Filtration of dust nanoparticles emitted from metallurgical processes is currently problematic, due to a rapid increase of the pressure drop and an inefficient filter cleaning, inducing high maintenance costs. This paper investigates the use of precoating technique to overcome the cleaning difficulties caused by the metallic nanoparticles. It consists of protecting the filter surface with a dust layer composed of micron-sized particles that is easily discharged upon cleaning. In this study, the pulse-jet cleaning of flat filters with and without precoating is evaluated. The aim is to determine the effect of operating conditions on the cleaning efficiency and provide guidelines on the application of precoating. Different precoating materials are tested, to determine whether the material choice is of influence. Experimental results highlighted the increase of the collection efficiency and dust holding capacity using precoating. The cleaning efficiency was significantly improved from 10 % without precoating to 90 % with precoating. Clogging/unclogging cycles showed that the use of precoating allowed stabilizing the filtration process. (C) 2020 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.