Man! I thought my dad was the only guy to clean a paper filter!
You can use an air-compressor to "clean" the filter. You should be aware that when you do this, you do remove some surface dirt, but can you tell if you are making some of the pores in the filter larger? I know money gets tight. I'm fairly certain we've all been there before. Yet, I think it would be silly, given the small price of another paper filter.
The wisdom of choosing whether or not to get a K&N filter could very well depend on the road conditions that you drive through on a regular basis. I wouldn't recommend it on a dirty/dusty road. The extra oil you would use to trap the extra dirt would probably turn exponential at some point. If it's clean driving, no problem. You may expect a couple of extra horsepower; not sure what you'd use it for, however. How long do you expect to own your car? If less than ten years, buy a paper filter.
Of course, most of the folks in here swear by K&N! I've seen the demonstrations at O'Reilly's. The fan blows the ping-pong ball up to the top of a vertical tube. The Fram filter barely moves it. But, how many more particles get through the filter (if any) , and how much of an issue is it(if particles get in)?
Just my opinion, I could be wrong.
