Best Brush for 6 inch Chimney

I just use a plain old steel brush with fiberglass rods I bought at Home Depot. Seems to do the job pretty well for me.

I've heard that you're suppose to use the nylon brushes on the stainless steel chimneys. I know lots of guys use the steel ones, but I've personally got a nylon one on order.

I just used a nylon brush yesterday to clean 14' of stainless steel chimney. It worked great. It knocked off everything I would have expected it to. However, the 1/4" rods that came with it could become difficult to handle beyong 16'. The rods were bending when I was pushing down the last 2-3'.

I had a hard time pushing the nylon brush through, but no problem with the steel.
I guess I could trim the bristles like others do, but it's only once a year.

Well, maybe we should clarify whether we're talking stainless chimney, or stainless flex liner. I have no experience with the flex, but common sense says it probably damages much more easily. Maybe a nylon brush for that???

QUOTE: Best Brush for 6 inch Chimney :QUOTE

I'm thinking a 6" brush : )

The nylon brush that I got at the local hahdwayah stoah was really quite stiff. Just looking at it as opposed to the stainless one I saw at Home Despot- I am convinced that it is, in fact, much "scrubbier" though harder to force through the pipe. I will be trimming it before the next use.

Also- I will attach a pull line with a weight of some sort (tennis ball?) to the ring on the bottom as the flexi-rods were bending too much to push it through that last little dodge in the pipe before the stove, but it was easily pulled through once I got ahold of it.

I clean from the stove level, which reduces the options.
The brushes on the nylon brush are quite thick and stiff.

Why do we see this question 10x a year. Do a search on the subject, read the several years worth of debate, and come to your own conclusion.

I ordered this combo:

Brush: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FKDMLO

Rods: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000LNNGCA

From that fuzzy picture those nylon bristles look thinner than the brush I have. I don't remember the maker.

velvetfoot said:

From that fuzzy picture those nylon bristles look thinner than the brush I have. I don't remember the maker.

Click to expand...

Don't trust the picture. I just used the brush last week. The 'bristles' are 1/8" nylon rods.

Pyro - Yes...years of debate - but as the case of stove or anything for that matter - things change, processes, technology improves - sometimes a new thread will bring out things that even the "experts" hadn't contimplated. I get the point of searching 1st - but sometimes questions or seeing a similar topic will get others to see/act/react where they wouldn't have otherwise.

No problem gentlemen.
A chimney brush is fairly simple. I don't see much evolution in the near future.
Some will debate using only poly brushes, some steel.
I stated in one of the other threads, that I personally called Simpson regarding cleaning my Dura Liner with which brush, and was told either is fine. Neither was preferred or discouraged over the other.
I do believe another poster advised they called Selkirk or another manufacturer, and they suggested the poly, but was that, only a suggestion.
As you can see, this will be up there with the never ending cat/no cat debate.
I think we get the brush question at least once or twice a month.
My apologies if I sounded harsh. I personally would like to invent a robotic brush that would go up & down the chimney while spinning & cleaning all on its own. Then beep when it returns to top or bottom and stops.
I want rights to anyone that steals this idea! ;

Talk to iRobot about that- it would go with their pool cleaning robot and the gutter cleaning one. Heck- I'd use it once a week- it would be fun. (The pool lceaing one is really cool- as are their military models with guns on them etc.)

How about this one - that appears to good to be true: http://www.rewci.com/sodcrochclsy.html

Looks like a snake line with a weed wacker head on it with a good birds nest of line would do the trick.
I want a unit I can set in the top or from bottom, turn it on, and let it work its way up & down and do it all.

I still like the ferret idea.

You need the POLY brush for the Stainless Steel liner. I just cleaned my 6" SS liner with the RUTLAND 6"round poly brush #16906 that I bought online at ACE hardware. They shipped FREE of charge to my local ACE hardware. I was called and I picked it up for approx. $13.00 and my bro had the rods that I borrowed. Don't you skimp on the rods. Since you have approx.22' of pipe to clean, opt.for the thicker rods. The thinner will flex way too much and you won't get all the way down...

I use the Rutland 6 inch poly with fiberglass rods. It works great on my 20 feet of stainless steel .

donatello said:

You need the POLY brush for the Stainless Steel liner. I just cleaned my 6" SS liner with the RUTLAND 6"round poly brush #16906 that I bought online at ACE hardware. They shipped FREE of charge to my local ACE hardware. I was called and I picked it up for approx. $13.00 and my bro had the rods that I borrowed. Don't you skimp on the rods. Since you have approx.22' of pipe to clean, opt.for the thicker rods. The thinner will flex way too much and you won't get all the way down...

Click to expand...

The thicker rods are for wood burners, the thinner are for pellet stoves.
As far as the POLY, to each their own.