How to clean a shop vac filter & unclog the hose

So you need to clean your shop vac filter?

Faced with a shop vac not working properly can be frustrating, and it’s helpful to know how to clean the filter and unclog the hose.

Shop vac or shop vacuum or R2D2 Dust Sucker, they all pretty much work the same way: A motor sucks air through a filter.

They work best when the filter is clean. But if it’s clogged and caked with cat hair and sawdust and yuck, you might as well drag your dog around trying to clean up a home improvement mess.

Good news is that, while pretty much disgusting, cleaning the filter is easy.

Remove.

I like to remove it carefully from the vac, knowing it’s a powder-puff of gross. No big deal in the workshop or garage, but an uber pain in the a++ in a finished space where the dust can just float away.

Check the wind.

Go outside. Then, whichever way the wind is blowing, I position myself upwind of the hairball.

Bounce.

Bouncing seems to be the most effective way to dislodge the dust from the filter pleats in a ‘shop vac‘. I bounce and turn, bounce and turn…boots and pants and boots and pants…wait, that turned into a Geico ad.

Compressed air.

Technically, blasting the filter with air from my air compressor tears up the filter material so it doesn’t work as well. Let’s just say that’s a fine line.

Blowing it creates a cloud big enough that your neighbors will call the EPA. When I do blow out the filter I try to put the blow gun inside the filter and blow from the inside out.

Unclog.

Hoses get clogged too. Anything non-dust can pretty much do it. Nails, paint chips, plaster chunks, hunks of wood, broken tile. Anything that gets lodged in the hose catches other stuff as it tries to pass. Kinda like the first car to wreck in a NASCAR race starts the pile up.

My first approach to unclog a shop vac hose is to leave the hose attached and the shop vac running then whack the back of the hose with the front. It’s usually enough to break up the log jam. You know you’ve got it when you hear the hunk of stuff get sucked into the canister.

Brand name trivia

Shop Vac is a brand name. Like Band-Aid or Xerox or Sawzall or Skilsaw.

• Shop Vac = shop vacuum
• Band-Aid = plastic adhesive bandage
• Xerox = photocopy
• Sawzall = reciprocating saw
• Skilsaw = circular saw

About the Author

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Mark

A licensed contractor, tool expert, wood and outdoor enthusiast, and elite Spartan Race competitor, he writes about home improvement and tools for national magazines and websites, and teaches hands-on clinics for other remodeling professionals. Check out his book, The Carpenter's Notebook.

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