1
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Lawrence E. Gloyd
Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer
Rockford, Illinois
815-962-8867

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1997


                CLARCOR ANNOUNCES COMPLETION OF ACQUISITION OF
                            UNITED AIR SPECIALISTS


ROCKFORD, IL, FEBRUARY 28, 1997 -- CLARCOR Inc. (NYSE: CLC) announced today the
completion of its acquisition of UNITED AIR SPECIALISTS, INC. (FORMERLY NASDAQ:
UASI), a manufacturer of environmental and industrial air filtration products
based in Cincinnati, Ohio.
        
        Larry Gloyd, CLARCOR's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, "The
acquisition of United Air Specialists (UAS) provides us with the opportunity to
expand significantly our environmental / industrial air filtration operations,
CLARCOR's fastest growing segment. UAS manufactures commercial and industrial
air cleaners, including dust collectors. Our Airguard Industries subsidiary
manufactures air filter cartridges that are used in dust collectors and air
cleaning devices. We now have, for the first time, the ability to provide
customers a full product offering from an initial installation of a complete
industrial air cleaning system to comprehensive aftermarket filter replacements
and ongoing service and maintenance.
        
        "The combined engineering resources of both UAS and Airguard will
enhance our abilities to expand our gas turbine filtration business for power
transmission installations around the world. Airguard designs and manufactures
gas turbine filtration systems and supplies air filters for those systems. Gas
turbine filtration systems are very similar to large dust collector products
such as those designed and built by UAS.

        "UAS' expertise in telemarketing will give our Baldwin operation as well
as Airguard an additional ability to reach smaller customers located outside
traditional sales territories. Building an effective telemarketing presence
in-house would have been an expensive and lengthy process; UAS immediately gives
us an experienced and trained workforce, as well as telemarketing hardware and
software systems. 

   2

        "UAS' operations in England and Germany will enable Airguard to reach
customers throughout Europe. We are currently exploring the possibility of
establishing an Airguard manufacturing facility in Europe to serve an expanded
market for Airguard products through UAS' distribution network. CLARCOR's
operations in China, Southeast Asia, Mexico and southern Africa present UAS with
significantly new distribution and sales opportunities."

        CLARCOR expects the acquisition, which has been structured as a
statutory merger using pooling-of-interests accounting treatment, will dilute
earnings in fiscal 1997 by about $0.03 to $0.05 per share and will be accretive
to earnings thereafter. In addition, a one-time charge to earnings to cover the
costs of the merger of approximately $3 million before tax will be recorded in
the first quarter 1997. CLARCOR issued approximately 1,209,302 shares of common
stock in the acquisition, bringing total outstanding shares to approximately
16,120,000.

        CLARCOR is based in Rockford, Illinois, and is a diversified marketer
and manufacturer of mobile and environmental filtration products and consumer
products sold to domestic and international markets. Common shares of the
Company are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CLC.