Miele Complete C3 Cat & Dog Canister Vacuum

Avg. consumer rating = 90/100 

The Miele Complete C3 Cat & Dog Canister Vacuum Cleaner gets excellent ratings and reviews from owners.  It is also an attractive, well-built machine.  Consumers praise the unit’s quiet operation, ability to pick up pet hair, strong suction and robust filtration features.  It also comes with separate cleaner heads for carpet and bare floors, and the carpet tool is motorized so it is capable on low, medium and high pile carpet.  This is an expensive vacuum cleaner however and at most retail outlets it will set you back over $900.  

Quick Specs
Type	Canister
Bagged/Bagless	Bagged
Best for...	Hard Floors & Carpet
Pet Hair Features	Yes
Approx. Weight	11 lbs (canister body)
HEPA Level Filtration	No
Power Cord Length	23 ft
Motor Driven Brushbar	Yes
Warranty	7 Years

 

We should note that the Miele Complete C3 Cat & Dog Vacuum is essentially the same machine as the Miele S8380 Cat & Dog Vacuum.  In February 2015 Miele made many changes to its vacuum cleaner naming conventions which have been the cause of some confusion recently.  Also, in this review we are investigating the Miele Cat & Dog canister vacuum – not the Miele Cat & Dog upright vacuum (which we have looked at in another review).

Consumer Ratings
Consumer ratings for this vacuum are excellent and 280 were found at six retail outlets.  These are provided in the table below.  When averaged these generate an overall score of 90/100 which is very good.  You can compare that to other Miele or canister vacuums in our ratings tables: Miele vacuum ratings, Canister vacuum ratings.

Source	Consumer Ratings	#Ratings
Amazon	4.4 stars out of 5	227
Williams Sonoma	5 stars out of 5	1
Wayfair	4.9 stars out of 5	21
Sylvane	4.9 stars out of 5	7
Abt	4.9 stars out of 5	19
Costco	4.6 stars out of 5	5

 

Consumer Insights
A thorough review of owner comments has yielded the following likes and dislikes:

PROS
- Quiet
- Quality fit and finish
- No dust escapes when removing the bag
- Very good at picking up pet hair
- Long warranty
- Strong suction
- Leaves air smelling fresh and clean

CONS
- Carpet tool is heavy
- Both vacuum and consumables are pricey

There is no doubt that this is a well-liked vacuum cleaner and many owner comments include such nuggets as “the best vacuum I have ever owned”, “worth every penny”, “love this vacuum”, “beyond amazing”, “awesome vacuum”, “buy it!”, etc.

It is also considered by many to be a good looking machine and quite stylish.  It has a high quality fit and finish and a number of consumers report that it is well-made, durable and keeps performing after years of service.  Also the attachments are built well (high quality construction).

Many owners make comparisons between this vacuum and their Dyson.  Comments are mostly in favor of the Miele.  You can check these “Dyson vs Miele“ comments out here (on Amazon - scroll down the page a bit).

Most owners feel that the machine works well on carpet and bare floors alike, and also performs very well on pet hair.  A number of consumers report having improved allergy symptoms after using the vacuum for a while.  The filtration appears to be very effective and leaves a room smelling clean and fresh after vacuuming.

The vacuum isn’t perfect however and some feel the power cord is on the short side.  This is a fairly common complaint with a canister vacuum.  The power cord is auto-retract however and this feature is very popular.

While the tools/attachments are well-built there are comments that the upholstery tool could be more effective and that the powered carpet tool is on the heavy side.  Also several owners have mentioned that they wish the crevice tool was longer.

In addition, some consumers feel the bags are a little small and that they fill too quickly.  You can see more owner comments on Amazon if you wish.

Features & Specifications
The Miele Cat & Dog is manufactured in Germany and tested to last for 20 years of residential use (this is based on 45 minutes vacuuming per week on maximum suction).

This vacuum comes with a powered carpet tool and a bare floor tool.  It is therefore capable on all manner of flooring from bare floors to low-pile, medium-pile and deep-pile carpet.  Hint - if you don't have medium or deep pile carpet you may want to look at the Miele Alize.

The powered carpet tool is more technically known as the SEB228 Electro Plus Electrobrush (image to right).  It has 5 levels of height adjustment and the brushroll in the unit is motorized (as opposed to being powered by air as some carpet tools are).  This tool is fairly large and has a 12.5" wide brushroll with two rows of stiff bristles.  It also sports a swivel neck to increase maneuverability. Most owners like the Electrobrush but some feel it is a bit large and heavy.

