I normally get the blue filters, completely clog and wash them out once a week. Comparatively, this one is much easier to wash out as it has some sort of teflon-like coating. It doesn't look as terrible afterwards either. Been through three washes and still looks new, I usually get 6-8 out of the blue ones. Will update in a few months with my findings.
7/1 it's still looking pretty good, if a bit yellowish. Still works like new, has been washed weekly since arrival. The teflon coating is starting to peel and flake as of last week. Might be because I leave it in the sun to dry, I'm not sure. Will continue to use it until it can't perform, definitely got my money's worth out of it. Normally by week 6 on the blue ones I would notice a noise difference in the motor of my shop vac due to it having to work harder to pull air through the filter. I have not yet noticed it on this one.
9/30/10 Still using it, still washing it weekly, it'll probably need replaced in another month or so. The white coating is really taking a beating but has far outlasted the blue or white regular filters.
I'd suggest the cheaper, standard dry-only HEPA filter in place of this one, unless you occasionally suck up damp stuff or small amounts of liquid. This filter is not a good choice for wet applications. I also find that this filter is no easier to clean than any other reuseable cartridge filter. It's rinseable but that sounds better than it works in practice.
If you are faced with sucking up gallons of liquid, this filter doesn't work well. Unless the liquid is very clean, the filter clogs every few minutes. If I'm picking up a lot of liquid, I swap the good ol' foam sleeve back on.
This filter does work well for dry pickup. No more dusty exhaust, a huge improvement over the standard disc filters. However, it's no better than the standard HEPA filter in this regard.
Someone once suggested using an old-fashioned disc filter over the HEPA filter if you use it as a dust collector in a wood shop. I find this to be a very good combination. The disc filter takes out the bigger particles of sawdust, leaving the HEPA to do what it does best -filter the very fine stuff. Otherwise, you will find yourself cleaning the HEPA a lot. Maybe you lose some suction with the two filters in place, but I really haven't noticed. The disc / HEPA combo would probably be nice for drywall debris and other stuff that has both big chuncks and fine dust.
Buy Shop-vac 903-40-00 HEPA Cleanstream® Filter Now
I purchased this item to be used in a Shop-Vac that removes chips and wood dust from woodworking machines.The claim was that, vacuumed particles would simply fall off the filter
after the power was shut off. I hoped that I could eliminate the expense of filter bags. NOT SO. The filter quickly became clogged and I had to clean it frequently in order to maintain the full flow of air through the vacuum. I have since added the filter bags and have eliminated the filter maintenance problem until the bag is full.
I'm sure that the CleanStream is more efficient than the original filter as far as removing the finer particles from the exhaust air. I would have given the item a 5 if it had met my expectations.
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It's a great filter if used with an inside bag. It will catch the fine dust. If you use it alone or with a garbage bag and a bag keeper, it will quickly fill up with stuff and have to be cleaned out. To clean it, you need to blow it with compressed air, making a huge cloud of dust. If you tap it as suggested you still get a huge mess of dust and it doesn't come clean. I tried it all three ways and decided to pay the price for the inside bag which catches most of the stuff being vacuumed.
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This filter works completely awesome and filters drywall dust, fireplace ash, and just about anything else bigger than .3 microns (hospital grade filtration rating even filters viruses). Plus, it's washable!!! so you can use it over and over, or wet. This is the last shop vac filter you will ever by. Nothing gets by it.
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