The Vicar bought some chimney brushes last year. We’ve found it a very cost-effective way of ensuring that we don’t fill the living room with smoke too much. I think the set cost about £30, which is already less than we’d pay to get a sweep in. Our chimneys are quite easy to sweep as everything is contained in the woodburning stove box when it descends, although the house is three storeys, so we had to get extra rods to reach the top. Everything keeps clean as long as black bin liners are judiciously applied. Here’s the happy Vicar in his sweeping kit, displaying some of the soot, which shows up very nicely on his peely-wally Scottish hands:
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Does the Vicar dance on the rooftops as well?
Think he’d get vertigo (3 storey house!). Strangely tho’, the Queen performed Chim Chiminy at a concert a couple of days before the Vicar performed his genuine chimney sweep act. The Queen’s Cockney accent was better than Dick Van Dyke’s. But that’s not saying much…
Having been brought up on a farm, I have never paid for a chimney sweep! The last rectory in which we lived was plagued by jackdaws nesting down the chimneys. Regular brushing did deter them somewhat.
One tip to avoid too much soot:- get a pot of “Hotspot” flue cleaner (soot destroyer). Use a spoon full twice weekly and it granulates the soot. This makes it much less messy to deal with.
Don’t forget that soot is carcinogenic! A good wash after doing the job is essential.
Blessings
Tio Tel
Thank you for the tips, TerryB. Am going to Google ‘Hotspot’ right away!