Rant: I used to swear by steel brushes until I saw one shred a liner

For like 7 years I told every apprentice to hit the flue hard with a steel brush, figured more grit meant cleaner results. Then last month on a job in Portland I pulled out a brush that had shed bristles all over a stainless liner, and the homeowner showed me the scratches up close. Turns out those bristles can gouge the coating and cause rust spots that eat through in a couple seasons. My supplier finally talked me into trying a poly brush with rotary rods on a test chimney, and the soot came off just as fast with zero damage. Now I check the liner type before I pick any tool, and I feel dumb for not doing that sooner. Anyone else had a liner fail from brush marks, or am I the only one who learned this the hard way?

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foster.charles15d ago

Sounds like the bristles themselves weren't the problem so much as the brush being worn out, a steel brush in good shape sheds way less and most liner makers actually still say fine for stainless. Glad the poly brush is working for you though, rotary rods make a big difference on soft liners.

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