Accidentally stepped on my own filter and split the plastic housing. While I was able to glue it back into a reasonable shape, it made sense to have an extra one on hand as it's a critical part of a vacuum cleaner. By the way, I am a big fan of Tineco A10 Hero. Before that I had a Dyson. It was a good device but it's a lot more powerful, it comes with two batteries - one battery powers the vacuum cleaner. The other is your spare, which means you don't have to stop vacuuming after 15-20 minutes like I did with my Dyson. The battery can be easily removed from the device. Before Dyson, there was the built-in Nutone - highly acclaimed, but lacked that kind of suction power and heavenly help if something got stuck in the vacuum tube running through your walls. This Tineco block can double as a car grip, which my Dyson model couldn't. And of course the built-in Nutone couldn't serve as a pocket device either. Tineco is also easier to empty than Dyson. Let's get back to the filter. I am glad that I have two such filters and now three. This filter (like the OEM filter) needs to be cleaned approximately every 10 minutes and flushed every few uses. That's the price paid for a powerful cordless handheld vacuum. From my point of view it seems like a small price to pay to be able to cut the cord and not have to lug a large, bulky vacuum cleaner up and down stairs and around furniture. The good news is that you can easily wash this filter with a mild dish detergent. But it takes time to dry. If you have a spare filter, you can replace it and continue cleaning.