Why do you love your vacuum cleaner?

There’s no denying the girls of mumsnet.com know their vacuum cleaners, and the thread entitled “Please tell me why you LOVE your vacuum cleaner” generating 87 responses in a matter of days shows just that!

HerHonesty is certainly enamoured with her vacuum “my Miele is fab and to be honest, have had it 6 years with no probs”, while ljhooray could not agree more. “Another vote for Miele Cat and Dog – amazing. Takes half the time because it’s so effective.”

Trellism meanwhile has problems with her cleaner but not her vacuum “I have a Miele Cat and Dog and bought an extra hard floor attachment. It is brilliant. If only I could persuade the cleaner to use the hard floor brush on the hard floor rather than the turbo brush on everything…” Well – we can’t have it all!

Unbreakable Miele washing machine doors

“What should I get? And where from? All I want is it to wash clothes, not chew them up, be reasonably energy efficient and last for ever” is the rallying cry from mark_sirett on volkszone.com – and his peers have been quick to offer up their opinions.

“I’ve got a Miele washing machine, they go on forever” suggests master_baiter, while Last Triumph is adamant that there’s only one option for him… “Miele. End of conversation. Price reflects quality.” Meanwhile 52ragtop passes on an anecdote about a 20 stone washing machine dealer who, “to emphasise how well made [Miele] were, opened the door of the display machine and then kneeling down on one knee he lent his hand on top of the open door and then pushed himself up!! The door did not buckle, bend or even move! Incredible really”

To get involved in the conversation, or if you have any Miele anecdotes of your own – pop over to the forum or comment below.

The Miele Cat and Dog is ‘fab’

Snowy747 is distraught with his current ‘turbo’ vacuum cleaner and has come to ukcampsite.co.uk asking for any suggestions – citing the fact that the “Miele cat and dog has come to [his] attention asking, anybody got one?”

Suns suggests “I’ve got the Miele Cat and Dog and it’s worth every penny. Two turbo heads large and small. Customer care is also excellent,” while **button** says “I have this one, or almost the same, and it’s great”. Kernow Camper has “the Miele cat and dog and it’s fab” and insists he “wouldn’t have any other make now.”

To read the full discussion and get yourself involved, follow this link.

You & Miele: Shini from Park & Cube blog

An inspiring and educational read for anyone with an interest in fashion – this week, Miele meet the magnificent Shini from the Park & Cube blog, who has a fine word or three to say about fashion care, head-turning treads and knitting in planes (figuratively at least) – read on…

Firstly, tell us a little about your site? Park&Cube is my little hideout, plastered daily with personal outfits and whatever that may be inspiring at the time. Also the occasional (awesome) shopping links and DIY tutorials for those who’d like to put away their wallet and exhaust the craft energy someplace useful.

We hear that your shoes were quite the talk of London Fashion Week. Any more magnificent treads caught the eye recently? Ah the Emma Cooks! Sadly after the evening I realised they’re too small for my feet so they had to be laid to rest until a better time or suitor came by… huge pity! I did get my hands on the dark-grey Office caged wedges later and they’ve been headturners wherever they were worn to. I’ve brought them to Poland and so far I’ve been quite satisfied to present something so unusual.

How important is garment care to you as a fashion enthusiast? Do you trust your creations to a washing machine? Being a personal-outfit-blogger many items in my closet are constantly recycled into different outfits and combinations, so I find garmet care to be extremely important. Especially in cases of vintage or statement pieces, I wouldn’t fling those around carelessly or trust any old washing machine to clean them. As for my DIY pieces, I’ve avoided wearing them too much so that I could delay the washing – but this was purely from fear that the washing machine I own will destroy the garment. I definitely will hand-wash when the time comes.

Are there any tips you can share with our fellow fashion conscious readers? Regarding garment care, since I don’t happen to own a washing machine that will wash a rose without shredding its petals (and nor will a lot of others), I suggest gentle hand-washing with hand-wash detergent. Especially with DIY that involve chains, laces or beads – unless the chains are silver, they will most likely discolour when washed, so take this into account when washing.

In one of your blogposts you mentioned that you would like to knit in a plane at least once in your lifetime. Do you think the world will ever see a time when you are allowed to knit in a plane? I thought about this again on my returning flight back from Turkey! I’m sure now, that my point when I said this was not necessarily that I want to knit something during a 2-hour plane ride, but the fact that they could reconsider how plane safety should be performed. It is pure circus what we go through in airports these days, and unfortunately unless a mighty higher power intervenes, we won’t see a time when they will lift the ban on sharp objects. A few years ago when I was seeing a friend off at an airport, a man offered me his umbrella because it was apparently not allowed on board. What can one do with the umbrella on a plane, threaten to open it and terrorize everyone of bad luck?

If you could pick one of the outfits you’ve featured on your blog, which would be your very favourite? I actually don’t think I have a favourite! I think of my style to be constantly evolving (‘improving’ in more cases, if one may say so) and I don’t think I’m yet at a stage where I know what my true style is to show it off. So this one (see picture) was a particularly fun outfit, just because I’m so in love with the colour of the jacket.

Thanks Shini – now, visit her blog…

A Forum Round-up, Miele Style

If you want a good recommendation, you could do much worse than look to the good people of the web’s forums. Indeed, this is just what snowy747 has done over on the UK Campsite Forums in the quest for the ideal hoover for pet hairs. The Miele Cat & Dog gets the thumbs up from a couple of contributors with claims it can pick up ‘tons’ of hair no less! Have you battled a pet hair mountain with your Miele? Head over to have a look, and leave your own comments.

It isn’t just hoovers that are on the agenda however, washing machines are being discussed too, this time on Overclockers.co.uk. The discussion here is on which brands offer the most reliable products, and there are plenty of mentions for Miele. Head over to find out why!