Found out vacuum filters need washing way more often than manuals say

I was looking at the manual for my old Hoover after it started losing suction bad. It said wash the foam filter every 3 months. But I saw a YouTube video from a repair guy who said every 2 weeks if you have pets. I tested it with my two dogs and after 2 weeks the filter was totally caked with hair and dust. Now I rinse it every other Sunday and the suction stays strong. Anyone else find out their filter schedule was way off?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_abby2d ago

That's a really good point but I think you might be washing them a bit too often. Most manufacturers actually design those filters to be washed less frequently because the foam can break down faster with too much washing. I had a similar issue with my Shark vacuum where I was cleaning the filter every week and it started tearing after about 6 months. The repair guy I talked to said the real sweet spot is every 4-6 weeks for pet owners, not every two weeks. Your filter getting caked after 14 days might mean you need to tap it out over the trash can between washes to get the loose stuff off. That way you're not fully saturating the foam as often but still keeping the airflow clear.

richard1102d ago

Totally agree with tapping it out between washes... that's the trick I learned with my Dyson where you can actually get a surprising amount of loose dust out just by banging it on the garbage can rim. The thing is, the foam really does start to degrade if you get it fully wet too often, like the glue holding the layers together just gives up. I switched to only fully washing my filters every 6 weeks or so and just doing the tap out routine in between, and the last filter lasted me over two years before I finally replaced it.