Review on EnviroCare Replacement HEPA Vacuum Cleaner Filter: Fits Kenmore EF-1 for Canisters and Uprights by Betsy Mitchell

I regularly buy these EnviroCare #976 pleated HEPA exhaust filters for my mother to use with her Kenmore Progressive 116 canister vacuum. The total cost of these filters is unmatched when compared to the cost of Kenmore's original Hepa filters. They look and work just like original Kenmore filters. The filters seem to fit my mom's vacuum perfectly, but I'm surprised they actually fit as tightly as the original Kenmore filters. I say this because even though my mom keeps her house meticulously clean weekly by dusting, sweeping, vacuuming, etc. and always keeps the windows closed to limit the ingress of outside dirt and pollutants, she still does finds an unusual amount of blackish dirt when using Swiffer to mop the floor in her kitchen, which adjoins her carpeted dining room. This question continues to baffle us both because we have no idea where such crap could come from. Then one day it dawned on me that the dirt could be very small particles present in a vacuum cleaner's exhaust that escape from the vacuum cleaner because that filter is not sealed airtight. I'm not saying that's definitely the case with these filters, but I'm just wondering if it might be. That potential issue aside, my mom and I are very happy with these filters and will continue to buy them.