Found a better way to clean those heavy creosote deposits

I was fighting with a wire brush for hours on a job in Denver last week until I tried spraying the flue with a mix of water and vinegar first. It loosened the gunk way faster and saved me about 30 minutes of scraping. Has anyone else tried something like that for tough buildup?

2 comments

2 Comments

shane_ross26d ago

Vinegar and water has been my go to for months now. Had a chimney last winter that was caked so bad I was about to give up, then tried a 50/50 mix and it cut through like butter. Saved me at least 20 minutes of elbow grease on that job.

dianab6826d ago

You ever try that on a really old, decades-old buildup though? I did the same mix last spring on a fireplace that probably hadn't been cleaned since the 70s and it barely touched it... just made everything wet and weird. Had to bust out the wire brush anyway, took me twice as long because of the added mess. Maybe it works for newer chimneys or lighter soot, but for that thick crusty stuff I just don't see it.