Had a change of heart about nylon brushes after a job in St. Louis last Thursday

Honestly, I've always been a wire brush guy for heavy creosote. Thought nylon brushes were for light stuff only. But I showed up at this old house in St. Louis and the flue was packed with this hard, shiny creosote. My wire brush kept skipping over it and just made a mess. The homeowner came out and said he used to be a sweep back in the 80s and handed me his old nylon brush setup. Told me to try it slow with some pressure. I figured why not, I was already frustrated. Within 10 minutes that brush was grabbing the creosote and pulling it down clean. No scratching the liner either. Now I'm wondering how many times I've damaged liners with wire brushes over the years. Anybody else made the switch and regretted it took so long?

2 comments

2 Comments

brian_ramirez13d ago

Man I heard some old timer say the same thing at a training thing last year, nylon grips better on that glazed stuff without killing the liner.

nelson.nancy13d ago

Those old timers really knew their stuff, I guess. My first boss back in the day used to swear by stiff nylon for everything except the worst tar, and I thought he was just set in his ways. But after trying it on a few jobs where the flue was in rough shape, I saw how much less dust and mess there was, plus the liner felt smooth afterwards instead of all scratched up. It took me about three jobs to fully switch over, and now I only pull out the wire brush if I hit that really thick, sticky creosote that's almost like tar. The wire brush still has its place for that kind of buildup, but for the regular glazed stuff, nylon is honestly easier and safer on the pipe.