Cleaning chimneys from soot. How to clean a chimney from soot with your own hands. Determining cleaning time

When using any solid fuel, products of incomplete combustion accumulate in the chimney, which settle on the walls in the form of a soft coating. If cleaning is not carried out in time, the clearance will decrease, which will significantly worsen traction. And so much so that smoke will go into the room. In the worst case, the soot can catch fire, which can lead to pipe destruction or even fire. Chimney cleaning is practically the only way to avoid this. It is necessary to inspect the condition of the pipe twice a year - before and after the heating season. How often you will have to clean depends on whether you use preventative chimney cleaning methods or not.

This is the result of soot igniting

There are two types of chimney cleaning:

Chimney sweeps have been cleaning soot this way for centuries. Cleaning is carried out from the roof. A special projectile is lowered into the pipe - a core, to the center of which a flexible cable is welded/attached. Above the core there is a brush that brushes away soot, and the core is a weighting element that simultaneously checks the permeability of the pipe. When working, you need to be careful: if the traction is good, soot and other debris will fly into your face. Therefore, first put on goggles and a respirator, and also stay attached to the pipe: with a sudden release in the face, a person involuntarily makes a sudden movement. You can probably imagine how this could end up on the roof.

This design - a ruff with a core on a cable - can be made independently, but the main catch is in the correct load. It should be round and centered. No ordinary weights or heavy pieces of iron are suitable. They work for the time being, and then the tied load becomes “stupid” in the pipe and cannot be removed from there by any effort. Often, in order to remove the projectile, disassembling a fragment of the chimney is required. If you are going to clean the chimney yourself, either make or buy a “correct projectile” that will under no circumstances get stuck in the chimney. Wrapping a brush, making it out of metal or synthetic bristles - these are details that usually do not cause difficulties.

Sometimes the pipe is too high to be reached even from the roof. In this case, the chimney is cleaned from below. If the chimney is metal and there is a cleaning glass, unscrew it and insert a brush on a flexible rod into the pipe. In some cases, not rods are used, but rigid wire. If there is no glass, maybe there is a cleaning hole, but if there is none, then you will either have to disassemble the beginning of the chimney, or clean it through the firebox, which is completely inconvenient.

There is one more point: if the pipe is metal, cleaning with a brush is not enough - a large amount of plaque remains on the walls. To ensure high-quality cleaning, instead of a brush, wrap a ball of rags around a wire or rod. This chimney cleaning leaves behind almost perfectly clean walls.

Homemade brush for cleaning the chimney

One option is to make a cleaning brush from polypropylene pipes. The pipes are cut into fragments of approximately 1.5 meters. Threaded fittings are installed at the ends. A metal brush for an angle grinder is attached to one of them.

First, the wire on the brush is fluffed using pliers or pliers. It turns out to be a homemade telescopic cleaning rod for the chimney.

Watch the video to see how to make a chimney cleaner from a plastic bottle.

How to clean a very tall or curved chimney

Sometimes the pipe rises very high above the ridge. Why not call a special machine with a lifting platform every time to clean the chimney? The issue is resolved with the help of a very long cable, in the middle of which a brush of a suitable diameter is attached.

A small weight is tied to the end of the cable, thrown into the pipe, and pulled out from the other end. The cable remains inside, and its other end hangs outside. When the need arises to shake the soot, simply pull first one end, then the other, moving the brush tied to the cable. The total length of the cable is three pipe heights.

The problem of a pipe with a bend is solved in the same way - you only have to somehow pull the cable through the bend the first time, and then you only need to pull the ends of the cable.

Chemicals for cleaning soot

Any chemicals are only preventive measures and a way to make mechanical cleaning less frequent. You can cope without mechanical removal of plaque only if you have a stainless steel or ceramic chimney, and only with regular use of one or more products from this category.

Keep in mind that if you haven't cleaned your chimney in a while and you start using one of the chemicals, there is a chance that you will completely “plug” the draft. These substances do not remove or dissolve deposits, but only soften them. The softened soot and soot either flies away in the form of flakes into the chimney or falls down. If the stove is reversible, with long curved smoke channels, soot can clog the clearance. It will be necessary to open the cleaning windows, rake out the soot and everything that has fallen there. If the pipe is straight, after using these products you need to clean the firebox - within a few days the fallen sediment will fall into it.

