THIS PAPER PROVIDES AN OVERVIEW OF EASILY UNDERSTOOD FILTRATION SYSTEM PRINCIPLES AS THEY RELATE TO THE SELECTION OF NONWOVEN ROLL MEDIA FOR METALWORKING COOLANT FILTRATION. FILTER MEDIA SELECTION CRITERIA ARE DEFINED. THE FILTRATION CHARACTERISTICS CREATED BY DIFFERENT NONWOVEN MANUFACTURING PROCESSES AND MATERIAL COMPOSITIONS FOR THIS APPLICATION ARE DESCRIBED AND COMPARED. A STATISTICALLY SOUND, QUANTITATIVE, STEP-BY-STEP METHODOLOGY IS PROVIDED FOR CONDUCTING SIMPLE YET EFFECTIVE COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS OF FILTER MEDIA AND MONITORING FILTRATION SYSTEM PERFORMANCE TO CONTINUALLY IMPROVE THE QUALITY, PRODUCTIVITY, AND COST POSITION OF METALWORKING OPERATIONS.