I think wire brushes are overrated for clay flue liners

Been sweeping for about 8 years now, mostly in the northeast Ohio area. Everyone I meet at the trade shows swears by wire brushes for everything. But I started noticing a pattern about 3 years ago. Homes built in the 50s and 60s with those clay flue liners, I'd hit them with a wire brush and the liner would look all scratched up and rough. One customer, Mrs. Patterson in Akron, called me back after 6 months saying her fireplace was smoking worse than before. I went back and looked, and it seemed like the scratches were catching soot more. Switched to a poly brush for those jobs, and no callbacks since. I feel like a lot of guys just use wire because that's what their dad used. Has anyone else seen long term damage from wire brushes on older liners?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_terry11d ago

The whole thing reminds me of how everyone used to scrub nonstick pans with steel wool back in the day lol. They'd wreck the coating and never put two and two together. People just grab whatever tool is cheapest and most aggressive without thinking about what it does to the surface over time. It's like using sandpaper on a hardwood floor instead of a mop. I bet a lot of those scratched up liners cause drafting issues down the line that get blamed on the chimney design instead of the brush.

lucaslane11d ago

Never really thought about it that way, but you're absolutely right. I used to just grab the cheapest brush at the hardware store and go to town, figuring any brush would do the job. But now I'm seeing all these scratched up flue liners in older houses and it clicks. It's exactly like ruining a nonstick pan with steel wool, you don't notice the damage until the coating is already gone and stuff starts sticking. And yeah, those scratches probably mess with the draft way more than people realize, especially over time. Thanks for pointing it out, this changed my mind on how careful you have to be with chimney brushes.