Dust collector cleaning tips??

[marks]

I am at the point where I will need to clean out my dust collector. I imagine that this is going to be a fairly nasty, dusty job, and I was wondering, short of just buying new bags, if anyone has any tips on how to clean the accumulated stuff in the bags without making a bigger mess than what I bought the collector for in the first place.

Thanks!

[alexanderfrese]

Take the whole thing onto a windy shoreline, make sure the wind blows out on the sea and go for it…

[KurtHuhn]

I take those big, tall, paper leaf collection bags and carefully dump the filter bags into them. If I'm very careful, it doesn't make a mess at all. Then I place them out with the rest of the yard waste to go to the town compost pile. If you can't find those, use the giant lawn and leaf bags, put the filter bag inside the lawn and leaf bag, restrict the top as best you can and still get an arm in, and carefully empty the filter bag. Either way, it's inevitable that your arms will get dusty, but hopefully the rest of you stays clean.

[marks]

Thanks guys!