TIL most folks think sweeping a liner means scrubbing the whole flue, and that's why their draft gets worse

Betty Hernandez · 2026-10-11T12:05:04.222675+00:00

Honestly I have been running my brush through the same 30 foot liner in a 1920s house in Baltimore for 9 seasons now and the thing people keep getting wrong is thinking the brush should feel tight the whole way down. A stiff poly brush on a square flue is not the same job as a round stainless liner, and if you force it you just polish the creosote into a glaze that water and soot stick to even harder. I learned this after a call back in 2019 where the homeowner told me their draw got worse after my visit and I had to eat the second trip to figure it out. Ngl now I run a softer brush and let the weight of the rods do the work, maybe 2 passes max, then I check with a mirror and a light before I call it done. Tbh half the old timers I trained under swore by the stiff brush no matter what and I get why, but liners are a different animal. Has anyone else had a customer complain about draft after a sweep and traced it back to the brush they used?

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TIL most folks think sweeping a liner means scrubbing the whole flue, and that's why their draft gets worse | Chimney Sweeps - Rigidtalk