Cleaning filters

[toquin]

We go thru 4-6 felt cones and 12 to 20 paper cone filters every day we bottle. How do you guys clean them up a little, before you take them home to the wife to wash in washing machine? Sugar sand is pretty thick this year.

[Pdiamond]

I use nothing but hot water. Do you have the felt /final filter marked up or top so it always faces the same way. It is not really a good idea to put them in a washing machine because of residual soap and other cleaners. You should not wring them out either just rinse and lay them out to dry. they work better to filter if they are damp.

[buckeye gold]

I have washed mine on the light cycle in the washing machine for years. Hot water and no soap. They get wayyy cleaner and preform better than rinsing. Sometimes I soak them in a bucket of hot water first and that gets a lot of nitre out. after the washer quits I hang them to finish drying.

[tcross]

my wife doesn't wash them. i was them in as hot a water i can get. my regular faucet water gets plenty hot and cleans them up pretty quickly. Years ago i used the washer machine, but i could always smell a little detergent/soap so i stopped doing it that way.

[Z/MAN]

If you were to take the agitator out of your washer and see all the gunk and crud under it you would never again "wash" your filters in a washing machine. I attach a small hose to my hot water faucet, add a spray nozzle and power rinse them clean. Very clean.

[buckeye gold]

I have never noticed any smell of detergent of any kind. We do not have one of those high efficiency washers where they never fill with much water. We have a GE water hog, LOL. I can set the water level and I set it to fill as if doing a large load and run the water until it's hot in the utility sink. I'm satisfied with my results and people compliment my syrup, so I will continue. we all make our best choices for us. I also have my water heater turned up over 140. I used to rinse them with a hose and never came as clean.

[maple flats]

Just clean them in running hot water, no washing machine. Then squeeze them and hang to dry, never wring them out, it will completely ruin that filter.

[jmq]

If you are using a wool filter you should never put it in the washing machine. The agitation will disturb the fibers of the wool and cause it to shrink. The hottest water you can use and lay it on a towel and roll it up, gently squeezing as you go is all you need. I have a degree in Clothing & Textiles and this is what we were taught about wool in Textile Chemistry.

[Dave Puhl]

A hose and sprayer hooked up to hot water faucet for me...all seams on the outside for use and turn them inside out to clean..sit outside and I use a 5-6 gal bucket to hold the over spray to a min. it takes allot of hot water but I have an outside wood stove so i got an endless supply. I hang from the tip and drip dry

[maple flats]

How much syrup do you filter in a day, if you use 4-6 cone filters? Maybe it's time, if you prefer staying with felt or Orlon filters, that you should make or have made, a large flat filter rack to use the largest flat filters, they will filter way faster and easy.
Years ago, I bought some tanks and small stuff from a retiring producer. He had a 4x14 oil fired evaporator so he did a lot of syrup. In his sugarhouse he had about 8 or 10 30"x30" flat racks that he filtered with, with a square tank under each.