How to clean a chimney from soot at home. How to remove blockage in pipes at home: the best means and methods for cleaning Tapping with an ordinary hammer

Residents of private houses in the cold season heat stoves and fireplaces. During the operation of heating devices, soot accumulates in the chimneys. Because of this, the exit of smoke is difficult, there is a danger of fire in the room and intoxication of the people living in it.

From burning and black soot in the chimney, you need to know how to clean the chimneys in the stove folk remedies... Many people think about solving the problem when the smoke is already going into the room.

The need to clean the chimney

In winter, stoves and fireplaces are heated almost continuously. Cravings get worse over time. Soot settles on the walls of the chimney. It narrows the existing gap and does not allow smoke to pass fully, it enters the room.

Because of high temperature accumulated soot in the chimney can ignite. This leads to its destruction. Sparks emitted from the pipe become a source of fire. Or lead to carbon monoxide poisoning. The owners have a question how to clean the chimney pipe.

It is necessary to inspect the condition of the pipe at least twice a year. Before and after the heating season.

When to clean

Whether the chimney needs cleaning can be determined by eye. Pay attention to the color of the smoke first. If the stove is intact and the chimney is clean, then the clouds of smoke are light gray or white. Dense black smoke signals the need for preventive measures: soot has accumulated in the chimney.

The color of the flame in the firebox also matters. If the light orange hue changes to dark orange, the structure needs to be cleaned.

Soot deposits

The smoke contains mechanical particles. They stain the surface of the channel. Soot accumulates in the pipe, and a black coating appears. The deposits harden as a result of saturation with water vapor. The pipe is clogged. Channel bends, transitions, surfaces of brick pipes are covered with a layer of soot.

The amount of deposits depends on various factors:

The stove or fireplace is not installed correctly.
The technology for laying the knots of the product is violated.
Poor quality building materials. Cracks appear on the surface of the chimney.
The chimney system is cluttered with debris.
There is no umbrella on the pipe. The rate of accumulation of deposits depends on the humidity, the type of fuel and the characteristics of the fireplace.

Folk methods of cleansing

The quality of the stove or fireplace is affected by a layer of soot on the walls of the chimney. The waste enters the dwelling, and the soot deposited on the chimney ignites. Trouble can be avoided if you do not forget about cleaning the chimneys of stoves and fireplaces from soot.

Self-cleaning methods:

If the soot lags poorly, you can tap the chimney wall with a stick. But potato peelings do not always manage to clean the chimney with high quality. This is only a means to help soften the soot so that the latter lags behind the pipe walls. After peeling with potatoes, it is advisable to carry out mechanical peeling.

A good way is to burn aspen wood in a stove. But this is not entirely safe. The soot ignites and flakes out of the pipe. They cover the roof and the area around the building. Therefore, first you need to make sure whether the roof can withstand such a load and inspect the condition of the chimney.

If there is a lot of soot in the pipe, it is better to use another, safer method.

Tools and materials

First you need to prepare the tools. In order to clean the chimney, you will need:

The kernel is used not only for removing blockages. For effective cleaning, you can make the brush and brush heavier thanks to it.

The length of the device can be changed by connecting the elements with carabiners and a cable.

Mechanical cleaning

This method is also popular. In the old days, chimney sweeps used cores fixed with a cable. They punctured the dense build-up of soot. Ruffs were also used different shapes, scrapers.

Cleaning process:

Sometimes the pipe is high and you can't get to it from the roof. Then clean the bottom.

If the chimney is metal and there is a cleaning glass, it is unscrewed, and a ruff on a bendable bar is inserted into the pipe. If it is not there, clean it through the cleaning hole.

It is long and inconvenient to clean the chimney through the firebox. Cleaning metal pipe The ruff is not effective. Soot remains on the walls. In this case, the brush is replaced with a rag.

Homemade Ruff

A cleaning brush is made of polypropylene pipes. Pipes are cut by one and a half meters. Threaded fittings are placed on their ends. A metal brush for a grinder is attached to one of the fittings. The wire on the brushes is fluffed with pliers or pliers. It turns out a telescopic cleaning rod for the chimney.

Small mechanization can be applied. The method consists in the fact that a nozzle is made on the impeller of the chainsaw, which allows for forced ventilation of the pipe.

