Found out my dad's old brush setup is still the gold standard for some jobs

I was digging through an old trade magazine from 1989 that my dad left behind, and I stumbled on a stat that really caught me off guard. It said that back then, over 80 percent of residential sweeps used a 9-inch poly brush with steel bristles for creosote buildup, and I swear almost every guy I trained under still swears by that same combo. I always thought we moved past that stuff with all the new rotary tools and vacuum attachments, but the article had a chart showing how that old brush design actually outperformed a lot of the modern ones in heavy flue conditions. I tested it on a job last Tuesday, a real rough stack in an old farmhouse near Wheeling, and it pulled off a solid inch of glazed creosote way faster than my usual rig. Kinda makes me wonder how many other old tricks we've just tossed aside without really testing them. Has anyone else ever compared old and new gear side by side like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

lucas_jenkins2d agoOG Member

That inch of glazed creosote you pulled off, was it from a wood stove or an old fireplace insert? The reason I ask is that I've seen those 9-inch poly brushes with steel bristles really shine on the heavy stuff, but they can scratch the hell out of a stainless liner if you're not careful. I had a buddy who swore by his dad's setup too, but he gouged a cheap liner so bad on a job he had to replace it for free. So I wonder if that old school performance only works because the flues back then were built tougher, or if we're just babying our gear too much now. Maybe it's just that the new liners are more delicate and the brush needs to match them, not just the soot.

joseph_hunt2d ago

New liners are just thinner and cheaper now.