Folk chemicals

Let's start with “folk” remedies for dissolving soot. Our grandmothers also periodically sprinkled some salt on burning wood. To ensure that the soot flies into the chimney and does not fall inside, the chimney is heated very well, with the fireman at full power for some time. Then half a kilogram or a kilogram of salt is poured into the fire and the fire continues for another hour and a half. If the pipe is hot enough, gray or black flakes begin to fly out into the pipe. Over the course of several days, residues may fall inside, but the bulk burns in the pipe.

Many people are well familiar with the effects of potato starch. In the same way, with a well-heated oven, pour about a bucket of potato peelings onto the firewood (you can use chopped potatoes, or you can use starch). The effect is almost the same, with the only difference being that almost everything falls inside.

Another option for “folk” chemicals for cleaning chimneys is burning several aluminum cans. In this case, the fire must be really hot: you need firewood with high heat capacity. Then the aluminum really burns - the can disappears in 5-7 minutes. If it just darkens, there will be no effect.

Store-bought drugs

There are various chimney cleaning products available in stores. Some of them are produced in the form of powder packaged in bags, others - in the form of logs or briquettes. Please read the instructions before purchasing. There are preparations intended for open fireboxes, such as a fireplace, and others for closed ones, such as sauna or heating stoves. It is not recommended to replace them - after all, chemistry...

The range of chemicals for chimney cleaning is constantly updated, but there are drugs that have existed for decades. Their effects have already been well studied. Below we will talk about the most popular and common ones.

The composition of these products, of course, is not disclosed; the principle of operation is described rather poorly: under the influence of gases released during combustion (safe for humans), the soot dries out, burns out, becomes brittle and flies out into the chimney or crumbles down. For an overview of the Chimney Sweep Sazhinet chimney cleaning log, watch the video.

Thermal chimney cleaning methods

The action of this method is based on the fact that soot is a high-calorie combustible substance. The temperature in the chimney is brought to the point where it flares up and burns out. The problem is that the combustion temperature of soot is about 1100°C and few chimneys and fire stops (when passing through a ceiling or roof) are able to withstand such heat.

Its one very unpleasant and dangerous feature is that if a lot of soot has accumulated, the moment of ignition is very similar to an explosion. Almost the same sound is heard, and the air wave is noticeable. So, in addition to extremely high temperatures, a significant shock load is also added. There were cases when even rough stoves fell apart. So this method is a dangerous undertaking.

Thermal cleaning is simple: take dry aspen firewood and heat the stove. Their combustion temperature is very high, and after a while the soot ignites. If you burn aspen periodically, the deposits simply do not have time to be deposited in sufficient quantities to cause any noticeable harm during combustion. But it is dangerous to use this method on a clogged chimney.

Regular cleaning of soot from chimneys of stoves and fireplaces is a mandatory procedure, regardless of the frequency of use of the heating device. Modern chemical preparations, time-tested folk remedies and special mechanical methods are suitable for these activities.

The choice of the most effective method depends on the level of contamination of the chimney ducts and the desire of homeowners to do everything themselves or, in the full sense of the word, without getting their hands dirty, to entrust the work to professionals.

Are you planning to get rid of the burning yourself, but don’t know which method to use? We will help you decide on your tactics. The article provides a detailed overview of the most effective methods, indicates the reasons for the rapid clogging of the chimney and indicates the timing of cleaning activities.

Clogging of chimney ducts is a natural process that occurs as a result of combustion. Only part of the fuel, breaking down into fractions, acquires a gaseous form and is released into the atmosphere as an emission.

Other fragments with a heavier, dense structure take the form of soot deposits and settle on the inner surface of the pipeline, over time significantly worsening its throughput.

The chimney pipe coming out of the roof must be covered with a special windproof cap. Then, during the seasonal downtime, a bird or wasp nest will not be built there, and in winter, leaves, branches, ice and other foreign elements will not get inside

The use of firewood from coniferous trees causes clogging of channels. Viscous resinous substances, contained in excess in the composition, form a powerful adhesive base and help retain soot deposits on it.

Such contamination is difficult to clean with preparations and requires careful removal using mechanical devices.

Household waste, packaging containers, remains of old furniture, textiles and other items that are not a fuel resource by definition, during combustion, emit caustic ether complexes, heavy carcinogens and resinous compounds.

Therefore, burning such human waste in the furnace of a stove or fireplace negatively affects the operation of heating equipment of any class.

All of them, in the form of a dense, viscous sediment, cover the inner surface of the pipes and create conditions for retaining soot, carbon deposits and soot. The channel through which gaseous elements escape into the atmosphere narrows to a minimum, the draft overturns, and part of the smoke enters the living room.