This method is extreme, it can be used by agreement with neighbors

Special store drugs

A variety of cleaners are sold in stores. You can buy them in powder, log or briquette form. Read the instructions before buying. Preparations can be for fireplaces, baths or closed heating stoves.

Popular remedies:

Work safety

Work on cleaning the chimney from soot requires compliance with safety measures in order to avoid accidents.

Safe chimney cleaning:

Do not clean the pipe from soot in wet weather, since high humidity, in strong winds.
You cannot climb the roof without a safety belt. You can tie the belt with a strong rope.
It is forbidden to take alcohol and drugs that slow down the reaction before work. The measures taken will help to avoid risks when cleaning the chimney.

Professional chimney sweeps know how to remove soot from a chimney. You can use their advice. They will help to extend the life of the fireplace.

Undesirable:

Cleaning the chimney of a sauna stove

The Russian bath has always been associated with humid steam and oven. There is a chimney that needs to be cleaned periodically.

If this is not done, the bath will heat up badly, there will be no craving. A fire could occur.

The reasons for the blockage of the chimney of the sauna stove:

Condensate.
Soot and soot.
Trapped foreign objects.

For quick and easy cleaning of the chimney with your own hands, you can use special briquettes with chemicals. When burned, they destroy the soot. The briquettes are burned in the oven and the mud will fall into the furnace in a day. But it is not recommended to use such preparations for cleaning the bath pipe.

You can use a special brush, a brush. They are suspended on a weight and lowered into a pipe.

Sometimes the smoke goes back when kindling. Probably, a foreign object has got into the chimney. They can be a brick made from masonry or a bird's nest that has fallen from nearby trees.

It is more difficult to get rid of such a blockage. You can take a stick or long pole and try to push the object inward. At the end of the stick, a hook is made from a nail to hook on the object. A good result is given by heating the stove with aspen wood.

It is advisable to make a removable visor on the bath pipe. Snow and rainwater will be prevented from entering the chimney.

Attention, only TODAY!

To clean a chimney pipe in a private house, you need to know some of the nuances, otherwise you risk damaging the structure and wasting time by performing this time-consuming work poorly. If you are faced with a choice between chemical and mechanical cleaning, feel free to choose mechanical cleaning, as it is much more effective. Contact a specialist if necessary.

Chimney clogging occurs for a variety of reasons. Often the culprit can be the ingress of a foreign object into the pipe. For example, birds or other animals that bring nesting material with them that completely blocks the smoke exhaust. Excessive build-up of soot (a natural by-product of the combustion process) can also cause clogging. Finally, a large amount of leaves, twigs and other debris can block the chimney.

Sometimes, improper design during construction can cause further frequent blockages. This is the most difficult cause to eliminate, since in most cases it will not be possible to get rid of it on your own, and contacting qualified specialists can cost a lot of money. Often, to completely eliminate the problem, it is necessary to completely dismantle the stove or fireplace in order to build a new firebox and smoke exhaust system. If you do not have the relevant experience and do not know how to clean the chimney, in no case try to do it yourself.

Why is soot dangerous?

During the combustion of wood or coal, amorphous carbon (soot) is formed, containing fine particles of solid matter. Soot occurs when hot particles interact with cold air, resulting in condensation. Since this process takes place in the air inside your home, soot is almost invisible until it begins to settle on walls and other surfaces in the form of a black coating.

When interacting with moisture in a room, soot can significantly degrade water quality, damage houseplants and render the surrounding air unbreathable.
Long-term exposure to a room with high levels of soot in the air can cause coronary heart disease, asthma, bronchitis and many other respiratory diseases.

The most dangerous effect of burning is on people with cardiovascular disease, increasing the risk of heart attack.

If there are newborn babies in a polluted room, this can affect the development of their upper and lower respiratory tract.

The danger of carbon monoxide poisoning is a major concern when it comes to heating a room with wood or coal.

Popular methods of non-contact cleaning

Please note - non-contact cleaning fixes the problem only for a while. If you have any difficulties with mechanical cleaning, use the services of professionals.

The people often use the following methods to combat soot and burning:

Burning potato skins together with firewood;
Placement of a bag filled with bricks in the pipe;
Using pine wood to clean the chimney.

Remember that none of these methods are reliable cleaning methods and do not guarantee adequate safety. Better ways- is it mechanical or chemical cleaning... In some cases, you can combine several options if your design allows it.

