cleaned my panel filter the other day I used almost 1/2 bottle of cleaner and only used 29ml of oil,kit will clean 2x filters oil will do 6-7 recharges. So, my question is can you use another type of detergent(cleaner), say dishwashing liquid etc, instead of the K&N stuff?.
WTF?! Dude, i bought a K&N cleaner kit a long time ago, you DO NOT need to use half a bottle in one clean on your filter. You are supposed to do one coat of cleaner on your filter (not go nuts with it, just spray it lightly over the filter), let it soak, rinse the filter, let it air dry, then spray a light coating of oil on it.
Overcoating it with oil will decrease it's ability to flow more air as thick coats of oil will block the small holes in the filter which allow the air through.
I wouldn't advise using any detergents on it such as dishwashing liquid etc, it may cause the filter to dry and split etc. If you run out of filter CLEANER, just thouroughly clean it under running water, let it dry then oil it.