The temperature in the room drops, and the use of heating equipment becomes dangerous due to the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.

They accelerate the clogging of the chimney channel with deposits of firewood from recently cut, damp forest.

If the current humidity of a log exceeds 12%, throwing it into the firebox immediately is strictly prohibited. It must be thoroughly dried in a warm room for at least 1 week.

Damp logs reduce the level of heat transfer by 35%, quickly clog the smoke exhaust system, and eventually cause it to fail.

Method #3 – aspen firewood to remove soot

Firing a stove or fireplace with aspen wood is a simple and quite effective cleaning procedure. Its convenience lies in the fact that no additional actions need to be performed. All you need to do is place the wood in the firebox, light the fire and wait for it to burn completely.

Conclusions and useful video on the topic

An interesting way to clean pipes that does not require climbing onto the roof - simple, modern and effective.

Regular cleaning of chimney pipes and channels is a very necessary and useful procedure. It has a beneficial effect on the general condition of the heating system, restores the traction properties of the equipment and promotes economical resource consumption.

Preventive measures can be carried out independently as needed, strictly adhering to the instructions for the drugs and safety regulations. In case of blockages or other more serious problems, it is better to use the services of experienced specialists.

Do you have personal experience cleaning a stove or fireplace chimney? Please tell readers what soot removal method you used. Leave comments, ask questions and participate in discussions - the feedback form is located below.

Owners of stoves and fireplaces are well aware of the need for regular maintenance of their heating boilers. No matter how perfect the design, the chimney will definitely need to be cleaned. The speed of its clogging is influenced by various factors: operating conditions, device design, quality and type of fuel, etc. However, even in the most ideal conditions, the chimney must be cleaned at least once a year. Often this operation is carried out by employees of special companies, but if you wish, you can do it yourself.

Why is it necessary to clean your chimney at all?

When fuel burns in a heating appliance, soot is released. Warm air lifts it upward, where it settles on the walls of the chimney. Over time, soot accumulates, its layer becomes more and more powerful. This leads to unpleasant consequences:

• The smoke exhaust channel narrows, which reduces draft.
• The wear of the chimney walls accelerates.
• The efficiency of the heating device decreases.
• The likelihood of a fire inside the smoke exhaust duct increases.

You can prevent troubles only by promptly and efficiently cleaning the chimney from accumulated soot.

You may also find this article useful on how to properly make a brick chimney:

Methods for cleaning a chimney

All options for cleaning the smoke channel can be divided into three groups.

Option #1 - folk remedies

The most common remedy for soot buildup in a chimney is rock salt. It is usually sprinkled onto the fuel during the combustion process. However, this option can be considered, rather, as a prevention of soot formation. It will not help to radically clean the pipe.

A more effective means for cleaning chimneys is potato peelings or simply chopped potatoes. Their quantity is determined by the size of the heating device, but on average it usually takes about a bucket. The peelings are poured directly into the fire. The starch released along with the steam softens the soot and it comes out of the pipe. After the procedure, you need to clean the oven. Sometimes this operation is carried out before mechanical cleaning, which is much easier.

Another remedy is aspen firewood. Several armfuls of such fuel are burned in a furnace. However, we must immediately make a reservation that this is a rather dangerous method. It involves heating the chimney to very high temperatures, as a result of which the soot begins to burn out. Before using this method, you should make sure that the chimney is strong. In addition, soot deposits must be small, otherwise even the most durable pipe will not withstand the loads and will collapse.

Soot is deposited inside the chimney and closes the exhaust channel space. The draft deteriorates, the efficiency of the heating device decreases and the risk of fire increases

Option #2 - chemical compositions

The industry produces many products designed to clean chimneys. These are a variety of powders, liquids and briquettes. They are added to the firebox during fuel combustion. They light up and release substances that are harmless to humans, destroying deposits on the walls of the smoke channel, which crumble down. Popular products include PHC or anti-carbon chemical composition. A special powder is placed in the firebox along with firewood. Its quantity is strictly standardized: no more than 200 g per ton of fuel.

When looking for how to clean your chimney from a small layer of soot, you should pay attention to the Czech product Kominichek. This powder, when heated, causes a catalytic reaction, causing the soot to burn at a lower temperature. The most popular is the “Log Chimney Sweep”, which can be used in all types of appliances operating on liquid and solid fuels. The product should be used as deposits accumulate. On average, a fireplace that is lit once or twice a week will require one briquette for six months. But for a boiler that is constantly used, you will need one log every two months. In large fireplaces and stoves, two packages are burned at once.

