What filter do you use in your shop vac

[C.J.]

Wondering what filter you guys use in your shop vac. I’ve got a Ridgid shop vac and I just run the regular filter but I do use a vacuum bag. Never tried stepping up to Ridgid’s very fine filter (the blue one) or their HEPA filter (the green one). I’ve got a HEPA vac for when I need it so I don’t have to juice up my shop vac any more than it already is but I’ve been seeing the VF filters on Amazon for the same price as the regular filters. Do they perform better?

What’s your experience and what filter do you run in your shop vac.

 

[DarisMulkin]

I've used the same filter for my craftsmen vac for probably 6 or 7 years. I just blow it out with air, but I'm not in a customers home any more. Same filter for my Ridged one also.

 

[highup]

I use the Craftsman filter with the red band around it. It's the same filter as the one that comes with it.
Rigid used to be almost identical to Craftsman so I'm not sure if the filters are or were the same.
My 16 gallon vac has a detachable motor so it can be used as a leaf blower...... Or like Bill Murray used one in Caddyshack.
I use the blower to clean the filter after I tap out the majority of the dust. It sort of fogs the neighborhoods but I don't care.... I need a clean filter.

 

[C.J.]

I’m lucky if I can get 6 months out of a filter. Had a helper that belt sanded down a swollen piss spot in some particle board then vacuumed it up. Next time I went to use the shop vac I was blasted with the smell of piss filling the customers house. That filter got replaced real quick.

Then there was the clown that used my shop vac to suck up a bunch of water but didn’t remove the filter first. There goes that filter.

I try and buy the 2 packs whenever I can. That way I can put a fresh one in and still have a back up filter for when stupid happens.

 

[highup]

Piss changes everything including filters. Same here. If I have to vacuum pissy stuff, the filter has to go for the same reason.

 

[MSLI]

The cat piss will linger in the motor, And be with you for awhile ….. I’m using any filter I can get, ( supply issues) lately it’s been the bags only, with no filter.

 

[C.J.]

Just changed my bag this morning. I found these on Amazon. I wanna say that you get 5 bags for $20ish. They’re 2 for $20 at Depot. I read some reviews about the seams splitting but I’m on my 3rd one and have no complaints or issues.

 

[Tile Tom]

........ I once used my sock in a pinch.

Didn't work great but got the job done and a check in my hand. Guess it was a success... Or should I say a sockcess?

 

[havasu]

I wash the foam filter, as well as the microfiber cloth. I just rinse it out, lay it in the sun for a few minutes, and it is back to normal with no dust.

 

[C.J.]

........ I once used my sock in a pinch.

Didn't work great but got the job done and a check in my hand. Guess it was a success... Or should I say a sockcess?

Still had one sock left just in case

 

[Tile Tom]

Still had one sock left just in case

Yup. Just in case I got the bubble guts........

We've all been there. 5 gal pail with a trash bag. Socks, dollar bills, whatever for TP.

 

[highup]

Just changed my bag this morning. I found these on Amazon. I wanna say that you get 5 bags for $20ish. They’re 2 for $20 at Depot. I read some reviews about the seams splitting but I’m on my 3rd one and have no complaints or issues.

View attachment 15142View attachment 15143

I might have to try those. This sounds too cheap.
https://www.amazon.com/CMXZVBE38749...hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4583932713516276&psc=1

 

[C.J.]

It’s worth a try.

 

[highup]

It’s worth a try.

If they don't work I could use them to light briquettes.

.......unless there's lead, asbestos or Fentenl in the product.
........I'm shamefully assuming the country of origin right now.
I'm pointing towards a map of where the China Virus came from.

 

[DarisMulkin]

If they don't work I could use them to light briquettes.

.......unless there's lead, asbestos or Fentenl in the product.
........I'm shamefully assuming the country of origin right now.
I'm pointing towards a map of where the China Virus came from.

I just read yesterday theree is a new virus coming out of China.

 

[C.J.]

If they don't work I could use them to light briquettes.

.......unless there's lead, asbestos or Fentenl in the product.
........I'm shamefully assuming the country of origin right now.
I'm pointing towards a map of where the China Virus came from.

You know nothing is made here in the good ol U.S. of A. so if it wasn’t made in China it was made in one of their neighboring countries. Only makes sense that a new virus would be made there as well.

 

[JCobb]

I used Rigid vacs for 15 years, green and blue filters. Could not tell the difference. Got tired of paying 30$(Canadian) for 2 bags. Got a Makita Vac because the bags are only 45$ for 5 of them and they are way stronger, and a Hepa rating to boot. No more taping the seams (essential for those bags). Still the rigid vacs are great bang for the buck. I take them out of retirement when I have 2 job sites going at the same time.

 

[highup]

My new Craftsman 16 gallon shop vac showed up yesterday, two days early. It's the kind with the detachable motor that becomes a blower. I took the wheels and one wand head to Habitat ReStore. Wheels are useless to me because my hose is long..... no, that's not what I meant
It actually came with the filter and one bag. I ordered 5 bags when I bought the vac. I went ahead and bought a dust deputy while I was at it. I haven't researched if they work efficiently on a container larger than a 5 gallon bucket.... I still have my old, dead, shop vacs and might adapt one as the Deputy container. I might have a floor prep job in a new home. It has a nasty hump down the center of the homes length. Looks like a beam was set too high. I have no clue if it can be sanded down to make the floor flat enough for a floating engineered floor.
If it's possible, there's going to be a LOT of dust getting sucked through the edger.
I also splurged on a Lazer level. I'm gonna find out if measuring high and low spots in a floor is easier when standing up than crawling on the floor with a straightedge. I like buying my own Christmas gifts. It's always stuff I was hoping to get.

 

[JPfloor]

You’re gonna love the laser level… I used it for setting markers when pouring self leveler… So much better.

 

[highup]

I wished I had it two weeks ago when I went to measure an odd shaped home for wood flooring. I forgot to throw in my 6-ft piece of angle aluminum and the job was a half hour home. The entire home is being remodeled inside and out, all three stories. In the upper level, we're an octagon shape room narrowed down, I sensed a dip in the flooring along one side of the home and a laser would have been perfect. It also would help measure the octagon because the side laser would have given me and accurate point to measure from while standing in the middle of the room. A contractor had one at a job I recently measured. I sense to dip in the floor and while talking with the customer the contractor brought his over and laid it on the floor. What I thought was a dip actually wasn't. The coloration of one sheet of plywood tricked my eyes. Nope ....it was level.
I guess I'll find out if this is something I wanted or something I needed.