I use the two stage amsoil air filter with the amsoil filter oil. That stuff is very tacky and works very well.

 

I take the filter out, plop in the wife's sink and use warm water and dawn soap. Mash it dont wring it. That strips the old oil off. Then for $6 I have a big can of PJ1i oil filter oil. Really taky and its red! I soak it with the oil then mash it between some paper towels so its pretty much all covered but not soping wet.

 

i do exactly what plainsman said except i wash it in gojo 1st (non abrasive kind) ,,,,then the sink/soap

and make sure it is real dry before the oil,,,,,,

after drying with paper towels to remove the water,,,,i hold it over the woodstove to dry the foam

the oil will just soak into the warm foam

have always had easy success with this method

 

I will try the last 2 methods, but as far as the oil it's PJ1 Foam Filter oil spray for me.

 

DO NOT USE motor oil or gear oil, unless it is a last resort. Filter oil has a solvent to make it flow better when it is being applied, then you let it dry for 15 minutes to let the solvent evaporate. Once the solvent (some brands use alcohol) evaporates the filter will be very tacky. Motor or gear oil will not dry and get tacky, it will get sucked out of the filter or run down to the bottom of the air box. If you drive it very much with or without motor oil, you are causing a lot of extra wear on the cyl. & rings.

 

1 - always use foam filter oil in a foam filter; no motor oil, 80w90, etc. It has the tackifiers needed to get the dust to stick to it.
2 - completely soak the filter with oil. Every cell in the foam should be coated with oil to capture the maximum amount of dust.
3 - get out as much oil as you can after soaking it. Squeeze out any excess oil, then hold the filter with some rags and squeeze it out some more.

The idea is to have the foam cell walls coated with oil, not to fill the cells with oil. Excess oil will just restrict air flow and drip out in the airbox.
The foam is not there to be the actual filter (except for really big stuff). The foam is there to hold the oil; the oil is what filters out the fine dirt and dust.