By Sonya Davidson
It's hard to believe that it was 90 years ago when Miele introduced their first vacuum. This year, the company introduced the newest model to their roster with their first bagless vacuum line. We had first set our eyes on the Miele Blizzard CX1 at the Interior Design Show in Toronto earlier this year. The Miele Show Haus was the largest booth by far at this year's consumer and trade show leading the way with several unveils.
It's easy to understand, and support, the thinking behind this new model. The bagless feature is a great selling point in the market for it's convenience. No more running around searching for vacuum bags, obviously, but also the clear view makes it easier to see when it's time to empty. Or, if you're like me and can't stand the site of my long hair captured in the vessel, you'll empty more frequently!
But upon closer look there's much more to this vacuum that makes it worthy to hit many top must-need city dweller's needs. Let's take a look...
Design: as condo and smaller space living is more the norm in cities such as Toronto and Vancouver, this is an important factor. Space is everything and the option to stand this unit upright to tuck away into tighter storage spaces is a well-thought out deigh feature. Colour maybe not top of mind when deciding on a vacuum unit but I admit the "Obisdian" black colour just makes the job a bit more badass. Additional vacuum heads are built to store right into the unit as well -- how many times have I lost or searched for those on my previous vacuums? Don't go there.
It's not just a design worthy unit. The Miele Blizzard CX1 also address our growing concerns for air pollution and the air we breathe in our living quarters. I can still remember my parents and the number of vacuums they used. What was that smell? That output of dust particles often escaped back into the air. No more. The Miele Blizzard CX1 has features that not only pick up the dirt but keeps them from becoming airborne through the use of HEPA AirClean Lifetime Filter that retains 99.9% of dirt and dust. Also the unit has a separate dust system (coarse dirt and fine dust) so emptying won't be so unsettle when removing.
The suction power on this model is noticeable immediately. Using what Miele calls the Vortex technology and the floorhead the combination gets ever bit of dirt along the way. The air flow in that technology is more than 100 km/h so it's pretty powerful. Ideal for hardwood flooring that often can get tiny bits into the natural grooves.
Another feature is ComfortClean. I didn't really know what this did but upon reading the information I learned that this is an automatic self cleaning function. I don't believe the built in sensors have had a chance to kick into use just yet since it's still a relatively new vacuum in our house. The sensors measure the air output form the GORE CleanStream fine dust filter and automatically activates the ComfortClean self-cleaning function as needed. How you know it's working? The vacuum shuts itself off for about 20 seconds or you can activate it manually.
And how much space will it cover? The cable gives you access to 10 metres. A footswitch helps rewind the cable back to the unit when done.
We've been using the Blizzard CX1 on our mainfloor where it's 90 percent hardwood. Our first use I had ran our regular central vac earlier that morning. I was surprised at how much more this picked up AFTER that.
The Miele Blizzard CX1 has a msrp of $699 Canadian (at time of publishing)