Unpopular opinion: Those plastic brush rods are terrible for clay flues

Was cleaning a 1920s house in Portland last week and the homeowner had been using one of those yellow plastic rods for years. It snapped off inside the flue and I had to spend an hour fishing out chunks of melted plastic. Who else has had to deal with this junk failing mid-job?

2 comments

2 Comments

victor_carr2527d ago

How long was that yellow rod sitting in direct sunlight before you got there? I've had those things get brittle just from UV exposure in the truck, let alone whatever heat is coming up a clay flue. Were you able to tell if the plastic was just old and dry-rotted or if it actually got hot enough to soften and fuse to the clay? I've seen cases where people leave them inserted during a fire (which is crazy) and the whole thing turns into a gooey mess.

craig.tessa27d ago

Oh come on, I gotta push back on this one. Those plastic rods are way better than the old metal ones if you ask me. I've been using the same yellow set for like eight years and they're still fine, no cracks, no melting. The fact that that guy's rod snapped probably means he was mistreating it or the flue had a major blockage he was trying to force through. And honestly, if you're using plastic rods and leaving them in during a fire, that's just common sense not to do. They're not invincible, but they're lighter than steel and don't scratch up clay flues the way metal does. Plus, they don't spark or make noise hitting obstructions, so you can actually feel what's going on in there. I'd pick plastic over metal any day for routine cleaning.