Pro tip: That fancy magnetic brush cleaner I bought was a total waste of $45

Picked up one of those pricey magnetic brush cleaners for my chimney rods, thinking it would save me time scrubbing soot. After three jobs, the magnets couldn't handle the buildup and the whole thing fell apart. Has anyone else had luck with a simpler method?

2 comments

2 Comments

sean_perry17d ago

Honestly, that "fancy magnetic brush cleaner" line cracked me up because I've been there. But here's something nobody's bringing up - maybe the issue isn't the tool itself but what kind of buildup you're dealing with. If you're using wet or sticky creosote, magnets just slide right off that stuff no matter how strong they are. I switched to just wrapping a heavy duty shop towel around my rods with a rubber band and it works way better for that greasy soot. For dry, flaky stuff the magnets might hold up, but for anything wet you're basically asking for a mess.

the_brian17d ago

I actually read a study from the Chimney Safety Institute of America a while back that said wet creosote is basically a tar-like substance that can be up to 70% water and unburnt fuel particles. That stuff is nasty. It's completely different from the dry, crusty stuff that just flakes off like a potato chip. I had a buddy who tried one of those magnetic brush kits on his stovepipe last winter and ended up with the whole thing just sliding down and jamming up with wet goo. He said it took him an hour just to scrape it all out with a plastic putty knife. The shop towel trick you mentioned actually makes a ton of sense for that scenario.