Hot take: The old hand brush vs. a shop vac on the same job

I used to swear by my old hand brush for cleaning soot off the firebox walls. Then I got a job last Tuesday at this old house in Elmville, and the creosote was just caked on thick. I spent a good 20 minutes scrubbing and barely made a dent. Out of frustration I grabbed my small shop vac with a brush attachment, and I'll be honest, it cut that part of the job in half. The suction pulled off most of the loose stuff first, so the brush only had to tackle the real stubborn spots. Has anyone else found that a vac makes more sense for heavy buildup compared to going at it with a brush alone?

3 comments

3 Comments

lee_reed28d ago

Agree with you completely. On the really thick stuff you have to let the vacuum do the heavy lifting first before you ever pick up a brush. I have a small Rigid shop vac I keep in the truck just for this purpose and it saves my arms a lot of wear and tear. The key is to hit it with the vac, then go back with a stiff brush on the spots that are still stuck on tight. It turns a 45 minute job into maybe 20 minutes.

the_max28d ago

Turns a 45 minute job into maybe 20 minutes" - that's the part that got me. I had a customer last winter who swore by the hose and nozzle method, and I tried it his way one time on a heavy buildup. Took me an hour easy, and my arms felt like noodles after. Now I don't tell guys how to do their jobs, but I noticed his truck had a shop vac sitting right there unused. I just smiled and went back to my own process. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him use the stupid vacuum first I guess.

ray_miller8428d ago

Nah I gotta call you on that Rigid thing, not the vac part but the brand. Those Rigid shop vacs are decent but the filter clogs way too fast on soot compared to a DeWalt or even a cheap Craftsman. I ran a Rigid for two seasons and spent more time beating the filter clean than actually working. Swapped to a DeWalt and the difference is night and day, the filter stays clear longer and the suction holds up. But yeah you're right on the method, vac first then brush on the tough spots, that's the only way to handle heavy creosote without killing your arms.