Just realized a shop vac with a fine dust filter saves so much time on chimney cleanouts

I was doing a cleanout last Tuesday on a house near downtown and the soot was getting everywhere no matter how careful I was. Tried hooking up my shop vac with a HEPA filter bag and it cut the cleanup from 45 minutes to maybe 15. Has anyone else found a specific filter bag brand that holds up to heavy ash without clogging?

3 comments

3 Comments

patricia_schmidt142mo ago

Wait Margaret, don't those Filteco bags burn through quick with heavy ash?

margaret_gonzalez252mo ago

Oh yeah I grabbed one of the Filteco bags off Amazon and it handles ash way better than the cheap ones. Big difference in suction too.

alexc931mo ago

Yeah Filteco bags hold up way better than the cheap ones. I had one clog on me mid-job once and learned that lesson real quick. Make sure you tap the bag out between cleanouts too if you're dealing with real fine ash, helps it last longer.