Miele Classic C1 Pure Suction Canister Vacuum Cleaner

Overview

The Miele C1 Classic comes in seven different smaller variations:

1. 1. Miele Classic C1 Pure Suction

2. 2. Miele Classic C1 Turbo Team

3. 3. Miele Classic C1 Olympus

4. 4. Miele Classic C1 Capri

5. 5. Miele Classic C1 HomeCare

6. 6. Miele Classic C1 Delphi

7. 7. Miele Classic C1 Titan

Each variation is the same in terms of design and overall performance. The differences lie not only in the color of the vacuum’s body, but also in the accessories they are bundled with.

Since it’s going to take forever to go through each and every model, I will be focusing primarily on the Miele Classic C1 Pure Suction in this Miele Classic C1 review.

C1 Classic vacuums are equipped with Miele’s 1,200-watt S2 Vortex motor, which provides excellent suction power. On hard floors, the high suction power can help you sweep up loose particles like dust, dirt, sand, and cat litter. It’s also great for handling debris.

The bulk of the Miele C1 Classic’s performance comes from the floor head. Like I mentioned before, depending on the variation you get, the accessories will be different. The Pure Suction variation comes pre-packaged with one Pure Suction Combination Floor Head (also called “AllTeQ floor head”) and one Pure Suction Parquet Floor Head.

The AllTeQ floor head has retractable bristles to help you clean up your low-pile carpets and rugs. For hardwood floors, you can retract the bristles with a footswitch at the top to avoid damaging the surface.

This combination floor head has retractable bristles give you more flexibility

for cleaning both low-pile carpets and hardwood floor Via: Amazon

The Parquet floor head comes in when you need to be more heavy-handed with your bare floors. It has soft bristles to agitate dirt and debris stuck on the floor, but the scrubbing motion is gentle enough that it won’t scratch up the delicate surface.

Parquet floor head has soft bristles to help you clean delicate flooring without damaging it Via: Amazon

Unfortunately, the Miele C1 Compact Pure Suction doesn’t come standard with any tools for medium to high-pile carpets and rugs. If your house has these, you will have to buy extra tools from Miele like the SEB 223 Electro Plus Electrobrush or the SEB 236 Electro Premium Electrobrush. These tools do not come cheap, but they will be worth it in the long run.

The vacuum features pretty robust filtration technology with the AirClean system and dust bags. Nonetheless, the splendid filtration capability of the Miele Classic C1 vacuum bags in turn make them expensive to buy and replace.

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Pros

• Affordable

• Lightweight and compact

• Versatile cleaning performance

• High-quality accessories

• Robust AirClean filtration

Cons

• Expensive dust bags

Features

Maneuverable and Compact Design

The Miele C1 Classic successfully fulfilled the core tenets of a canister vacuum: mobility and compactness.

Similar to almost every other canister vacuums that came before, the C1 Classic is about the size of a backpack. When measured, the canister (which includes the heavy motor and the dust bag) weighs 16.1 pounds (7.3 kilograms.)

Non-marring wheels are installed underneath the canister to allow it to glide across your floor without damaging the surface. Besides bare floors, the wheels can traverse carpet piling pretty easily, which is a plus if your house is carpeted.

On top of the canister is a handle you can use to physically carry it around the house. If your house has a lot of staircases and steps, you will love this small detail.

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1,200-watt S2 Vortex Motor

Like previously mentioned, the Miele C1 Classic is armed with an S2 Vortex Motor for suction-generation. The motor consumes 1,200 watts of power to deliver a suction flow strong enough to easily pick clean stubborn dirt stuck between floor boards.

Miele’s suction motors are known for being very quiet and the S2 is no exception. Noise level is low so you can comfortably vacuum with the C1 Classic late into the evening. The vacuum has a Silent Mode which decreases power to the motor for even quieter performance. You no longer have to worry about disturbing the neighbors when you pull out your vacuum in the middle of the night!

Speed/Power Control System

This top rated best vacuum cleaner gives you 6 different speed and power settings. You can tune the vacuum to whichever you want via the rotary dial in the middle.

1. Curtains & lightweight fabrics

2. Upholstery & cushions

3. High pile carpet, rugs & runners

4. Energy saving mode (or “Silent mode”)

5. Low pile carpet

6. Hard floor surfaces

Each setting is illustrated by fun icons on the setting dial. However, I have seen some reports from customers that they’re quite confusing and difficult to read. 

As a result, make sure to briefly read through the user’s manual to see which icon stands for each mode. You do not want to accidentally tune to high-pile carpet power while you’re sweeping up your upholstered furniture.

AirClean Filtration System

I am most impressed with this vacuum’s elaborate filtration system. If you or anyone in your family has any kind of allergy, this canister vacuum can help improve the air quality inside your home.

The vacuum’s canister itself is airtight to prevent dirt particles from the dust bag or the suction flow from leaking out. Leaky vacuums are particularly dangerous because they can spew allergens and harmful particles all throughout your home, which is even more dangerous than not vacuuming at all.

The dust compartment of the vacuum has a High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter. This is the highest grade of filter available on the market. It is able to filter out 99.97% of microscopic particles as small as 0.3 microns (hundreds of times smaller than a piece of human hair.) HEPA filters can even handle airborne bacteria and viruses, including COVID-19. In this day and age, such a capability is absolutely essential.

