I finally get why my old mentor in Pittsburgh was so picky about brush bristles

He told me cheap poly bristles just push soot around instead of grabbing it, and after fighting a nasty creosote buildup last week I see exactly what he meant. Anyone else notice a huge difference swapping to a wire brush on heavy jobs?

3 comments

3 Comments

troychen5d ago

Man, that's so true about the rust spots. I learned the hard way that even a little surface rust can make the whole job way harder next time. It's worth paying extra for stainless to avoid that headache.

charles8365d ago

Made the same mistake with cheap brushes on a chimney job last fall. A good stiff wire brush cut my cleanup time in half and actually got the flue clean.

evan_davis5d ago

Yeah, "stiff wire brush" is the key there, but make sure it's stainless steel not regular steel wire. Regular steel can leave little rust spots on the flue and cause problems down the line.