Chimney Cleaning Services: Types Of Chimney Brushes And How To Effectively Use Them

Chimney Cleaning Services: Types Of Chimney Brushes And How To Effectively Use Them

chimney cleaning services

When you opt to clean the chimney by yourself instead of hiring chimney cleaning services, you need cleaning brushes. There are many types of brushes you can go with. For you to buy the right ones, first inspect the chimney. Use a mirror or torch and look up the chimney. How much soot is deposited there? The harder the deposits, the more abrasive and harder the brush you need and vice versa. Some of the brushes you can go with include:

Perlon viper heads or brushes

Perlon is a soft material that is ideal for gas flues that have little or no soot deposited. You can also use it to remove cobwebs that stick to the brush.

Soft nylon brushes

They are a little bit harder than Perlon brushes; hence, you can use them to remove much harder soot that might have accumulated in the chimney. If you have a fireplace where you burn wood or coal, these are the best brushes to go for.

Mole brushes

They are the latest kids on the block. They are also very soft, and you can use them to clean the chimney using traditional and rotary methods.

The brushes come in different sizes, and it’s up to you to buy those that will effectively fit your flue. If you have a thatched property with a large flue, you should go for a large mole.

Wohler brushes

They are designed to be used in cleaning ceramic or rigid steel chimney systems. The brushes make use of the cutting action of soot from the flue walls making chimney cleaning easy and fun. To clean your chimney, you can use the viper, star, or rope cleaning methods.

If you have a stainless steel chimney only use stainless steel brushes. Don’t use mild steel brushes as you will make the chimney start rotting.

Stiff nylon brushes

Designed to clean harder wood, coal, and peat deposits, you need to use more effort for you to get rid of all the soot that might have been deposited in the chimney. If you inspect the chimney and find that you don’t need a lot of physical work to clean it, you don’t have to use the brushes. Replace them with a whip head instead.

Rotary flails

These excel at cleaning harder chimney deposits. Be cautious when using hem in some chimneys as they can damage them. If there are bird nests in your chimney, they are the best tools to use without getting calluses or sore hands.

The frails are highly effective at cleaning flaky or expanded creosote. They also come in handy at cleaning the hard deposits left behind when you are burning smokeless coals.

You should note that the frails are dangerous to use; therefore, before you start using them, undertake training and learn how to use them safely.

Rotary chains

They are the best option when you are removing creosote that is extremely hard to remove. They are also effective at getting rid of stubborn nests. Due to the amount of damage they can cause, you should be ultra-cautious when using them. As a rule of thumb, never use them if you have never used them before. To reduce the chances of damaging your chimney, first, take a course on how to properly use them.

Tips when using chimney brushes

The type of chimney brush you use determines the results you get and how fast you clean the chimney. If you have never used a brush before, ask a professional to guide you on choosing the right one.

You need to prepare the surfaces to prevent soot from spreading to all areas of the house. You do this by placing paper covers on the furniture. You also should remember to sheet up. This is placing old bedsheets against the fireplace opening. The sheet will prevent the dust from the chimney from spreading to the rest of the house.

If you have minimal soot, you have an easy time cleaning the chimney, but if your fireplace has a lot of soot, consider hiring a chimney sweep Columbia MD to help you with the cleaning. The contractor will most likely do a better job than you, giving you peace of mind that your chimney can’t develop chimney fires.

This post first appeared on https://www.firstclasschimneyservices.com

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