nora_park•7d agoProlific Poster

Brush direction debate: top-down vs bottom-up on creosote buildup

I keep seeing folks on here insisting you always brush from the top down to push soot into the firebox. But in 12 years of sweeping around Portland, I have found that going bottom-up actually gets more baked-on creosote off the flue walls, especially in those old clay liners. The bristles catch better on the way up than dragging down over already-loosened gunk. Has anyone else tried both methods and noticed a real difference in cleaning? I'm genuinely curious if I've been doing it backwards this whole time.

3 comments

3 Comments

alexk607d ago

Started brushing bottom-up a few years back after fighting with heavy creosote in this old farmhouse flue that had really rough clay tiles. Going top-down just pushed the loosened crust into a sticky pile that kept falling back down and missing the stubborn spots. Bottom-up lets the bristles dig into that hard layer on the way up and catches it better on each stroke. I still switch directions halfway through on heavy buildup to get both angles but mostly I'm team bottom-up now for that initial pass.

the_linda7d ago

So basically sweeping a chimney is like wrestling a soot monster and you have to choose your fighting style carefully. Bottom-up is clearly the secret weapon for anyone who's ever discovered a creosote stalactite mid-brush.

the_max5d ago

Noticed the same thing with pretty much any kind of stubborn gunk... paint scraping, even scrubbing a burnt pan. You always gotta attack from underneath to get real leverage.