Chemical cleaning

Sodium chloride

Sodium chloride, also known as table salt, is a simple chemical that is easy to find. Place some salt on the fire while it burns. The salt will begin to react with the water in the burning wood, creating a weak acid that will travel up the chimney and dissolve a small amount of soot. Use this method with care. Do not use sodium chloride if you have a metal flue gas vent, as acid will corrode if it comes into contact with metal.

Copper sulphate

When choosing an industrial flue gas purifier, one of the most effective ingredients is copper sulphate. This material reacts chemically with the soot and burns it at a lower temperature than usual. Like table salt, copper sulfate works with water to create sulphurous or sulfuric acid, which can damage the inside of your chimney.

While chemical cleaners can prevent soot build-up, the only way to effectively clear the blockage is to manually clean the inside of the pipe with a special brush. Chemical cleaners should never be the only cleaning method. In addition, overuse of chemicals can damage the flue gas duct, especially metal lined chimneys, which will significantly shorten their service life. Read the instructions carefully before using any chemical cleaner to avoid fire hazards. If the chimney is not working properly and the smoke is blowing back, under no circumstances use chemicals, as this can threaten you with serious poisoning.

Mechanical chimney cleaning

Do-it-yourself mechanical cleaning of the chimney is a very time-consuming task that requires considerable effort and time. There are four general methods cleaning. Some of them require more than one person to be present, but all four methods involve a set of the same tools.

To clean the chimney, you will need:

Ruff for cleaning the chimney;
Chimney rods, rope and pulling rings (depending on the method);
Pipe plug;
Fabric for flooring and furniture;
Ribbon;
Mirror;
Metal bucket;
Shovel and broom;
Lantern;
Protective mask / goggles;
Ladder.

Measure the width of your flue gas vent before purchasing a custom brush to ensure that you select the correct size.

In no case do not save on the quality of consumables. This can affect both the quality of cleaning and the integrity of your structure.

Basic methods of mechanical cleaning

Top-down rod method. To perform this cleaning method, you must be on the roof. Insert the brush into the hole to clean the interior walls by lifting and lowering the brush several times. The brush should be connected to flexible metal rods to increase the length of the brush as you move further down the chimney. Use this cleaning method if you want to avoid getting soot on furniture and walls in your home. It is recommended to close the firebox to completely avoid the ingress of soot from the walls of the chimney on things in the living room.
Bottom-up rod method... This method is similar to the previous one, but for cleaning it is necessary to be in the house, and not on the roof, working with the rod from below. It is much safer since you don't have to climb onto the roof, but in this case it is impossible to avoid soot and dust getting on things in your home. To significantly reduce contamination, use a tarp to protect your furniture from excessive burning.

Cleaning with additional weight. This cleaning is recommended to follow the same algorithm as the top-down rod method, but instead of using a smoke brush, rope, pull rings and weights must be attached to the flexible metal rods. Add rings to the end of the rope and any weight of at least 9 kilograms, then raise and lower this structure into the chimney from the roof. Do not forget to close the firebox in the house so that dust does not get on interior items.
Double line method. This method requires the participation of two people. Pass the rope through your broom (use a tension ring for holding if necessary). One person takes the brush and rope onto the roof and, holding one end, lowers the rig down the pipe. The person in the house grabs the other end of the rope. Each in turn pulls on the rope to thoroughly brush the chimney. Be prepared for an abundant amount of dust in the house after the procedure. Be sure to use tarp or any other fabric to cover the floor and furniture.

Step-by-step instructions for mechanical cleaning

Prepare a cloth for collecting dust and place it in front of the fireplace insert (stove).
Put on your mask and gloves.
Thoroughly illuminate the pipe with a flashlight to accurately determine its size.
Make sure your brush is at least slightly longer than your chimney.
Place a tarp or an old waste sheet over the fireplace. Use fire retardant tape for this to avoid flaming incidents (especially if you are using a torch or candle instead of a flashlight).
Push the brush up the chimney, turning it inside if necessary.
Repeat this process until you reach the top of the chimney.
Take a look at the chimney using a flashlight. If the walls are still dirty, repeat the previous procedure again.
Use a hair dryer to heat the flue gas vent. Direct the heat source towards the chimney for about 8 minutes.
Light a small piece of paper in the firebox to check the quality of the work done. If the smoke rises up and does not come back, then the cleaning was successful. Otherwise, you can repeat the previous steps.
To ensure the integrity of your chimney, have someone look outside at how the smoke comes out. If smoke comes out of multiple vents, the chimney is most likely damaged. In this case, do not try to do anything yourself, but contact qualified personnel to avoid a fire.
If everything went well, remove all dust and fumes from the firebox with a vacuum cleaner.
This procedure must be carried out at least once every one and a half months.

