I saw this posted elsewhere, and it looked to be of use to all.

(NOT EDITED FOR SPELLING - YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY)

http://my.is/forums/showthread.php?t...ilter+cleaning

Quoted below for the too-lazy-to-click crowd:


"this method is THE BEST BY FAR!!!!! it is EASY & FAST!!! & relatively CHEEP too!!!!


OK... i just figgered this out last weekend...arguably the BEST method i have EVER used to clean Cotton gauze air filter media....i have been cleaning these types of filtersd for about 20 years now & nothing REALLY seemed to CLEAN the stuff thoroughly......


This started because i have an SRT intake w/a AFE filter, & i was cleaning it the usual way: spray on the cleaner let it sit.. .rinse it out... blah blah... it seemed to work OK... but i could ALWAYS still see dirt & crap stuck into the filter media down deep in the grooves/pleats... this was pissing me off... so i cleaned it three times the last time ...
soak with filter cleaner..let sit, .rinse...
soak again w simple green, let sit in the HOT sun...& rinse...
then AGAIN, soak with with orange glow cleaner & simple green then let sit & rinse....

STILL there was dirt & bug parts & oil grime down in the pleats & even at the ends of the outside pleats..... WTF!! & you DO NOT want to blast it from the inside with a water or air hose.. .you will damage the cotton that needs to stay in good shape to filter properly....


Then..I had an idea......


I got a small bucket... dumped two scoops of that Oxy clean crap /powder in it & then placed the filter in there.....next i poured 1 1/2 $1.39 2 liter bottles of generic CLUB SODA in the bucket.....(about 3 litres total...dep on the bucket you use...use a smaller one to use less Club Soda etc...)

WELL!!! that **** bubbled & foamed up almost Instantly & this greasy dirty film & TONS of dirt & crap just freaking JUMPED out of the filter gauze!!!!! the foam was all topped with this yellow filter oil & dirt & grime & bug detritus .. .it was amazing that all this crap was STILL in there after cleaning it traditionally 3 times..... the Club Soda was the trick for SURE the carbonation in that just 'boiled' the crap out of the cotton gauze fibers instantly...!!

SOO much crap came out i ended up using a piece of paper to scoop the nasty oily grime & dirt & such that was riding on top of the foam in the bucket out & dumped it so i would not have to lift the filter up & out thru that ****.... i swirled the filter around in the solution for about 3- 4 minutes & then let it sit for a minute or three.....finally I just shook it in the solution for a few seconds & pulled it out... OMG.. .it was CLEANER than NEW!!! I mean it was SPARLKING clean!!!! elapsed time: 10 minutes MAX!!

ALSO....this is VERY gentle on your filter media.. .(cotton gauze) & is MUCH better than blasting it with water & or air trying to rinse out the crap or blow it out all of which are highly discouraged by the filter makers....

let it dry properly, (Note without all that residual grease & grime still clogging the filter.. .it WILL DRY MUCH FASTER !) then oil it up & reinstall.... i actually have two filters so i do not have to wait on drying & oiling the filter to drive my car when cleaning filters i just keep one all oiled & clean & ready then i can take my time cleaning drying & oiling up the other one....

you can use ANY cleaning degreasing solution I would imagine...it was the Club soda not the 'Oxy clean' that made the HUGE difference.. but feel free to copy this method to a 'T' if you want to...."

 

Doesn't the OXY bleach the cotton?

 

Thanks for the post. This info will definitely come in handy for me.

 

i dont think the OXY bleaches anything. Ive never used oxyclean but from what i remember on the commercials he put scoops of oxyclean in a tub of colored clothes also...i remember seeing a red shirt...cant truely confirm this...

 

I've read thousands of times that the dirt buildup actually helps the filtering process. I've always cleaned my filters gently, and they always look a lil dirty.

 

interesting read....oxy clean doesnt contain bleach btw

think this would work on a non oil filter?

 

TNX , ChicagoX....I've transfered a copy to our DIY forum.....

C.

 

Oxyclean doesn't bleach anything as it isn't bleach. However, I strongly disagree with the statement that it is not the oxyclean that is doing the bubbles. If you just dump that stuff in plain water it bubbles up like alka seltzer. I would think you could use the oxyclean and water and get almost the exact same effect.