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That old paintbrush trick finally saved me on a sooty flue
I was working a house in Richmond last Tuesday with a flue so caked in creosote I couldn't even get a good view with my light. After scraping for 20 minutes with no progress, I remembered an old timer telling me to dip a stiff brush in water and use it to soften the buildup before scraping. The water helped loosen the creosote enough that I finished the job in half the time. Has anyone else tried wetting their brushes on tough jobs or do you stick to dry methods?
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lunar898d ago
The trick works better if you barely dampen the bristles rather than soaking them. A mist from a spray bottle avoids turning the creosote into that gluey mess Oliver's worried about. I keep a spray bottle with a little dish soap mixed in for the really stubborn crusted flues. The soap cuts the greasy part of the creosote without adding enough moisture to make things stickier.
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noahgreen7d ago
Soap tip is solid, that greasy creosote is a beast without it.
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olivermason8d ago
Wait, doesn't wetting the brush actually make the creosote turn into a sticky mess that's harder to clean up?
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