When cleaning, wear clothes that you do not mind throwing away after completion, as you will have a rather dirty and dusty job;
Measure the width of your chimney before purchasing a custom brush to ensure that you select the correct size. If the brush is too large, it can get stuck during cleaning;
Do not use water to light a fire, as it can deform the metal chimney;
You can make a brush for cleaning the chimney with your own hands using steel cables, unnecessary wire and metal cargo. Make sure you are using a weight of at least 8 to 9 kilograms.

Checking the quality of cleaning

The easiest way to check is to shine a flashlight into the chimney. If you do not find gray, brown or black plaque on its walls, it means that the cleaning was done with high quality. Absence bad smell when the wood is burning, it also indicates that there are no harmful substances left in the chimney. During cleaning, foreign objects may get into the chimney (for example, a piece of rope, fibers from a brush and other consumables). Before lighting the wood and making the first check, carefully make sure that the chimney is free of foreign debris.

If you have any suspicions that the chimney was damaged during cleaning, under no circumstances use it before a preliminary inspection. Perform a thorough check yourself or invite a specialist.

Remember - if the diagnostics or cleaning is done incorrectly, it is not recommended to use such a chimney in the near future.

Follow these tips to avoid soot build-up:

Check the chimney regularly for blockages, consult a specialist if necessary;
Do not burn cellophane, foil and other foreign objects in the firebox;
Make sure that the entire system from the firebox to the chimney is correctly installed;
Make sure all wood is dry enough before lighting up;
Choose the right stove or fireplace size for your space;
Make sure the fire is completely extinguished before going to bed or leaving the room;
If your stove is located in the country and you do not use it for a long time, do not forget to close the pipe with a dummy lid during your absence.

Prices for the services of professional chimney sweeps

If you use your fireplace more than four times a week, you will need to clean your chimney on a regular basis. This is one of the most important factors in determining the cost of chimney sweep services, since the more often your fireplace or stove is used, the more blockage forms on the walls of the chimney.

In order for cleaning to be as effective as possible, it is advisable to clean both from the house and from the roof.

If you have been using your fireplace for many years and have never been cleaned, the cost of a specialist service can be much more expensive than any subsequent cleaning, as long-term blockages are very difficult to remove.

Approximate prices for chimney sweep services

Prices may vary depending on your region. The table below shows prices for Moscow and the Moscow region.

Dry cleaning by specialists is not carried out and is not strictly recommended for independent use. For an additional fee, a specialist can advise you on how to clean a chimney in a private house yourself.

Always remember that even with proper care you cannot avoid chimney fouling, it’s just a matter of time. Clean every few months to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning and odor in the room. Despite the apparent effectiveness of home remedies and the use of chemicals, there is no substitute for good mechanical cleaning.

Heating a house, summer cottage or bath is rarely complete without a stove or boiler. For our winters, this equipment is optimal: it can produce the required amount of heat. But stoves and boilers also require maintenance, and one of the mandatory procedures is chimney cleaning.

Why is the chimney overgrown with soot

The combustion process of fuel is an oxidation process, and this requires oxygen and high temperature. If even one of these conditions is not met, soot appears - this is the result of insufficient oxidation of carbon. Externally, the presence of soot can be determined by the color of the smoke - if it is black, it means that it contains soot particles, but most of it settles in the chimney, especially in places of turns.

Now a little about what can cause the active formation of soot:

The rate at which the chimney is overgrown with soot also depends on the type of firewood. Resinous spruce and pine in this regard are not the best choice, but not everyone has the opportunity to drown with expensive oak or other deciduous species. In any case, you can make sure that the wood is dry. To do this, it is worth building more spacious, so that it can hold a stock for 2-3 years. Then you can use the most seasoned and dried logs, and let the fresh ones lie, reach condition.

