This Miele vacuum is for all us cat fans
who keep allergists in business and insist on keeping their cats.
So, while it isn't the cat hair to which we are allergic (it's the
dander), but vacuuming up all that hair (spoken as a cat owner)
which seems to get everywhere, is a major priority. So when Miele
announced the "Red
Star - with Hepa", it had our name written all over it.
Vacuum advantages
We liked the neat but effective powerhead on the Miele Red Star
vacuum. There was no task that it did not tackle with superlative
efficiency. There were no visible lint particulates left on dark
colored carpets and we could literally hear the lightweight powerhead
suck up the dirt from our carpets. The onboard tools are top class.
We found we could change the tools on the fly and vacuum all those
hard to reach places-picture rails, baseboards, pleated lampshades,
upholstery and all sorts of nooks and crannies. We did find we needed
to use the optional mini turbobrush for removing layers of cat hair
from dark velvet cushions since the regular upholstery attachment
was not up to the task. The dusting brush is soft enough even for
your most delicate antique furniture. The Miele vacuum tools are
perfect for serious dirt removal in your car after along hard winter.
Other neat features include wank parking when the vacuum is not
in use, and a vacuum bag which automatically seals itself when
you change it (no dust blowing back in your face) and a post hepa
sealed motor which has consistently been rated as one of the most
effective in the vacuum industry.
Vacuum disadvantages
Now, compared to the Miele White Star, our other favorite Miele
allergy vacuum, this model is a little more complex to use as you
have to disassemble the powerhead in order to attach the hand tools.
The process is not complex or time consuming, but it is just not
so simple as the Medivac. We had to peer under a bright light to
reassemble the powerhead after using the tools, since the socket
is placed on a slant. Our other gripes were that Miele vacuums do
not have one of those handy dirt alert lights such a used in the
Eureka or Panasonic uprights. In our house, the vacuum bags seem
to need to be changed every two weeks (read: buy lots of spare bags)
and two of our testers needed to consult the manual in order to
change the Miele vacuum bag the first time. The bags are not very
big in order to accommodate the on board tools. Once you read the
instructions in the manual, changing bags was very simple - but
to two dumb new users it was not intuitive. Moreover, depending
on how you look at it, the vacuum seemed to stop working when the
bag was full - a good safety feature, but when it first happened
we almost panicked!
Our overall summary
Another winner from Miele
vacuums. Lightweight, easy to use and effective.
If you prefer to order online - the internet equivalent is the "Red
Star - with Hepa" with the HEPA filter sold in our store.
There is an optional mini turbobrush for upholstery (great for cat
hair) but unnecessary for most people.
Be warned: you need a ton of the replacement bags, they fill up
fast.
AllergyBuyersClub.com members get a specially packaged machine with
a hepa filter which does not come standard with this machine from
other vendors.
More
Info on the entire selection of Miele vacuums...
First Published: January 2000
Updated: April 2007
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