with some effort, to remove hairs like I do now with the Miele floor brush.

(sorry for the delay, but the website makes me wait 30 minutes before I can add another comment)

 

[eurekaprince]

If you only have a few low pile area rugs, buy a Miele C3 package that has a turbo carpet nozzle. These air driven nozzles are fine for low pile area rugs, and you won’t have to deal with an electrified hose + handle + wand with the tighter electrical connections. Also, if you have a tendency to disconnect and reconnect an electrified hose handle, chances are you will eventually cause problems with the electrical contacts and the power nozzle won’t work.

The Miele C3 Alize is an excellent vacuum and it has been rated the best suction only canister vacuum in Consumer Reports tests for over 5 years. I bought a similar Canadian version several years ago and recommended the C3 to 3 friends who are completely satisfied with the cleaner. My only gripe: when it tries to ride over its own cord on bare floors, the little wheels often don’t make it over the cord…you can actually lift up the vacuum by the hose to get it over the cord though.

I think the Alize still comes with a SpotLight handle which I find so handy!!! It’s like having a high beam flashlight attached to the hose!!!

 

[helpmedecide]

Wow, great info. Thanks. I thought all the C3s had all the electrical connections throughout the hose/wand/handle? Is it not the same wiring in the Alize for the power to Spotlight handle as the wiring to the switches for the powered brush heads, or are the hose and wand different on the Alize?

 

[eurekaprince]

No…the Alize has no electrical wiring in the hose, nor handle, nor wand. The SpotLight is powered by 3 batteries that are very easy to replace. Most Miele canisters do not have a power nozzle so they have the standard lightweight hose and telescopic wand. And an air driven turbo carpet nozzle does not require an electrified hose and handle and wand - the revolving brush is powered by the air flow.

Regarding the bag: the disposable bag does not pop out when you open the cover to the bag compartment. Each dust bag DOES have a little spring-loaded plastic cover that closes the opening at the top of the bag to prevent any dust from being emitted when you open the canister lid.

As far as using other attachments with the Miele C3, you can get a tool adapter for about $10 at any vacuum specialty shop that will allow you to attach any standard size attachment to your Miele. I personally love the Kenmore horsehair dusting brush that was sold in the 1990’s and I use that on the tool adapter with my C3.

Good luck with your purchase!

 

[tseg]

Budget wasn't mentioned... I have a C3 and have bought both powered and unpowered hoses/handles/accessories. This gives me the ultimate flexibility. I love the parquet sweeper for my hardwood flooring... but do have to vacuum the dust off the bristles after ever room. Meanwhile, the SEB236 is a nice power nozzle. It has a low profile and lighting. Along with all the other accessories I can tackle pretty much all vacuum needs in my home with this setup. Mine was the last generation Alize (cream colored) that has LED lighting on the non-powered hose/handle so I could click on to see dark corners. The monstrosity of it all isn't ideal, but I've not come across better for my needs.

 

[tseg]

... By the way, I'm not sure I've replaced the batteries in the Alize LED lit handle in 4 years... if so, maybe once.