How can you clean the chimney from soot

There are three ways to clean the chimney:

Mechanical. A ruff is thrust into the chimney, with the help of which the soot is knocked off the walls. The disadvantage of this method is that it is necessary to have access to the pipe, which is not always easy. Not everyone is able to climb onto the roof, and cleaning from the bottom requires flexible rods and access. Another unpleasant moment: all the contents are poured down, you will have to collect and take it out, and then wash the stove or fireplace from soot for a long time. Therefore, before starting cleaning, put some kind of container into which everything will pour.
Chimney dry cleaning - powders and briquettes (logs). When the system warms up, the powders are poured into the fire, the logs are placed in the firebox. The substances contained in them soften the soot, it gradually flies into the pipe, but it can fall down and block the passage altogether. So these funds are best used for prophylaxis when there is still a little soot.
Traditional methods. The problem of soot overgrowing chimneys is not new, and our ancestors were able to cope with it without chemicals. There were, of course, chimney sweeps, but they worked in cities, and the services cost a lot. Nevertheless, the problem was dealt with, and very by simple means- salt or potato peels.

There is one more cardinal solution - to go to the firemen and call specialists. They are no longer called chimney sweeps, but perform the same functions, albeit by different means. The solution is not bad, they know their job, since soot is explosive, if only someone is not given admission. The only negative is the cost of such services.

Mechanical chimney cleaners

Chimney cleaning with ruffs has been used for centuries, and they still exist. At the end of a long, resilient and flexible cable, a brush is tied. Diameter - individually for the size of the chimney. A small metal ball can be tied under the ruff to make it easier to go down the implement. This structure is lowered into the chimney, raised, lowered again and raised again. So until the passage is cleared. Everything works simply - soot gets off the pipe with bristles.

This chimney cleaning has one feature: if there is good draft, most of the chimney soot flies into the chimney. Therefore, firstly, you need to attach yourself so that you do not fall off the roof from involuntary movement, and secondly, put on goggles and a respirator. Gloves do not hurt either, but they are needed so that the rope does not hurt your hands.

If you decide to make a chimney brush yourself, hang the ball at the bottom, and centered. Giri or spanners do not fit - sooner or later they become a surprise in the chimney. You will be lucky if you can remove the weapon without disassembling the pipe.

The chimney is not always such that it can be cleaned from above - it can rise several meters above the roof. You can't put a ladder to it, you can't get there in any other way. In this case, the chimney is cleaned from below. For this, there are flexible rod ruffs. Fragments of the rod are connected to one another, the ruff moves along the pipe. In this case, part of the soot is also carried away by the traction, but part of it falls down and this must also be taken into account. Professional chimney sweeps use special vacuum cleaners for collection (not household ones, since soot is explosive); when cleaning yourself, you will have to collect everything by hand.

If you have a fireplace, everything is simple - access is free, but if it is a boiler or a sauna stove, the matter is more complicated. If the chimney has a condensate collecting glass, removing it, you can easily run the ruff into the pipe. If there are no revisions, you will have to try to get to the pipe through the firebox. If this is not possible, you will have to disassemble the chimney. Then it's better to immediately remake it by putting a tee with a glass.

Chimney dry cleaning products

You can clean the chimney with chemicals while it is not too clogged. If the pipe is brick, these products help to make mechanical cleaning less frequent. As an independent tool, they can be used for ceramic chimneys or made of stainless steel. All these powders or logs for removing soot from the pipe are preventive. It is far from always possible to clean the chimney from a large amount of soot. There were cases when the soot that had fallen off after burning the powder blocked the chimney tightly. I had to take a ruff and clean it by hand.

Despite these shortcomings, the funds are used and here's why: during processing, the soot that is in the boiler, sauna stove or in the chimneys also softens. It is a little pleasure to chuck them by hand, and regular use does a pretty good job.

There are plenty of soot cleaners in stores, but here are the most popular ones:

After using all chemicals, the room must be ventilated, the stove or fireplace must be cleaned. Please note that after processing, the soot can pour in a couple of days - the remains fly off.

Traditional methods of cleaning the chimney

The easiest way to prevent the formation of soot is to heat an already preheated stove with aspen wood. They burn with a very hot flame, the soot in the chimney burns out. The action is effective, but dangerous - if a lot of soot has accumulated, it explodes when ignited and can break the pipe.

There are safer folk remedies with which chimney cleaning is both effective and safe. Add half a kilogram of salt or about a bucket of potato peelings to a melted and well-heated oven. It is better to dry the cleanings or add raw ones little by little - so as not to bring down the temperature in the firebox. The action is approximately the same as when using chemicals, only a little softer - soot flies out of the pipe for another three days.

