TIL 40 brush changes in 22 years means I was doing it wrong

I always kept a stack of spare brushes in the truck, figured replacing them every few months was just part of the job. Then last Tuesday I was sweeping a flue in Newark and the bristles started shedding like crazy, customer watched me pull chunks out of the firebox. That got me counting, 40 brush swaps over 22 years, at 15 to 25 bucks a pop. Turns out I was twisting the rod the wrong direction the whole time, which wore down the wire on one side only. A guy from the local guild showed me the proper spin at a meetup and my current brush has lasted 6 months without losing a single tuft. My old setup was basically paying extra to make shavings. Has anyone else had a tool last way longer once you realized you were using it backwards?

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sean_walker451d ago

Funny how most "bad tools" are really just bad habits wearing out the good ones we already had.