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Can we talk about the switch from steel brushes to poly bristles for flue liners?
I swore by steel for years, but after cracking a 20-year-old clay liner in Boise last fall, I switched to poly for anything pre-1980. Anyone else made the jump and had better results?
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troy_gibson435mo ago
Notice how this is the same shift happening everywhere - poly brushes are to old flues what LED bulbs are to antique fixtures, they just work gentler and smarter for delicate stuff. We've trained ourselves to think "rougher equals cleaner" in most areas of life, but with these old clay liners it's more like washing a cast iron pan where the right tool keeps the patina intact. You're basically trading a few extra passes of the poly brush for the peace of mind that you're not yanking out chunks of history with every stroke.
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alice9916mo ago
Honestly, what's the oldest flue you've cleaned with poly and felt totally safe about it? I'm still nervous on the really old, soft clay ones. I had a steel brush catch and pull out a chunk in a 1920s farmhouse flue last year, scared me straight. But I worry the poly just isn't rough enough on some of that built-up creosote.
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