The HEPA filter in the vacuum must be replaced once every 6 to 12 months depending on frequency of use.

The Miele C1 Classic also has an exhaust filter and a pre-motor filter made of conventional materials to help with the filtering.

AirClean Dust Bags

The Miele C1 Classic uses Miele’s AirClean Type FJM dust bags. It has a maximum capacity of 3.5 liters (~3 dry quarts,) which is large enough to last for quite some time.

The bag is weaved from “100% randomly-spun fiber”, which reportedly increases the durability of the bag and minimizes leaks. The unique weave pattern also strengthens the innate filtering capability of the bag. Randomly-spun fiber does a great job at trapping dirt particles.

Miele advertises these bags as being “3D.” This essentially means that over time the bag can expand to make more room for more dirt and debris.

Another notable feature of the Miele Classic C1 vacuum bags is the Self-Locking Auto-Seal Collar. When the bag has been filled up and you have to dispose of it, the collar will automatically sew the bag shut when you remove it from the vacuum. This way, none of the content can be released back into the environment.

There is a color indicator on the bag, which can tell you whether it has filled to capacity or not.

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Retractable Power Cord

The 18-foot long power cord has an automatic retraction mechanism. Just push a button and the cord will unwind into the vacuum, making it much easier to store.

Some Alternatives

If you want a different vacuum than the Miele Classic C1 Pure Suction, check out the other vacuums in the C1 line-up. Like we mentioned before, the C1 family is incredibly diverse and can address virtually every demand, as long as you pick the correct version.

#1- Miele Compact C1 Pure Suction Powerline

The Miele Compact C1 Pure Suction Powerline has the same performance level as the Miele Classic C1 Pure Suction, the key difference between these two versions is the overall size. Like its name suggests, the Compact C1 Pure Suction Powerline is a tad smaller.

The dimension of the Compact version is 16.9 x 9.8 x 9.1 inches, while the standard Classic version measures 18.2 x 11 x 8.7 inches. Though it may not sound a lot, if you’re looking for a compact canister vacuum, the Compact C1 is a nice choice.

Smaller and more compact, but the Compact C1 Pure Suction’s power is not at all reduced Via: Amazon

The Miele Compact C1 Pure Suction canister vacuum still has the 1,200-watt S2 Vortex motor and the AllTeQ floor head. It also comes with the SBB Parquet-3 floor head, which has natural bristles to scrub your sensitive hardwood floors without damaging it.

#2- Miele Classic C1 Turbo Team

The Miele Classic C1 Turbo Team is the all-around upgrade to the baseline Miele C1 Classic Pure Suction. It still has the same 1,200-watt Vortex Motor, but it has a wider range of tools and accepts a larger dust bag.

Classic C1 Turbo Team comes with a new STB 305-3 TurboTeQ floor head. This floor head is specifically designed to pick up hair and fiber from carpets and rugs. The floor head is not motorized and relies entirely on the vacuum flow to work. When placed on top of dense carpet piling, an air vent prevents the floor head from becoming stuck.

Just because of this tool, I highly recommend the Classic C1 Turbo Team for pet owners.

The other accessory is the standard SBB Parquet-3 floor head for hardwood floor vacuuming. Fortunately, this is not all of the Classic C1 Turbo Team’s distinguishing features. It uses a larger Type GN AirClean dust bag, which can hold up to 4.33 liters (4.76 dry quarts.) If you have a larger home or apartment to clean, the Turbo Team has the capacity to keep up with your demand.

An all-around upgrade to the baseline Classic C1 Pure Suction Via: Amazon

#3- Miele Classic C1 Cat & Dog

If you want to have the most premium Miele C1 Classic the company offers, the Cat & Dog version will be it. It has the highest price tag in the entire C1 series. Don’t worry too much, though, since the high price comes with a lot of different perks.

Premium price comes with a lot of premium features Via: Amazon

The biggest perk is the SEB 228 Electro Plus floor head. This floor head contains a motorized brush roll to scrub stubborn dirt and debris out of dense carpets and rug piling. You will find a 5-level height adjustment lever on it. Depending on the height of your carpet piling, you can flexibly set up your vacuum so as to have the best performance.

If you have been vacuuming carpets and rugs for a while, you will know that the height of the floor head can make a day-and-night difference. If the floor head is too high, the brush and the suction can’t penetrate into the piling. Too low and the suction nozzle would be stuck into the carpet. The adjustment lever allows you to set up your vacuum for most optimum performance. 

Purely for the adjustable height alone, I wholeheartedly recommend this vacuum to owners of medium to high-pile carpets and rugs.

Another special tool this vacuum comes with is the STB 20 Handheld Mini Turbobrush. It is small and has a flexible joint to help you remove fluff and hair on furniture and within small, awkward spaces.

To drive the point home that the Classic C1 Cat & Dog is truly made for pets, other than the AirClean filtration system it has an additional Active Air Clean filter. Imbued with active carbon, it can remove pet odor from out of your home and leave your space smelling fresher. Since I’m a pet owner myself and know first-hand just how bad the smell can get over time, the filter is hugely appreciated.

The Miele C1 Classic Cat & Dog uses Type GN dust bags — the largest type there is available.

Conclusion

Concluding this Miele Classic C1 review, we hope that you have seen your new vacuum cleaner in this canister vacuum. With the kind of performance it has got, along with excellent design and durability, you can count on the Classic C1 to serve you faithfully for years.