Miele Capricorn Review - A Full Featured Canister Vacuum

Miele's S5981 Capricorn canister vacuum is one of the best if not the best canister vacuum sold for residential use. The Capricorn vacuum has just about every feature and enhancement you could ask for in a vacuum. It's an exceptional vacuum for pet owners and people with medium to large sized homes.

The Miele Capricorn actually has the suction controls on the ergonomic vacuum hose handle. These controls are right at your fingertips. This make cleaning lighter carpet or rugs an easier task, as you can conveniently reduce your suction to avoid pulling the carpet up into the vacuum. This is the only Miele vacuum cleaner designed to clean carpet and hard floors that has this feature.

The Capricorn vacuum can and should be upgraded to include a full-sized powerhead, which I strongly recommend. The upgraded powerhead has a light, bumpers, and adjust automatically to the height of the surface you are cleaning. We feel this vacuum definately warrants the full sized powerhead upgrade based on the price and peformance of the canister. Every Miele vacuum dealer offers the larger head so make sure you get it.

Miele's 1200 watt, patented Vortex motor system working in combination with the electrically driven powerhead will really make pet owners happy. This canister will  be able to handle the pet hair from heavy shedding animals, keeping your carpet as clean as a vacuum can.

Miele S5981 Capricorn's filtration system includes a Miele HEPA filter, and recieved and "Excellent Air Quality" rating from the DMT Air Quality Institute. Various canister vacuums have HEPA filters, but this rating involves the entire vacuum cleaner and not just the quality of the filter. A vacuum can have a great HEPA filter and still leak dust and debris back into the air as it is operating. This is definately not the case with the Miele Capricorn and the DMT ratings acts a proof to this.

The Capricorn also comes with a natural hair floor brush tool for smooth surface cleaning, on board tools (crevice, upholstery, upholstery) that fit conveniently on the top of the canister.

You will also enjoy the fact that there very little noise to be heard while running the Capricorn vacuum. It is insulated to minimize noise during operation and is extremely quiet. Although this is not a small vacuum, all of these features only end up adding to a total weight under 14 lbs, which is pretty light for a vacuum of this size especially of this level of quality. The Miele Capricorn canister vacuum is not inexpensive. I have been around Miele vacuum cleaners for years and I have noticed that really don't require any real maintenance outside of filter and bag changes, so this investment should really take care of your vacuum needs for years.

Miele S5981 Capricorn Canister Vacuum Our Rating: 5 of 5 Pros: Has everything you could need or use in a canister vacuum (power, crush proof hose, electronic suction control, extremely quiet, superior filtration) Cons: Expensive. More than most people spend on a vacuum.