MIU CanDo Safety Can Opener, Plastic and Stainless Steel

Comment: It's a great opener when it works - the smooth edge means a spatula doesn't get cut up when scraping the can, and the lid makes a neat cover. However, like almost all of these, mine became a "Can't-Do" opener after a few months. I emailed MIU (admin (at) miufrance (dot) com), and they immediately replied that they'd replace the opener, that I didn't have to mail the old one back (just email a photo), and I'd only have to pay for shipping the new one. Since I didn't have to give back the old one so it didn't matter if I dinged it, I decided to see if I could find why it didn't work.

Since I had another new, unused one (it was going to be a gift, but when mine started to fail, I gave something else), I could compare the two. The only difference seemed to be that the old one had a little more distance (about 0.1mm) between the grip wheel and the plastic body when the knob was turned to engage the rotary cam that draws the wheel toward the body. Since this is what pinches the can rim between the grip wheel and the cutter, a small difference in standoff could result in inadequate depth of cut.

I took mine apart by removing the cap on the knob and removing the pin inside that holds the knob on the shaft, then pushing the shaft end to open up space between the grip wheel and the body (see blue arrows in the photo, if it posted). That let me see a little bit of black greasy gunk around the shaft and the inside face of the grip wheel, so I cleaned that off the wheel, shaft and plastic body, then reassembled it. After that, it worked perfectly again. Now that I know that, I think it could be cleaned without disassembly by rotating the knob backwards half a turn to back off the cam and make some space between the grip wheel and the body, then using a bit of cardboard to clean it all around.

We'll see how long it lasts, and if cleaning restores it next time. Since I'd have to pay for shipping to get another from MIU (I don't need three!), and they all seem to work and fail the same way, I told them "no, thanks" on the replacement, and what I'd found.

Comment: Over the course of a few months I opened less then 2 dozen cans before it would not work anymore. Do the math; I do not own a cat, but if that were cans of cat food the prorated cost of the opener would have cost as much per can as the cat food!

There is a good explanation as to why all the ratings for this can opener are either 1 star or 5. That is because people love this can opener when they first get it. Too many people are too anxious to write an immediate review. They try out the product one time and based on that they immediately post a nice review and rate product 5 stars. Read the 1-star reviews before you buy this product and you will see that these are the people who owned this for at least a month or two.

Do not throw your money away on this piece of junk.

Comment: I bought two of these. Neither worked well for more than a few months. After a few uses they began failing to completely cut through the can.I experienced similar problems with a different brand so I can't say whether this is a design problem with the side cutting opener or a quality issue with this particular brand and model. Stay away from this one.

Comment: We bought this opener based on the reviews, and loved it so much when we first got it that we bought three more for gifts. But, after several months, it became dull and stopped opening many cans, even with several turns around the can. Our family that was given it as a gift has had the same experience, and none are now in use in our homes. It looks very artistic, but just dosen't open cans. We have been unable to find how to send back for the "lifetime guarantee" as there is no phone or address on the packaging. I hightly recommend that everyone stay away from this opener.

Comment: The opener worked fairly well at first - it left a nice, smooth (and safe) edge, but every can lid we removed became stuck to the opener. The only way to remove the lid from the opener was to work the opener and lid back and forth until it came off. Then, after about two dozen uses, the cutting mechanism began failing. It became necessary to go around the can lid several times with the opener before the lid could be removed. Within a few more uses it was barely cutting the can at all and is now completely useless. We're going to try one of the Kuhn Rikon openers next.