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The reason that chimney cleaning is such an important practice is simply because you need to keep adequate airflow throughout your home, especially when you’re using your fireplace.  Not cleaning the area properly can result in blockage, which is harmful as smoke can circulate throughout your home, which is extremely bad for your lungs.  The whole point of a chimney is providing a safe place for you to have a nice warm fire inside, without having to worry about the smoke.  Only by having the proper chimney cleaning equipment can you ensure that your fireplace is always safe to be used.

The most important part of your chimney cleaning arsenal, is always going to be your cleaning rod.  These are special elongated rods that feature special brushes that are responsible for actually knocking the soot out of your chimney.  Typically, the way that you will use a rod like this, is by going up on your roof, and literally swabbing the rod up and down the chimney.  This way, all of the dirt and soot is kicked back into the bottom of the floor, so that your chimney is left clear and ready for use.  Although you will want to also practice a few chimney cleaning precautions before starting this task.

Soot is very messy, so you’ll need to protect the area around your fireplace as well.  For this reason, you’ll want to lay out a tarp of some kind all around the from of the fireplace, before beginning any chimney cleaning.  This way, all of the soot and dirt that falls out, will simply fall into the tarp, and not onto your carpet, or flooring of any kind.  Also, you’ll want to ensure that the tarp is firmly taped, or held down.  Otherwise the vigorous activity can knock it out of the way, exposing your floor to massive amounts of soot and dirt.

You can find a chimney cleaning kit from most hardware stores, as they are fairly common methods of keeping a fireplace clean.  In most cases, the kit will include a rod, and even a tarp, so that you can ensure that your home stays soot free.  Although, chimney cleaning can be dangerous, because of the need for you to climb up on your roof.  For that reason, you may want to consider actually having the job done professionally, so that you don’t have to worry about stepping in the wrong place, or slipping off the roof altogether.

Unfortunately, many dampers experience issues, as they age and fall apart when they’re not handled right.  Small cracks or gaps between the damper and the airway can easily make it possible for heat to escape, causing undue discomfort, not to mention the likelihood of a much higher heating bill as a result.

Since fireplace dampers are generally made of metal, which thereby ensures that any passageways are completely shut, they’ll generally work.  On the other hand, any metal that’s exposed to as much heat as one directly above a fireplace will be prone to changes in shape as the heat warps the metal itself.  Extreme cold can do the same, as can rain and other precipitation that finds its way into the chimney.  It’s therefore really important that you routinely inspect your fireplace damper.

If your fireplace is a newer unit, there’s a good chance that your damper is in pretty good shape.  Some of the newer fireplace dampers on the market are built with more intelligence, and therefore require much less maintenance and replacement.  If you use your fireplace frequently and have an older damper, you may want to consider the possibility of buying a new fireplace damper.  Sometimes the cost of replacement is less than the cost of repair, not to mention the time you’ll save over the years.

As hard to grasp as it may seem, animals can often find their way down a chimney.  The last thing you want is some kind of rodent making its way into your home through the fireplace.  Whether it’s a bird, bat, squirrel, raccoon, or some other creature, there have been many documented cases of this, and the consequences of this are obvious.

The best course of action to prevent this from happening is to make sure that your chimney cap has a screen, as this will make it impossible for them to travel down the flue.  However, keeping your fireplace damper sealed shut, will at the very least keep any such animals stuck inside the chimney, in which case you’ll most likely hear them before you have to see them.  From there, any chimney professional will have no problem handling the situation for you.

The last tip is for your safety, and it’s probably something you’re already aware of.  New fireplace owners might find it useful though.  When you light a fire, make sure that you open your fireplace damper all the way.  Leaving it partially closed won’t in fact make the room warmer, and will often lead to smoke finding its way into your house.

There are many fireplace dampers for sale online if you’re looking to replace your current one.  If you need your existing one prepared, you’ll want to get in touch with someone local to handle the job.

Let’s take a look at the process of getting the best chimney sweep brushes to ensure that your chimney remains clean and full of all of the dirt that can so often clog it up and ruin it.

The first thing you’ll need to address is what style of chimney sweep brush to get.  Much of this will depend on the shape of your chimney itself.  a round chimney will be best suited with a round chimney brush, while square and rectangular ones are better off with standard rectangular chimneys.

Additionally, you’ll need to be attentive to your chimney’s material.  This is especially true of any metal chimney owners.  An ordinary chimney sweep brush can easily scrap the interior of your metal chimney and it’s therefore imperative to make sure that you use a poly chimney sweep brush in these instances.

Knowing your flue size in advance is absolutely necessary.  I’ve found myself having to measure my chimney again and again over the years, and I’d recommend storing this information somewhere after the first time you’ve done it.  It’s not like your chimney’s going to grow.

Then again, chimney sweep brushes generally last for a long time as long as they’re handled properly.  They’ll generally range anywhere from about $25 to $100, and it really depends on the size, the rod (if present), and the material.  The most important factor, however, remains the size.

