Cordless vs rotary brush on heavy creosote which actually wins?

I used a cordless drill attachment on a job in Cleveland last month and it barely touched the glaze, but my buddy swears by his rotary brush setup for the same stuff so what are you all using for the tough jobs?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_thea12d ago

Cordless drills aren't really in the same league as a rotary brush for that stuff. They're good for light cleanup, but heavy creosote needs the sustained torque of a proper rotary tool.

avery21912d ago

Did you try dipping the brush in solvent first to keep it from gumming up?

avery_jackson12d agoMost Upvoted

The person saying cordless drills aren't in the same league as rotary brushes is spot on. I read a testing thing online where they compared both on a thick creosote buildup, and the cordless drill just couldn't keep up after the first few minutes. The torque drops off fast when the battery gets warm, and you lose all that scrubbing power. A rotary brush with a cord keeps a steady speed no matter how thick the gunk is. For heavy creosote, you need that constant high speed to really break through the glaze instead of just smearing it around.