Previously, when stove heating was in all houses, there were no problems with cleaning the chimney. The head of the family knew exactly how, with what and when to clean him, and the profession of a chimney sweep was in high esteem.

Over time, boilers supplanted stoves, and today only a few can guess why the fire stops igniting, and when kindled, the smoke does not come out. But the most a big problem not even in this - but in the fact that carbon monoxide, without passing through the polluted pipe, begins to concentrate in the room, which poses a direct threat to the life and health of household members. In order for you to avoid such problems, we will tell you how to clean the chimney from soot at home and why it gets dirty at all.

Why is the chimney clogged

To begin with, you need to understand that during long-term operation any chimney is clogged, even made using technology and from the right materials. In any case, it is necessary to clean the chimney at least 1 time in 1-3 years, depending on the intensity of operation.

Much more often, soot accumulates in the bowels of the chimney due to a violation of the design or manufacturing technology. So, for example, the following main reasons can be distinguished:

incorrect laying of the pipe and the remnants of masonry mortar on the inside;
violation of the operation of the stove or fireplace;
the chimney is made of low-quality material;
lack of a protective umbrella on the chimney, in connection with which birds fly into it, debris, foliage, etc .;
violation of the size of the lumen of the chimney.

Improper operation of a stove or fireplace means using firewood with a high concentration of resin as fuel or burning "chemical" waste - polyethylene, plastic, rubber.

Often the reason for the rapid clogging of the chimney is poor quality material, which was used for masonry - both brick and masonry mortar... This leads to chips, parts falling off, which get stuck in the chimney and so on.
The narrowing of the lumen of the chimney, caused by both one of the reasons, and several in aggregate, disrupts the draft during ignition, does not allow smoke to escape, and increases the heating time of the walls of the chimney.

If you notice these signs, it's time to clean your chimney. In addition to the fact that, as mentioned earlier, carbon monoxide accumulates in the room, with an increase in soot deposits, at some point they ignite and a fire starts.

How to remove soot

Of course, there are narrow specialists on the labor market who clean pipes using various chemical and mechanical methods, but the price of their services is quite high. On average, the tariff depends on the type of heating device (stove, sauna stove, fireplace or brazier) and ranges from 9 to 12 thousand rubles for a single service. It is clear that it is much cheaper to independently figure out how to clean the chimney from soot at home, and not inflict a crushing blow on the family budget.

The simplest household chimney cleaning methods

Potato peelings

Oddly enough, but this is an excellent tool in the fight against small (.) Soot deposits.

By themselves, the potato does not remove the soot from the pipe, but softens it, which makes it possible to quickly and easily remove it mechanically.

For this method, prepare in advance 0.5 buckets of dry potato peelings or finely chopped potatoes, also pre-dried. When the wood burns out and the coals remain smoldering, throw potato peelings on them. When burned, they release starch fumes, which softens the soot to an acceptable state.

Salt

Rather, it is a prophylactic method that is recommended every time you light up a fireplace or stove. Salt is poured onto the burning wood and the released chemical elements prevent soot from settling on the walls of the chimney. Of course, over time, it still settles, but not in such an amount and not so viscous.

Chimney sweep logs

You can buy a special log from a stove store or use birch wood. If possible, you can buy aspen logs, they have the same effect.

It is imperative to remove the bark from birch logs.

This firewood for a short time increase the temperature in the furnace to a maximum, after which the soot simply bursts into shreds. This is a good way, but it requires the constant presence of a person. If enough soot has accumulated, such a powerful fire from an aspen or birch is quite capable of setting it on fire. Do not be lazy and stay near the fireplace all the time until the wood burns out.

Chemical methods for cleaning soot

It's much more effective ways fight even with significant soot deposits.

There are the following proven effective drugs:

A mixture of saltpeter, copper sulfate and coke in equal parts. The composition is poured onto embers; during combustion, a number of chemical elements are released, provoking the shedding of a significant amount of soot.

The maximum dosage is 200 grams of the finished composition.

PCA (anti-carbonaceous chemical composition) is a very effective soot control composition that must be burned directly in the package.

Be sure to read the instructions - the effect of the drug is so strong that it can even provoke cracking of the chimney pipe. It is strictly forbidden to violate the dosage.

Kominicek is a Czech preparation for combating a small layer of soot plaque (2-3 mm). One package is enough to clean a standard chimney for 2-3 months. With regular use of the stove or fireplace, it is recommended to use the composition at least 3 times a year.