Before using the “Log Chimney Sweep” for the first time this heating season, you should inspect the chimney to be sure that it is not clogged with debris or foreign objects. The briquette can be burned with or without fuel. However, for maximum effectiveness, it is placed on hot coals. Before this, the log is removed from the packaging, but the wrapper is not removed. You should wait until the briquette flares up; if this does not happen, the wrapper is set on fire on both sides. The action of the active substance lasts for two weeks. During this time, soot may fall out. After this period, you should inspect the pipe and clean the firebox.

An effective means for cleaning a chimney is a special log. When burning, it releases volatile substances that destroy soot deposited in the smoke channel

However, it’s worth saying a few words about safety precautions (more details in the video):

Although, there is an opinion that all this is written with a pitchfork on the water:

It's up to you to decide who to believe.

Option #3 - mechanical cleaning

No matter how advanced humanity has become in terms of technology, mechanical cleaning of chimneys, just like hundreds of years ago, remains the simplest, most reliable and effective way to remove soot and deposits. Depending on which gas ducts need to be cleaned - vertical or horizontal - a variety of scrapers, blades, brushes and brooms are used. You can make a tool for servicing furnace channels yourself or buy it in specialized departments of construction markets. Most often, a brush-brush is used to remove soot in vertical flues, and a poker and a brush with stiff bristles are used in horizontal flues. If necessary, attach a handle of the required length to the tool.

A chimney brush can be easily made from scrap materials.

Previously, you could call a chimney sweep to clean your chimney. Since today people of this profession are extremely rare, we will tell you in detail how to properly clean soot from a stove or fireplace:

1. Clean the firebox from ash and unburnt solid fuel residues.
2. Close the blower, firebox and all cleaning doors tightly - remember that soot consists of microscopic particles that can penetrate into the narrowest cracks. An open fireplace should be curtained with thick cloth, which should be moistened generously with water.
3. Following safety precautions, climb onto the roof. You should have a brush with you, tied to a long rope.
4. Inspect the vertical flue for contamination with large debris. If large foreign objects get into the chimney, or the smoke channel is blocked by a broken half of a brick, then it can be freed using a cable with a heavy weight in the shape of a ball. It is not recommended to use objects of complex shape (with a displaced center of gravity) for these purposes. They often turn and get stuck in the oven channels, requiring additional effort and time to remove.
5. After removing the blockage, lower the bristled brush into the chimney and, using progressive up and down movements, clean the walls along the entire height of the pipe. If the chimney has not been cleaned for a long time, or if damp wood with a high resin content was used for the firebox, then a thick layer of deposits can only be removed with a metal scraper.
6. Check the result of your work and go down. Your next goal is the remaining vertical and horizontal channels. They can be accessed through the cleaning doors. Opening them one by one in the direction from the chimney to the mouth of the stove, remove carbon deposits with scrapers and hard brooms and scoop them out of the channels with a poker.
7. Stoves with a wide firebox, as well as fireplaces, are also cleaned from the firebox side. Lastly, carbon deposits are scraped off the walls of the fuel chamber and the ash pan, after which the soot is scooped out and the under and grate is cleaned.

When finished with the work, close and carefully seal the cleaning doors, and carry out a complete wet cleaning of the room. The cleaning procedure is usually carried out twice a year, before the start of the heating season and at its end.

Fireplaces with straight chimneys can be cleaned from below, through the firebox. To do this, use a special metal brush, the handle of which is extended using special extensions.

The problem of cleaning a chimney is easily solved. You can choose from several cleaning options. You just need to take into account the amount of deposits that have accumulated on the walls of the smoke channel. All work, including mechanical cleaning, can be carried out independently. You should read the instructions and follow them carefully. However, those who are not confident in their abilities or do not want to do dirty work can invite a professional. In any case, a clean chimney will delight its owner with excellent draft and long service life.

