Thought chimney brushes with plastic bristles were junk until a guy in Boise proved me wrong
I always used wire brushes and figured plastic was for homeowners who didn't know better. Then a sweep named Dale showed me his poly brush on a clay flue liner, said wire was taking off glaze every time he ran it. I watched him do a 30 foot run with no scratching and the creosote came off fine. Now my wire brush sits in the truck most days. Anybody else switched over, or am I late to this one?
Funny how "plastic is junk" turns into "my wire brush rides shotgun now" real fast once you see a poly brush glide down a clay liner without chewing up the glaze. Dale was right, that shiny glaze is the whole point on clay, and wire just grinds it off a little more each run. I switched after watching a guy pull a whole mess of glazed creosote off a liner with no gouges at all. Late? Maybe a little, but at least you got there before your flue turned to gravel.