For anyone else considering this "maintenance" . . .
If I were going to attempt to clean it, I would remove the whole air cleaner assembly from the engine and wiring harness. Make sure you protect the top of the engine to prevent debris from falling into the valve ports, etc. Then I would attempt to shop vac the filter fabric. If that didn't work, I might try pushing compressed air gently through the material from inside the assembly back out the intake filter fabric. As a last resort I might try running water through it and then air drying it sufficiently before putting it back on the engine. I would not drill out the plastic rivets and remove a non-serviceable component from the assembly.