How to reduce soot deposits

Soot and carbon deposits are deposited even in the pipes of gas-fired furnaces. What can we say about the combustion of solid fuel - for it this is an even more natural process. At the same time, the amount of combustion products deposited on the walls of the chimney can be significantly reduced. To do this, you should follow a few simple rules:

1. No trash. Do not burn plastic, foam, rubber and other substances with a high carbon content in the firebox of a solid fuel stove.
2. Prepare firewood in advance. Remember that high-quality dry wood burns with virtually no residue, with minimal release of soot and substances that cause soot formation. Among other things, this is facilitated by a higher combustion temperature, which affects the course of pyrolysis processes. As for raw firewood, when used in excess, water vapor is released, as well as substances such as tar, creosote, etc. - they simply do not have time to burn due to the low temperature. Subsequently, all these resin-like substances fall out in the form of a difficult-to-remove deposit on the flue ducts and cause rapid overgrowing of the ducts with soot - it sticks to the sticky substance much more readily.
3. Use hardwood. Anyone who lights a stove on their own knows that the best firewood is oak, hornbeam, beech, aspen and acacia. In second place is wood from walnut, apple, cherry, larch, poplar, plane tree, etc. But firewood from coniferous trees (spruce, pine, juniper, etc.) contains a lot of resins, so when using them, you will need to clean the stove significantly more often. As, indeed, when burning birch logs, which have a high tar content. By the way, fuel briquettes or pellet granules, which are fashionable today, are also subject to a thorough inspection at the time of purchase. If they are made from pine sawdust or sunflower husks, then it is better to avoid such fuel due to the high content of resins and oily substances.
4. Make sure that the wood burns in an optimal mode. This corresponds to a flue gas temperature of 150 to 350 degrees. With reduced heat generation, wood carbon does not have time to burn in the firebox and flies away with smoke, simultaneously falling out in the vertical and horizontal channels of the furnace.

In order to achieve the most complete combustion of wood, use the advice of experienced stove makers. Here's what they recommend:

• Before putting firewood into the stove, keep it indoors for at least 2-3 days. During this time, they will dry out and warm up to room temperature, which means they will not only burn better, but will also not require additional heat expenditure for preheating;
• before laying the main batch of wood, heat the combustion chamber by burning wood chips, pieces of cardboard, etc. in it;
• As the wood burns, regulate the combustion process using a damper or ash door. Of course, a high temperature in the furnace is good because less soot is formed, but in this case the heat will not have time to accumulate in the body of the furnace, and will simply fly away into the atmosphere;
• Install a combustion indicator on the chimney. With its help, you can more accurately monitor the temperature of the smoke and maintain the heat release process within optimal limits.

A temperature indicator installed on the chimney will help maintain combustion within optimal limits.

The symptoms of an “overgrown” chimney cannot be ignored. First of all, the color of the smoke changes. If the smoke exhaust channel is clean, it will be light, transparent or white. The accumulated soot begins to burn, which changes the color of the smoke. It becomes denser and darker. The shade of the flame in the stove may also change. Under normal conditions it will be light orange. If a rich shade of dark orange appears, then it’s time to think about how to clean your chimney.

What is better to choose for heating a wooden house, which option is more economical and profitable, you will find out in our next material:.

In any case, even if warning signs do not appear, experts recommend inspecting the smoke exhaust duct at least twice a year. It should be taken into account that cleaning may be necessary not only in case of a build-up of a layer of soot, but also from debris, bird nests, cobwebs, etc. that accidentally got inside. There are many cleaning methods and you can choose the optimal one only after determining the level of contamination, inspecting the condition of the chimney, etc.

Good and regular cleaning of the chimney is necessary even when your stove comes from expensive and modern modular systems. But even with very careful and careful operation, soot still settles on the walls of the pipes, and if you also heat it with not the best firewood, then its volume may surprise you. Soot collects even on the smoothest surface, and it needs to be cleaned off - unless, of course, you want your sauna to burn down. But the time when only a professional chimney sweep could clean a chimney is behind us. Today, in fact, there is no such profession - instead, in some schools they train only “cleaners”, although they cannot boast of special skills. True, occasionally you can find advertisements for the private services of a real chimney sweep. And this makes sense - a professional will not only thoroughly clean your chimney, but will also check the technical condition of the chimney itself. Therefore, if your chimney has bends, it was not made by you and you do not really understand all these subtleties - hire a specialist, it will be safer for your health and life. But if construction is a fairly close topic and the chimney is the work of non-visiting migrant workers, and its design is quite simple - feel free to pick up a brush!

Why does the chimney get clogged in the first place?

Let's take a closer look at this process - and much will immediately become clearer. Thus, when wood burns, smoke is produced and gas is released. White smoke comes from water vapor from wood, and black smoke comes from coal, soot and creosote from the same wood. It is from black smoke that a coating forms on the inner surface of the pipe, and the rougher it is, the more soot will settle on it.

