The way people brush out flues wrong these days drives me crazy

I was over at a buddy's house last Saturday helping him with a job and I saw him using one of those big plastic rotary brushes on a stainless liner. He was just shoving it up there and spinning it fast as it would go. Told me he learned it from a YouTube video. But that's not how you do it on a real soot buildup. You gotta go slow and steady, let the brush do the work not the speed. I learned that from an old timer back in 97 when I first started sweeping in Portland. He used to say "you're scraping not polishing" and it stuck with me. Now I see guys burning out their liners and leaving soot packed in the corners because they rush it. Anyone else notice way more sweeps skipping the hand scraping and just relying on power tools?

2 comments

2 Comments

taylor1741mo ago

Laughin my ass off at that "scraping not polishing" line cause I swear half these new guys think they're detailing a car not cleaning a chimney. They just blast that rotary brush up there like they're trying to start a fire with friction and then act surprised when the liner looks like a cheese grater after two seasons. I saw a guy on TikTok the other day showing his "pro method" and it was literally just the brush spinning so fast it was flinging soot everywhere but not actually removing anything. Makes me wonder if they even know what a hand rod feels like or if YouTube just told em to skip it.

taylor_mitchell801mo ago

Oh MAN you hit the nail right on the head with that one. I swear half these new guys watched a 3 minute YouTube short and decided they're experts, then go out and treat a stainless liner like it owes them money. Makes me cringe seeing how aggressive they get with those rotary brushes, like they're trying to win a race instead of actually cleaning the thing. It's honestly sad because a good hand rod job takes time and feel, but nobody wants to put in the practice anymore. Solidarity, brother - we're fighting the good fight against the TikTok generation.