Showerthought: Why do we always insist on the tightest brush fit?

I kept hearing everyone say to use the tightest fitting brush you can jam in the flue for maximum cleaning. But last month on a job in Spokane, I tried a slightly smaller poly brush on a stubborn 8x12 clay liner. The bristles could actually flex and snap around the corners instead of just gliding over the creosote ridges. I got way more soot out on the first pass than my usual brute force method ever did, and I didn't have to fight the brush every inch of the way down. Has anyone else experimented with going a size down instead of jamming the biggest brush in?

3 comments

3 Comments

mark_fisher482d ago

Man I did the exact same thing last fall and felt like I was breaking some kind of chimney sweep code or something. My old boss would probably smack me if he saw me using a brush that was actually smaller than the flue but honestly it worked way better on that heavy buildup. The bristles have room to dig in and scrape instead of just sliding over the top layer of gunk like a butter knife on a brick. It's like the difference between trying to scrub a pot with a rock vs a sponge you know? My arms sure appreciated not fighting the brush the whole way down too, especially after that one job where I almost got the stupid thing stuck sideways and had to wiggle it out for ten minutes.

sarah_johnson4616h ago

Are you kidding me? That butter knife on a brick analogy is perfect and honestly describes every single job I've done before trying the smaller brush. I had the same experience with a clay liner last winter and felt like I was cheating or something. My arms were so much happier not fighting that tight fit, and I actually got down to the bare tile instead of just polishing the creosote. It's wild how we all just buy into that tighter is better thing without questioning it until something forces us to try different.

faith_smith1d ago

Wait, @mark_fisher48 you almost got a brush stuck sideways in a flue and you're just casually mentioning that now like it's no big deal?