Tried a soot eater rod on a heavy creosote job last week and it changed how I clean flues

I had this one house in the older part of town near Oak Street, the flue was caked with about a quarter inch of glazed creosote from someone burning unseasoned wood all winter. Normally I'd go in with my rotary brush and spend an extra 45 minutes scraping, but a buddy told me to try a soot eater rod with those flexible polymer heads. Ran it up there with my drill and it knocked off most of the buildup in under 10 minutes, way less mess too. Downside is the heads wore down fast after that heavy stuff, so I went through 3 of them on one job. Has anyone else used those on glazed creosote, or do you stick with traditional brushes for that?

3 comments

3 Comments

joel_martinez1mo ago

Those polymer heads really tear through glazed stuff but yeah they're basically disposable after that.

elizabeths511mo ago

@joel_martinez the "basically disposable" part got me. So you're saying those heads are pretty much single use if you hit a lot of glazed stuff? That feels like a waste if you ask me.

tylerj221mo ago

yep same here had to swap heads twice on one heavy job but the time saved was totally worth it