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That retired sweep told me to skip the poly brush and I should have listened
Last fall I was cleaning a flue in an old house near downtown Portland and the homeowner kept asking me not to scratch the firebox tiles. I remembered this guy Larry from a trade meetup who swore by using a stiff wire brush on everything, said poly brushes were for amateurs. So I grabbed the wire one and went to town. Well, I scratched the hell out of those glazed tiles, left these gray streaks all over them. The homeowner was not happy and I had to come back with a special cleaner to buff them out. Took me an extra hour and I felt like a fool. Larry probably meant for rough masonry, not those smooth inserts. Has anyone else had a tool tip backfire like that from a veteran in the field?
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jackson.sarah27d ago
Oh man, that's rough! I gotta say though, I think Larry might have been right in a different situation but you're right about the smooth inserts. Wire brushes are great for rough brick and unglazed surfaces, but on glazed tiles they'll scratch them up every time. Poly brushes are actually softer and won't leave those gray streaks, so you'd probably have been fine with one. I've made a similar mistake myself using a wire wheel on a ceramic stove pipe before I learned the hard way. The trick is knowing what surface you're working with before you pick the brush, not just trusting anyone's rule of thumb. Hope that cleaner buffed them out okay!
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troy99627d ago
The poly brush point is something people sleep on way too much. I've been using them for years on sensitive surfaces and they really do save your skin compared to wire. The gray streaks from wire brushes happen because the metal particles embed into the tile pores and oxidize, especially on lighter grouts. Poly brushes might take a little more elbow grease but they don't leave that ugly residue behind. Once you get the feel for them you start noticing how much cleaner the finish looks without those micro scratches. Larry probably meant well but rules of thumb only work until you're staring at a ruined floor.
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