The result: it is more difficult for smoke to pass through, thrust decreases, and fuel does not burn completely. In the best case, the chimney will deteriorate over time, in the worst case, the bathhouse itself will burn out.

How can you get rid of accumulated soot?

Sometimes, rather than hiring a non-professional, it’s much easier and safer to remove soot from your own bathhouse yourself - using brushes, modern chemicals for cleaning chimneys and even “old-fashioned” methods, and without necessarily climbing onto the roof!

Let's look at the most popular options for cleaning soot from a chimney and how to do it.

Using a special brush - a simple and proven method

Of all modern mechanical and chemical means, a brush is the simplest and safest. It is only important to choose one that is suitable for your chimney - both in diameter and in length, so that you do not worry about how to clean your chimney of soot along its entire height.

Particularly good is a nylon brush with stiff bristles, which is easy to clean a chimney of any material. Nylon pile is flexible and adapts well to any pipe shape, while simultaneously coping with the most stubborn plaque. But at the same time it does not scratch or damage its inner surface.

The most difficult thing is to choose a good brush for chimney bends. This is where the soot settles, and it is not so easy to get it out. Nylon bristles are most suitable for this - they will easily penetrate into the most inaccessible places, while hard brushes will simply scratch the folded areas. And more scratches - less smoothness - more soot clings.

It is important what kind of handle the brush has - it must have sufficient flexibility so that it can fit into the most invisible nooks and crannies and at the same time be easy to control your movements.

Potato peeling - the old-fashioned method

Here's how to clean a chimney in this way: throw a bucket or half a bucket of fresh potato peelings into a well-heated stove - that's how much will fit into it. During their burning, starch will be released, and it decomposes the soot. Within two to three days it will almost completely fall off the walls of the chimney and partially fall out. After this, tie a brush made of twigs to the brick and clean the top of the chimney in the classic way - it will be easy!

Aspen wood - with fire from the chimney

Cleaning a chimney with aspen wood is as old as the hills. But this method cannot be called safe - let's figure it out.

We put aspen wood in the stove and light it well. They burn well and produce a very high temperature. At this time, all doors and valves of the stove should be open, and do not forget to add more firewood. The result is that the soot itself lights up and the stove begins to make a loud noise. If you go outside at this moment, you will see fire pouring from the chimney on the roof of your bathhouse! And the surrounding area will quickly become covered with large white flakes. But the chimney will be cleaned, and cleaned well. If only it can withstand this test - after all, not every chimney is designed for 1100 ° C, and it is at this mark that soot will burn in it.

Aluminum cans - unusual, but effective

The cans need to be burned once in ten fires - this is enough, and very little soot will be collected. The only condition: the fire must be made hot, with a large amount of hard coal - so that the cans actually burn, and do not lie on the wood and change color. Normally, one can should burn out in five minutes.

Hose - whatever is at hand

Some bathhouse attendants don’t bother themselves much with newfangled methods and clean the chimney with a regular watering hose. The whole procedure looks like this:

• Remove the glass from the bottom of the chimney.
• We insert a hose from below (preferably from above), preferably a hard one.
• A few cleaning movements - all the soot is already at the bottom.

You can additionally attach a chopped bottle or brush to the end of the same hose - and you will see how easy it is to clean the chimney effectively and cost-effectively!

Chemical cleaning is unpopular and unpleasant

Chemical cleaning of chimneys is more of a preventative measure than a real cleaning. The bottom line is that after this the soot will fall off in places, but you will still have to use an additional brush. Plus, the smell in the bathhouse can last for several days. Therefore, if potato peelings are not available to you, you can buy some “Komichek” or “Log-chimney sweeper”.

How to properly clean a chimney with a brush?

First of all, before cleaning, be sure to cover the furniture in the bathhouse with plastic wrap and cover the windows with thick fabric. Protect yourself from soot: wear gloves, safety glasses and preferably a respirator. Next is this: in most models of stoves and chimneys, manufacturers install special inspection doors to make cleaning easier and more convenient. Pay attention - do you have these?

So, here's how you can clean your chimney well:

• Step 1. We wait until the stove has completely cooled down and remove any remaining firewood or any other flammable materials from it.
• Step 2. Remove the damper at the entrance to the chimney.
• Step 3. Holding the brush firmly by the handle, insert it into the chimney hole.
• Step 4. Move the brush in a variety of directions, trying not to miss any hard-to-reach places.
• Step 5. Move the brush further up, and now clean the highest places of the pipes.
• Step 6. Remove the accumulated soot.
• Step 7. Close the chimney and rinse the brush with regular warm water.