You may also want to buy a set of gloves, depending on your capacity for dirt.  Otherwise, expect to need a few good washings before all of the soot comes off of your hands.

You’re probably wondering how often you’ll need to use your chimney sweep brushes.  Naturally, there’s no such thing as too much cleaning.  On the other hand, no one really likes to reach into the depths of a chimney, collecting all kinds of filthy residue along the way.

How often you should use a chimney sweeping brush really depends on how often you use your fireplace.  If you’re burning wood regularly and think that your flue gets heavy use, I’d recommend doing it at least once or twice per season.  Otherwise, you may light it up a few times per year, in which case using chimney sweeping brushes once per year should be perfectly fine.  To be honest, few people even do it that frequently (though they should).

Lastly, you’ll want to buy a rod that ensures that your chimney sweep brushes make it all the way down the length of the chimney.  In order to get the right size, you’ll need to know your chimney’s height.  Typical sizes may be three feet, six feet, and nine feet, though bigger ones are available if at all necessary.

The size of your chimney, the material (masonry vs. metal) and the overall condition of your unit will all play into the type of chimney cleaner you should look into.  Let’s look at a few of the basic options available.

First of all, there’s the chimney brush.  For those looking for a chimney sweep, this would be a logical place to start.  In some cases, it might be all that you need (we’ll get to that part later).

Brushes are the cheapest form of chimney cleaner, but there’s one important thing to keep in mind if this is the way you choose to go.  You’ll absolutely need to make sure that you know the measurements of the inside of your chimney.  You’ll obviously need to remove your chimney cap in order to do this.  I know that you’re probably rolling your eyes right now, but more people than you’d expect neglect this small step when planning.

If you get something that doesn’t fit, whether it’s too big or too small, the job won’t be effectively done.  Then you’ll have wasted your time and money on something that didn’t even do what you needed done.

You’ll also want to go with something that lends itself well to the surface of your chimney.  Most specifically, if you have a metal chimney you’ll definitely want to look for a poly chimney cleaner.  The bristles are smooth here, and as I’m sure you can imagine, going with something sharper and rougher could easily scratch the inside of your metal chimney.

Other people like to bolster their efforts by buying a chimney cleaning spray that loosens up some of the thicker dirt and soot in the chimney’s core.  This might be necessary if it’s been a long time since your last chimney sweep, and it’ll definitely help out with the job.  It’s inexpensive and it’ll make your job a lot easier.

I know that sometimes it’s hard to measure success when it comes to your chimney cleaner since you’re not exactly able to see what’s inside.  Some like to see what they’re able to dig up rather.

At the end of the day, use of a chimney cleaner is absolutely necessary if you have a house with an active fireplace and chimney.  You don’t need to do this often, but you’ll need to do it regularly.  Putting things off will only lead to more work in the future, and no one wants that.

Take advantage of the many chimney cleaners available for sale on the web, as there’s no doubt in my mind that you can find exactly what you’re looking for at a great price.

Moreover, choosing not to use any chimney cleaning tools could eventually put you at risk of setting your house on fire.  As crazy as this sounds, it’s the truth since the chimney lining could become weak enough to the point where it’s actually set ablaze.

It’s therefore important to ensure that you’re fully equipped with the right chimney cleaning equipment.  More important than anything else is the presence of a chimney brush, though there are other tools that could be extremely useful in ensuring that your chimney remains clean.

A chimney brush is the most important of all chimney cleaning tools.  The inside of your chimney needs to be tended to, and short of good old Santa Claus, there’s no one else who can make his way into a chimney with ease.  Besides, something tells me there are other things on his to do list.

Anyway, on a more serious note, you’ll always want to know the measurements of your inner chimney before buying any chimney sweep brush.  Many people make the annoying mistake of not checking the size out in advance, and they’ll buy something that’s too big and simply won’t fit inside.  Others make the mistake of buying something too small, which will end up missing spots and giving you an incomplete job.

Aside from the chimney sweeping brush, there are other chimney cleaning tools that you may want to consider.  Some people, for instance, like to apply chemical soot removers to clean their chimney flue.  This is akin to using a liquid pipe cleaner for the bathroom, and it naturally makes the process of chimney cleaning a bit easier.  An effective creosote remover can cost about $15 or so.

Some people like to take things one step further, going for an all out chimney cleaning system.  More expensive in nature (at least several hundred dollars), they’re known to be very effective pieces of equipment and they’ll usually come with a rod that makes it very easy to navigate through a chimney and down into the fireplace.

Lastly, things like harpoons and scrapers can make the job of chimney cleaning easier.  Once a chimney cap is removed, these can be applied to the flue to get rid of some of the toughest and thickest residue that a typical sweeping tool might not effectively remove.  If it’s been a while since you’ve cleaned your own unit, you might want to consider some of these chimney cleaning tools to make tough jobs a bit easier.

As you can see, there are plenty of options available.  At the end of the day, it’s all about getting the tools most suited toward your needs.