Six pleated filter cartridges with different base media and geometrical dimensions were tested in a full-size dust collector periodically cleaned by a short burst of pulse-jet. The evaluation was performed under two different cleaning modes called clean-on-demand (to clean the filter once the pressure drop reaches a preset value) and clean-on-time (to clean the filter at a fixed time interval). The filter performance was evaluated by the effective residual pressure drop and downstream particle concentration. The results showed that the pleat ratio, defined as the ratio of pleat height to pleat pitch, had a great influence on the preferred operating mode for cleaning the filter. Clean-on-time mode demonstrated better performance for filters with a high pleat ratio (>4.0), while clean-on-demand mode performed better for filters with a low pleat ratio (<4.0). The test results also showed the tank pressure was critical for cleaning the pleated filter cartridges, whereas the pulse duration only had a small effect on the cleaning efficiency. With the same base media, cartridges with surface treatment such as fine fiber were superior to those without surface treatment. Pulse-jet cleaning could also promote particle penetration through filter media. The downstream particle concentration during cleaning was at least twice of that during filtration process for all pleated filter cartridges tested. Further, the downstream particle concentration was independent of the applied cleaning mode and the cleaning intensity in this study. Published by Elsevier B.V.