It is necessary to clean not only soot from the chimney, but also cobwebs, accidentally flying debris and sometimes even bird nests. Even if you cleaned the pipe well, and then didn’t use the sauna at all for a month or two of summer, still pick up the brush.

The fact is that during this time the birds could actually build a nest in the chimney, and the small inhabitants of the corners could weave new webs. And if you carelessly light the stove, it will all burn, and it burns with a special soot and unpleasant smell, and even caustic soot, which will instantly stick to the walls and will “delight” you with a suffocating aroma all winter. Do you need it?...

How to make a good brush with your own hands?

Here's how to make a great budget chimney brush:

• Step 1. We buy this on the market: a synthetic round broom, a steel cable along the length of the entire chimney, clamps, 2 ears and a pin with 8 mm thread and washers of different diameters.
• Step 2. Unbend the pile in different directions - it is hard and elastic, so make an effort. The result will be something like a bouquet. If it doesn’t work, put it in boiling water.
• Step 3. Take a hairpin and screw the ear - from one end, after which we put on the washer and insert it into the hole at the bottom of the brush, then the washer again. The diameter of them just fits the holes of the broom.
• Step 4. Press down on the base from above and carefully screw on the second fastener. The more you twist, the more the bristles of the brush will diverge to the sides.
• Step 5. Turn the brush over, see the eye of the fastening and tighten it to the desired size.
• Step 6. We fasten the cable to the brush using a bracket, measure the chimney opening and cut the fibers exactly to the size of the chimney pipe. If it turns out to be less, it won’t be cleaned. And for accuracy, first try on and cut out a template from cardboard.
• Step 7. We attach the load - this can be a regular weight from 2 kg.

That's all! You can put up a ladder and go clear the chimney of soot. Good luck!

The stove or fireplace can be called the heart of any home. Together with the warmth, coziness and comfort spills from them into every corner of the home. However, to maintain the safety and efficiency of such heating, smoke ducts require periodic cleaning. You can entrust this work to professionals or use purchased chemicals; there is another method: you can also clean the chimney of soot using the traditional method. Knowing the reasons for the active formation and settling of soot on the inner walls of pipes, you can reduce this process to a minimum, and then you will have to resort to the work of a chimney sweep less often.

Causes of chimney blockage and the need for periodic cleaning

When the Warmth begins to flare up noticeably worse, and smoke enters the house through the existing openings during kindling, most likely the reason lies in a clogged chimney. These could be foreign objects, such as birds, nests made by them, or fragments of brick from a collapsing pipe. Most often, these are flakes of soot and soot that have settled inside the chimney.

Soot deposits are inevitable with regular use of stove heating, but there are two reasons why the process occurs much more intensely:

• The design of the chimney itself and the material from which it is made,
• Something that regularly ends up in the firebox.

In the first case, inaccuracies and flaws in the masonry make it difficult for smoke to pass through, while the settling of soot on the walls increases noticeably. Contributes to this:

• narrowing of smoke channels,
• excessive tortuosity,
• residual solution on the inner surface,
• poor thermal insulation and, as a result, condensation accumulation.

The most durable materials, metal and asbestos, are preferable for making pipes. Ceramics and brick are subject to destruction, which means that the resulting roughness will reduce the passage of smoke and increase the deposition of combustion products on the walls. The same applies to a poorly prepared solution: when it dries, it cracks, and the resulting irregularities serve as a place for soot to be deposited.

Damp firewood, especially with high resin content, and items made of polyethylene and plastic also aggravate the situation.

As a result of narrowing of the lumen:

• It is difficult for smoke to escape, which means some of the harmful gases enter the house, causing intoxication of the residents,
• There is a possibility that the soot accumulated in the channels will ignite, and this is already a fire hazard.

When the degree of pollution is not critical, deposits can be dealt with by burning special preparations purchased from a retail chain in the firebox or using popularly known chimney cleaning products.

If the thickness of the deposited soot exceeds 5 cm, then, according to the numerous experience of owners of private houses, it is unlikely that it will be possible to do without brushes and scrapers.

Effective folk methods for cleaning a chimney

Products such as “Vesely chimney sweep”, “Komichek”, “Sazhinet” have proven themselves to be quite good. Burning in the firebox, the resulting products bind to existing deposits, loosening them. Then, with smoke emissions, flocculent formations fly out or settle on the channel bottom.

