Debate: Routine sweep with a round brush vs. using a square brush for tight corners?

So I'm stuck on this and want to hear what you all think. I've been sweeping fireplaces for about 4 years now, mostly in old houses here in Portland. I always used a standard round brush for everything, but last month a customer's chimney had these super tight corners where the liner bent. I tried my round brush and it kept missing spots along the edges. I switched to a square brush for that one job, got way more soot out, but it also felt like it scratched up the terracotta flue tiles more than usual. Now I'm torn about which one to use for regular maintenance. Has anyone else dealt with this trade off between coverage and wear on the liner?

3 comments

3 Comments

loganthompson20d ago

Square brush all day for tile work, round brushes just slide over the soot buildup.

loganl2220d agoMost Upvoted

Stop the presses. You're telling me you actually get soot buildup on your tile work? Like, people are out here lighting fires in their tile spaces or what? I always figured that was just a chimney problem. Man, the stuff you learn on forums.

piper_reed5d ago

Yeah and @loganthompson's square brush just pushed all that soot into my grout lines.