Craftsman vacuum filters

[fan-of-fans]

Does anyone know if other brands of pleated type filters will fit a Craftsman 12 gallon shop vac. I see the specific "black stripe" filters on Amazon. But locally I see similar looking filters sold at Lowes by Shop-Vac and Harbor Freight that look similar.

Some of the reviews I was reading said these would fit Craftsman vacuums.

I'm pretty sure my Craftsman is a Shop Vac made model, the model no starts with 338, so I was thinking perhaps Shop Vac brand filters may fit.

 

[lotsofkirbys]

I believe you are correct. Shop-vac brand filters should fit. Providesd it attaches by a large plastic screw plate, it should fit.

 

[huskyvacs]

As long as it fits snug and seals tightly I don't see why it wouldn't.

If you are having trouble finding NOS filters try ACE hardware, things linger in ACE for a long time they might have one.

 

[fan-of-fans]

Well doing some more research with the part number, found out these older Craftsman take different filters than what are found at Lowes or other places. Once I was able to find the measurements of the OEM filter, I was unable to find any other ones from other brands that might fit. They were all too short by a few inches.

So this takes a specific gray stripe filter, which fortunately is still available from a few sellers such as eBay and Amazon, so is still in production.

What disappoints me is I was hoping for a more washable material filter like I've seen at Lowes, etc, rather than the OEM paper type. But paper it will have to be.

I might end up getting some large dust bags to use to help keep the filter cleaner. It's nearly $30 so not exactly cheap, and the $10 purchase price is starting to add up. LOL

I was fortunately able to find a 2 1/2" dusting brush and crevice tool on clearance at Lowes for about $5 total, since they are going from the store brand Utilitech to Craftsman. So that was a good deal at least. And now the vacuum is well outfitted with attachments adding to the ones it came with when I got it.

 

[huskyvacs]

I have a Shop Vac and bags and filters are nowhere near as expensive, but I have mine set up for dry pickup with full filter and bags, and yes using bags will keep the filter clean.

 

[suckolux]

I have the cleava made Shop-Vac style machine with filter and bag option, I found that the Kirby bag fits in there just fine and the generic hepa are pretty affordable filter never gets dirty suction doesn't drop