Paper or…Polyester? A Guide to Air Filter Media Selection

Yes, we’re all used to that question in the supermarket checkout line: “Paper or plastic?” We may mindlessly answer one way or another, just hoping to get home in time for the evening news, or we may think it over for a second, weighing a number of factors: How strong are the bags? How much can each one carry? Will I want to reuse them? Do I care about the environmental impact? Choosing air filtration media entails a similar analytical process, though some of the questions may be a little different. Read on for a few of the main concerns to take into account during your selection process:

Particle Size Ratings: This is probably the first thing to think about when choosing an air filter. Where will the filter be used, and what is it meant to remove from the air? For coarser material like, for instance, sawdust or pollen, filters rated to 100 microns or even more might do the trick (for reference, a human hair is 150 microns wide). Finer materials like dust would bring you down around the 50 micron range, and fume and smoke filtration requires a rating of 1 micron or less.

Efficiency: Also a primary concern in terms of maintenance and effectiveness. A filter’s efficiency is the percentage of particles that it traps and holds as air passes through it. For instance, Dynamic Filtration’s heavy duty industrial thermoset paper filters have a 98%+ efficiency per the SAE fine dust test (for particles of 75 microns or more). Even more impressive, our polyester cloth filters are rated at 98% efficiency for 10 microns.

Material: Back to the original question: typically, options will be either paper or synthetic (polyester) media. The above questions will factor into your decision, as polyester can typically be engineered to capture finer particles. Cost is also a consideration: paper filters are generally less expensive than synthetics. Keep in mind, however, that synthetic filters are washable and reusable, up to 15 times or more. This can drive down the overall cost to less than that of paper filters, over a period of months of years.

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