The active substance is chlorine copper CuCl2, therefore, during use, it is necessary to arrange a very good draft in the room and, if possible, not be present in it.

Chimney logs - natural birch or aspen logs additionally impregnated with CuCl2. Burning, it emits a number of chemical elements that provoke the exfoliation of creosote sediments - resinous sediments.

Considering that these drugs are also an expensive pleasure, they should be used no more than once a year or two. It is much easier and cheaper to take a number of preventive measures and mechanically clean the pipe.

Methods for mechanical cleaning of the chimney

You purchase the tools necessary for such work only once, so in the future this method will not be costly.

So, you will need:

In addition to basic tools, you will need a respirator, heavy-duty woven gloves, and safety goggles.

All stoves are cleaned from above and fireplaces from below.

The cleaning of the oven, including the bathhouse, is carried out in the same way as we used to wash the milk container with a brush. With gentle circular movements, scrape off the soot that falls to the bottom of the well. Select the instrument according to the thickness of the canal. Initially, you can burn the wood with fine salt or potato peels to soften the soot and make the job easier. Then use a brush or brush and, if necessary, a ramrod or a hook.

For cleaning activities, choose a sunny, windless day. Be sure to secure yourself securely to the pipe to eliminate the risk of injury.

The fireplace is cleaned mainly with hard brushes with long handles at the bottom.

Be sure to clean the bottom of the well after the pipe has been cleaned - scoop up all the soot that has fallen off the walls with a poker and a shovel and throw it away.

Conclusion, reviews, advice

Self-cleaning the chimney from soot and carbon deposits is not as difficult as it might seem at first. Yes, this is a lengthy process, especially if you have not encountered this before. The most important thing is to take a number of preventive measures in time, and alternately use the previously indicated methods. Optimal time for cleaning - early autumn, when there are still fine days.

Thank you for telling me how to clean the chimney from soot at home, and even in detail. And how to understand that cleaning is already needed? I have a wood-burning stove.

How to clean the chimney from soot at home with folk remedies: photos and videos

The average price tag for the services of a professional chimney sweep is 9-12 thousand rubles. It is cheaper to figure out how to clean the chimney from soot at home, and do it with minimal cost.

How to clean a chimney

Why is the chimney overgrown with soot

Now a little about what can cause the active formation of soot:

Raw firewood. If you put undried wood on the fire, they dry first. This takes a lot of energy, which greatly knocks down the temperature in the firebox. We get subcooled carbon, a large cloud of black smoke and, after a while of using raw fuel, we will have a clogged chimney.

The use of raw wood leads to the accumulation of soot deposits

The rate at which the chimney is overgrown with soot also depends on the type of firewood. Resinous spruce and pine in this regard are not the best choice, but not everyone has the opportunity to heat with expensive oak or other deciduous species. In any case, you can make sure that the wood is dry. To do this, it is worth building a more spacious woodshed so that a stock for 2-3 years can be placed in it. Then you can use the most seasoned and dried logs, and let the fresh ones lie, reach condition.

How can you clean the chimney from soot

There are three ways to clean the chimney:

Chimney cleaning with a chimney sweep

Mechanical. A ruff is thrust into the chimney, with the help of which the soot is knocked off the walls. The disadvantage of this method is that it is necessary to have access to the pipe, which is not always easy. Not everyone is able to climb onto the roof, and cleaning from the bottom requires flexible rods and access. Another unpleasant moment: all the contents are poured down, you will have to collect and take it out, and then wash the stove or fireplace from soot for a long time. Therefore, before starting cleaning, put some kind of container into which everything will pour.
Chimney dry cleaning - powders and briquettes (logs). When the system warms up, the powders are poured into the fire, the logs are placed in the firebox. The substances contained in them soften the soot, it gradually flies into the pipe, but it can fall down and block the passage altogether. So these funds are best used for prophylaxis when there is still a little soot.
Traditional methods. The problem of soot overgrowing chimneys is not new, and our ancestors were able to cope with it without chemicals. There were, of course, chimney sweeps, but they worked in cities, and the services cost a lot. Nevertheless, the problem was dealt with, and with very simple means - salt or potato peelings.

Mechanical chimney cleaners

Chimney brush

If you decide to make a chimney brush yourself, hang the ball at the bottom, and centered. Weights or wrenches are not suitable - sooner or later they become a surprise in the chimney. You will be lucky if you can remove the weapon without disassembling the pipe.

