Changed my mind on using those cheap poly brush heads for soot cleanup

I used to buy the expensive name brand brush heads for my rods, thought the cheap ones would just fall apart. Picked up a 3 pack of no-name poly heads at a hardware store in Cleveland about 2 months back for $12 total. They actually held up better on a rough clay flue I did last week, didn't shed bristles at all. The expensive one I had been using left black plastic bits all over the floor on the same job. Has anyone else had better luck with the budget poly heads on older flues?

3 comments

3 Comments

susanb341mo ago

Oh man, "didn't shed bristles at all" - that's exactly what I was worried about with the cheap ones too. I grabbed a three pack from a random gas station in Ohio for like $10 and figured they'd be garbage. But they held up way better on this old brick flue I had to do last month, zero shedding compared to the brand name one I had before. The expensive head left little plastic shavings everywhere on a cleanout I did in January, it was a mess. I'm totally converted now, I just stick with the no-name poly ones for anything older or rougher.

thomas_torres1mo ago

Oh man, that plastic shavings thing is the worst. I had a cheap generic brush leave those little bits all inside a brand new liner install once and it took forever to clean out. Now I always wipe the bristles down with a dry rag first just to knock off any loose stuff before I even stick it in the flue.

sandra_bennett591mo ago

A dry rag trick works great. I do the same thing now with any new brush, even the good ones. Had a brand name leave little flecks all through a freshly swept flue once, never again. I also give them a quick shot of compressed air before I even take them out of the garage now, just to be safe.