Similarly, when burned, soot binds to other “natural” products.

Potato peelings

The smell of fried potatoes is not always a result of cooking dinner. It has long been known that throwing potato peelings into a burning stove can clean the chimney. So if there is no one to feed with waste, then the best use for potato peels is to burn them in the firebox. The resulting vapors containing starch bind sooty layers, as a result of which it falls away from the walls of the canals. Flakes along with smoke can fly out for several days after the procedure.

Salt

Salt should be poured onto dry firewood laid for kindling. In this case, less soot settles on the walls of the smoke exhaust channels, narrowing their lumen.

The use of this method is more suitable for prevention and is not effective in “severe” cases.

Naphthalene

One tablet of this substance is enough to reduce the deposition of tarry formations released during combustion.

Due to the explosive nature of the chemical compound, use this method with caution!

Logs

A special flammable mass mixed with chemical compounds is formed in the form of logs, which periodically need to be placed in the oven during kindling. The cleansing effect of this method differs depending on the manufacturer and the composition they use.

Folk remedies include the use of aspen or alder logs. Having high heat transfer, such a material causes the soot that has adhered to the inside of the pipe to burn out and is the essence of the next method.

Burning soot

Not every oven can withstand this test. It is necessary to first check the integrity of the chimney, since if it is violated, a fire may occur. Further:

• A large amount of highly flammable wood material is laid (aspen, alder, oak),
• Maximum oxygen supply is ensured due to open blowers.

At a temperature of about 600 0 C, the soot accumulated in the pipe ignites - a kind of independent cleaning of deposits.

Walnut shells

It is not often that residents have large quantities of this material. But burning it in a furnace allows you to release a large amount of heat and clean the internal surfaces of the chimney from resin by burning it out.

Mechanical cleaning

The need to clean pipes using various devices has existed since the advent of furnaces. Brushes and scrapers of various designs are still the main tools of chimney sweeps.

Mechanical and manual cleaning can be done without the help of professionals. This can be done either from above - through the pipe, or from below - through the base of the chimney. If necessary, both options can be used.

To prevent soot from spilling onto the floor during cleaning, it is better to cover all holes with a rag. After completing the main work, it is good to use a vacuum cleaner with a fireplace cleaning function.

It is believed that the chimney needs to be cleaned at least once a year. It can be carried out, for example, before the start of the heating season or after its completion. The intensity of operation of the furnace and the time elapsed between cleanings affect the volume of the “harvest”. It could be a bucket, two or a whole bag.

Traditional brushes with metal bristles can be replaced with homemade devices, the effectiveness of which is no worse:

• A plastic bottle with cuts imitating bristles, mounted on a hose,
• Spruce paws tied to a long stick
• Bath brooms mounted on a cable or other kind of elongated handle.

In the case when the chimney is cleaned from top to bottom, it is wise to attach the cleaning devices not to the handle, but to tie them in a rope with a weight at the end. The length of the rope should be slightly longer than the length of the channel, the weight of the load should be about 10 kg.

Safety precautions when working on the roof

Work carried out on the roof requires not only skill, but also compliance with personal safety rules. No one acquaints them with signatures, but the price of life is perhaps the best motivation to listen to them.

• Do not clean in rainy and/or windy weather,
• A rope tied at one end to a belt is the simplest fall protection device.
• To move along the roof, a roof ladder is used,
• It is unacceptable to work while intoxicated or under the influence of drugs that inhibit activity.

Recommendations for preventing soot accumulation in the chimney

Just as it is better to prevent any health problems, it is better to avoid excessive soot accumulation, which requires a lot of time and effort to clean.

First of all, this concerns what material is used for the firebox. The amount of soot deposited on the internal walls can be reduced by eliminating combustion in the furnace:

• Wet firewood (with a moisture content of more than 20%),
• Resinous wood materials (oily combustion products contribute to excessive deposits),
• Household waste (plastic bags, disposable tableware and other waste

Problems with the initial poor design of the chimney can only be solved by dismantling and new masonry. Only professionalism at the stage of planning and manufacturing the stove will help to avoid problems during its further operation.

Under the mesmerizing crackling of firewood in the fireplace and the touch of spreading waves of heat, all the worries associated with maintaining the normal operation of this wonderful heating device are forgotten. Like any organism, even if not living, it requires regular care, rewarding it with trouble-free work. By adopting traditional chimney cleaning methods, you can save on purchased products and extend the time between mechanical cleanings.