Not sure where to put this but this is From edgy, a member of IS300.NET who's method really works. Hope this can help you guys out with cotton filters. Link here http://my.is/forums/showthread.php?t...ilter+cleaning



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 :o 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....

this should be a sticky!!!

you are all welcome....!!






Ed G.

 

good tip! i'll have to try it some day. lol you sound so excited and enthusiastic, they should let you be apart of the oxy clean infomercials

 

thanks for the tip! one question.... where do i get " that Oxy clean crap /powder i " ?.... jk lol

 

Any supermarket....or a Home Depot or Lowes.They generally have it in the larger 1 gallon bucket sizes.

 

I've always used K&N filter recharger kit for my filters.
Other detergents can damage the filters..

 

Thanks for the post the101dragons I will give it a try when its time.

 

I've never had a factory type K&N but I know the recharger kit does not clean the cone types at all. When I had the cone type on my Integra it never cleaned very good and wished I had this to go by. Now that that car is gone I haven't yet to try this method I describe but I'm guessing from all the response it works wonders. Up to you and at your own risk to try this method but just sharing what others have tried.

 

You have to stay up late and catch one of the infomercials to order it on TV man or you can buy it off me for just only 19.99 plus get a 2nd one free. LOL

 

the101dragons - thanks for linking this thread to a recent one.

Sounds like a great thing to do - oxyclean is only sodium percarbonate and the pH is < 10.5 so it would probably be just fine on a cotton filter.

A question for you - have you looked at the filter since doing this cleaning method? i.e. how clean are the walls of the airboxes on the clean side of the filter?

 

Thanks for the tip. I just pulled my greenfilters out last week after I saw the thread (I think it was in the e55 forum) about the damaged filters. I need to clean my filters soon so I will try to post before and after pics of the filters when I do it.

 

rerfer to post #7, that will answer your question.

I still have stock filters on my C55 and probably be replacing with Frams, paper is paper to me.

 

nice write up! i will try this, need to clean my air filters anyways, so this will be a good excuse to do so...

 

I tried oxy clean. It didn't work so well. Next I just decided to put it into an ultrasonic parts washer. It helped a lot. Just rinsed and the rest of the debris was gone. Anyone thinking about getting aftermarket cotton filters should avoid used filters. They're usually filthy, and it's not worth the trouble cleaning them. Buy them new and avoid the hassle.





Now I need to recharge/re-oil these...

 

SO the oxy clean and club soda didn't work or did you just use oxy clean?

I have yet to try this method.

 

Just used oxy clean first. So so results. Ultrasonic cleaners will work the best since they mechanically vibrate the crap out of the filters. I left the cleaner on the whole night and let it do the work. Gotta change the tube fuse in it now....bleh....

 

going to clean mine as soon as my filter oil comes in...just picked up the cleaner and oil on ebay for $9.25 shipped...i love ebay

 

If you just used oxy clean and water, of course it's not going to work. You need to use the club soda for the oxy clean to do it's magic. The guy using it says takes only minutes and not hours like the method you used and most people don't have access to what you used.

 

pshek, you must have known better by reading the post. I believe the quote is:
What you did was like trying to make a glass of chocolate milk, without the milk.

 

I was trying my own method. Club soda is nothing more than H20 plus C02, and I had my doubts on how well soda pop is going to remove debris from the filters. An ultrasonic parts cleaner works without doubt since it is mechanically vibrating the debris out. They use ultrasonic cleaners to clean everything from jewelry to shaver blades. Regarding, effervescent soda pop, I'm still not sold on the idea since no one else has posted their results or findings. The club soda way is ONE way, not necessarily the BEST way to clean your filters. I showed my filters to other people and they thought it was brand new.

 

I have no doubt that your ultrasonic method is superior to most other methods, including club soda. I was just wanting to re-state the method suggested in post #1, as most of us will never have acces to a ultrasonic hardware nessesary to utilize your method, and the Oxy Clean was not supposed to be the magic bullet. I glad it works well for you.

 

I was considering using this method to clean my filters. I called evosport to see if they had oil for my filters. I was told greenfilters do not need to be oiled after cleaning. Is this true? Also, they told me I could clean my filters with just water. Will this do a satisfactory job? I am a little skeptical about oxyclean and club soda only because I don't personally know enough about my filters or the chemical reactions that would take place. Therefore, I would rather not take the risk on my engine if I could get away with just water. For some reason my browser won't let me go to the greenfilters website so I can't read the manufacturers recommendation.

Do I need to oil the filters? Is cleaning with water going to be satisfactory?

 

Cleaning with just H20 will produce unsatisfactory results. Water and oil don't mix, that is why you must add a surfactant. That is why adding the bubbly mix from club soda/oxy clean acts as a detergent. If you're rich, you can always use the bubbly champagne. Also, cotton gauze filter recharge kits sold by K&N and Green all have 2 bottles, a bottle with cleaning agent, and a bottle to re-oil the filters. The sticky oil is what traps the dirt.

 

So is it basically consensus that the green filters are not the ones to get because they shift in the airbox etc? Also where is the best place to buy K&N's? What is the best price? Thanks I think I am going to pull the trigger on some K&N's.

 

I bought two K&N filters for my C32 for, i think about $78.....i went to autozone and they obviously didnt have the model in stock, so the ordered them for me. i actually remember reading somewhere that the green filters are actually supposed to allow slightly better airflow then K&Ns.

 

While the green filters may flow a little more. I would really worry about them shifting as has been shown and allowing nonfiltered air into the engine.