The Importance of Cleaning Your Fireplace with Chimney Brushes

If you were asked which is the most important tool for your chimney, your first guess would probably be chimney brushes and rods. You would be absolutely right. As an essential cleaning tool for your chimney, chimney brushes help clean the flue from your chimney so that soot and creosote does not build up in it. The chimney’s main job, particularly if you have a wood burning fireplace or wood stove is to get rid of smoke and soot, keeping you safe from it as you enjoy the warmth of your hearth’s fire indoors. This is why it is critical to keep the chimney clean.

Each time you use your fireplace or wood stove, creosote is emitted, especially if you are using wood that is damp or not seasoned well. This creosote combusts and builds up on the walls of your chimney. If you ignore it, it can cause serious problems, as it will block the airflow through your chimney. This would result in a major fire. Because of this chimneys must be cleaned frequently to enable you use your fireplace safely. The cleaning can be done on your own, or with the help of a hired chimney sweep.

Before selecting a chimney brush and rod, it is important to measure the diameter of the flue of your chimney to get the optimum cleaning results since you do not want to scratch the inner wall of the flue or your chimney liner.

Chimney cleaning brushes have bristles that are sturdy and spiky. A variety of chimney brushes and rods are available of which two are the most preferred, namely the poly chimney brush and the wire bristle chimney sweep brushes. Generally, the most common brush is made of wire bristles. It gently scrapes off the soot and glazed creosote. It suits most chimneys like masonry and wood chimneys.

However, a different type of brush must be used if you have a prefabricated chimney with a metal liner. For these, stiff polypropylene chimney brushes are suitable as they are safe on the metal liners. These bristles are made of plastic materials, so they will not scratch the liner.

Chimney sweeps carry different chimney cleaning brushes for different parts of the chimney as they know the right techniques. Wire brushes are ideal to get the thick creosote off the flue. These brushes come in different shapes to suit the cleaning operation. For the fireplace damper, brushes with soft bristles are used. There are also scratch and chamber brushes made of a harder material to scrape off the stubborn creosote. Almost all kinds of chimney brushes and rods are available at your local hardware store. You will find a variety of shapes like round, square and rectangular chimney cleaning brushes. It is advised that you select a brush that is slightly larger than the inner width and length of your flue. The threads on the brushes come in different sizes as well, with ¼ inch, ¾ inch, 3/8 inch and so on. You can either buy the chimney brushes and rods as a kit or separately.

Bendable chimney cleaning brushes let you fit them through narrow openings. The same set of rods can be used with different brushes with an adaptor that lets you maneuver turns in the flue.

Chimney sweep brush kits contain all the appropriate brushes that you need to keep your chimney and flue clean. Most stores that stock them will also offer advice on the type of brush you need based on your fireplace so that you can decide between a homeowner quality brush and a professional quality chimney brush. Cleaning your chimney with a chimney cleaning brush is the best way to keep your chimney free from dirt and avoid a fire hazard.

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