The bare floor tool is the SBB300-3 Parquet Twister (image to left).  This lightweight nozzle has a 180 degree rotating head and also a low profile that allows it to get around and under furniture.

The canister body is strong and is made of high impact ABS plastic.  It is also surrounded by a raised bumper that ensures it doesn’t mar walls or furniture when being moved from place to place.

Several Tools are provided with the vacuum:
- Dusting brush
- Upholstery tool
- Crevice tool
- STB 101 handheld turbo brush

The dusting brush, upholstery tool, and crevice tool all store inside vacuum (image below).  Unfortunately the turbo brush, which is especially good for removing pet hair from carpeted stairs and upholstery, does not store in or on the vacuum.  There is also a stainless steel telescopic wand and a crush resistant hose.  Both the wand and the hose are “electric” in that they are wired to transfer electricity to the powered carpet tool.

The Cat & Dog has a cleaning radius of 36 feet.  This is the combined length of the power cord, hose and wand.  The power cord on this machine is 23 feet in length.  Some owners feel it is short and compared to an upright it is.  However power cords on canisters tend to be shorter and 23 feet is probably about average.  The power cord has automatic rewind which is activated via a foot pedal on the top of the canister body.

Foot pedals also control 6 levels of suction on the vacuum.  Being able to control the suction level is very handy especially when you are cleaning delicate items like curtains or lampshades or even when area rugs keep getting pulled up.  The Cat & Dog has + and – foot pedals which allow one to increase or decrease vacuum suction.  The settings are “Draperies, fabrics”, “Upholstery, pillows”, “Thick pile carpets, rugs and runners”, “Energy-efficient everyday vacuuming, low noise”, “Low pile carpets”, “Hard flooring and intensive cleaning of carpets”.

In addition to the suction controls the vacuum also has an air inlet valve built into the handle.  This is helpful for quickly being able to regulate the suction.

One of the key features of the Cat & Dog is its filtration system.  There are actually 3 levels of filtration in this machine: the bags, the dust compartment filter, and the exhaust filter.  The Active AirClean exhaust filter is designed for homes with pets.  It removes 99.95% of all particles larger than 0.5 microns in diameter and it contains active charcoal layers which trap and neutralize odors.  The Active AirClean exhaust filter lasts for about a year before it needs to be replaced.  Note that this is not a HEPA-grade filter.

Vacuum bags are “Type G/N AirClean FilterBags” which have a capacity of 4.76 quarts.  The bags also have a spring-loaded, self-sealing collar that ensures no dust is released when replacing the bag.  They are also 3 layers thick and made of a special puncture resistant polymer.  

In addition to the thorough filtration the Cat & Dog also has a complete sealed system.  This ensures that all of the air entering the vacuum gets filtered before it exits the vacuum.  There is no leaking around the hose or attachments or through unsealed joints.  In addition, within the vacuum none of the air bypasses or goes around the filters – all the air is passed through the filters.  You can read more about sealed systems and filtration in our article about HEPA filtration if you like.

The canister body wheels (there are 3) turn a full 360 degrees, making the the canister body easy to maneuver and fairly stable.  The wheels are also made of rubber which ensures that there is no marring of the floor.

There are many, many comments about how quiet this vacuum cleaner is.  It uses a low-noise, 1200 watt vortex motor (made by Miele).  The vacuum also has special sound insulation and even a suction setting optimized for low noise.

The canister body weighs in the neighborhood of 11 lbs.  Some of the additional features include a bag change indicator (based on airflow), a safety shutoff which will turn the motor off should the machine overheat, and a built-in carry handle.

The Miele Complete C3 Cat & Dog carries a 7-year warranty on the motor & casing, and a 1-year warranty on all other components.

When you buy the machine you get:

- (SEB228) Electro Plus Electrobrush
- (SBB300-3) Parquet Twister
- Dusting brush
- Upholstery tool
- Crevice tool
- (STB 101) Handheld turbo brush
- 1 Miele AirClean Type-G/N dust bag
- 1 Miele Active AirClean filter

Check out Miele Cat & Dog pricing on Amazon.

Vacuum Cleaner Manual
You can read more about the vacuums features, maintenance and troubleshooting in the manual: Miele Complete C3 Manual.