Plastic brushes vs metal ones, found out the hard way on a clay flue

Last month I had a job in Tacoma with this old clay tile liner, figured my usual wire brush would chew through the creosote fine. Man, was I wrong. After about 20 minutes I noticed the bristles were leaving these little scratch marks on the tile, and the homeowner pointed out that the mortar joints were getting gouged out. I stopped right there and drove 30 minutes to grab a poly brush with the stiff nylon bristles instead. Night and day difference, it flexed around the corners without digging in, and the sweep came out way cleaner in half the time. Cost me an extra $45 and a late start, but that tile would've been wrecked by the time I finished with the metal one. Has anyone else had to swap brushes mid-job because of liner damage? I'm curious if there's a way to tell just by looking at the flue whether you need plastic or metal before you start.

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kaiharris12d ago

Honestly my cousin wrecked a liner with steel wool once, nobody saw it coming.