Chimney cleaning tips
To ensure safety of your chimney, regular cleaning is vital. The chimney is subject to dust, soot and heat and its cleaning involves washing out soot as well as removing creosote and dust from its walls. A few tools used in this task include the shovel, mirror fireplace cover, ladder, broom, shop vacuum, flashlight brush rods and so on. The cleaning exercise involves the four methods discussed.
Top down rod method involves using a chimney brush to clean way through the chimney’s opening. This is done by raising and lowering the brush through the walls. A metal rod is also fixed in order to reach the farthest parts of the wall. The debris and soot are collected at the closed fireplace. Weight method is similar to top down method although weights, ropes and pull ring are used. These three are assembled with the chimney brush and by raising and lowering the brush; one will easily scrub the internal walls.
Bottom up rod method is easy as the cleaning is done from the fireplace to the top of the chimney. One does not need to climb up to the roof. Use drop cloths and tarps to keep your furniture clean. Last but not least, the dual line method needs two people to do the cleaning. A rope is tied at both ends of the brush and one person pulls it upwards while the other does it downwards. This is done in turns until the interior walls get thoroughly cleaned.