You can hang a ball at the bottom

The chimney is not always such that it can be cleaned from above - a sandwich pipe can rise several meters above the roof. You can't put a ladder to it, you can't get there in any other way. In this case, the chimney is cleaned from below. For this, there are flexible rod ruffs. Fragments of the rod are connected to one another, the ruff moves along the pipe. In this case, part of the soot is also carried away by the traction, but part of it falls down and this must also be taken into account. Professional chimney sweeps use special vacuum cleaners for collection (not household ones, since soot is explosive); when cleaning yourself, you will have to collect everything by hand.

Chimney cleaning from below

Chimney dry cleaning products

There are plenty of soot cleaners in stores, but here are the most popular ones:

Kominichek. This is a Czech-made drug. The package contains paper bags with granules packaged in them. This soot remover is placed in a well-heated oven without breaking the bag. A whole paper bag is placed on the firewood; there is no need to tear apart the product. According to reviews, it works fine. The most effective as long as the layer of soot is not more than 2 mm - it cleans the chimney to clean walls.

Powder for cleaning chimneys "Kominichek"

Chimney cleaning log

After using all chemicals, the room must be ventilated, the stove or fireplace must be cleaned. Please note that after processing, the soot can pour in a couple of days - the remains fly off.

Traditional methods of cleaning the chimney

Put a couple of logs when heating the stove and preventive cleaning of the chimney from soot is done

Chimney cleaning: methods, means, folk methods

What methods are used to clean the chimney, how the procedure takes place, what are the ways to clean the chimney from soot, how to use them.

How and what to clean the chimney: a master class and 3 secrets from a chimney sweep

Operability wood stove or fireplace is directly related to the cleanliness of the chimney. There are situations when the lack of dry logs forces the owners of private houses to heat with damp firewood. Due to incomplete combustion of the wood, soot residues are distributed along the walls of the chimney. Over time, the blockage becomes impenetrable for hot air. To avoid this kind of problem, a contract is concluded with a chimney service company. However, to save Money do-it-yourself chimney cleaning is offered.

To reduce the number of cleaning procedures during the operation of the stove, it is enough to use the heating device correctly. It is not recommended to burn household waste and blissful logs. It is necessary to constantly clean the ash box from ash, periodically clean the intermediate blockages of pipes with soot through special revisions of the chimney. Only high-quality products are used as other types of fuel. Subject to these basic rules of use, the chimney will be cleaned no more than once a year. Remember, if the stove smokes, it's time to clean the chimney.

Why clean the chimney

The combustion products used in the heating appliance give off residual carbon deposits which, over time, turn into accumulated soot. Hot air currents push these substances out through the chimney, however, in parallel, some of them settle on the walls of the smoke outlet. During the operation of the furnace, the amount of soot multiplies and an insurmountable barrier layer is created. This neglect leads to the following consequences:

The chimney outlet pipe is reduced in bore diameter, as a result of which the amount of draft is reduced.
Soot is the result of a chemical combustion reaction. Consequently, the accumulation on the walls does not have the best effect on the wear of the chimney.
The heat capacity of the pipe decreases, and with it the efficiency of the heating device.
As a result of the blockage, it smokes the stove.
The risk of fire inside the flue gas duct increases.

Good traction

This is the primary task for any heater. High thrust rates guarantee quick heating of the furnace. The accumulation of soot on the walls of the chimney reduces the diameter of the chimney, which significantly reduces the draft. Another negative effect is that a blockage in the chimney causes partial penetration of smoke through the stove back into the room.

Operational safety

The heater operates at high temperature conditions, which is reflected in the chimney with the same effect. Therefore, if there is an unacceptable accumulation of soot, there is a risk of fire in the chimney.

If the chimney is clogged, the combined effect of low draft and high temperature can lead to carbon monoxide poisoning.

To protect the chimney from such problems, it is necessary to regularly clean the chimney from soot. The time interval between these procedures is at least twice a year.

Do-it-yourself methods for cleaning the chimney from soot in a bath, in a stove: folk and other remedies

You can independently clean the chimney pipe in three ways:

So, we will try to clean the chimney with folk remedies:

The most common method is rock salt. In fact, this is more likely not a chimney cleaning, but an option to combat the accumulation of soot on its walls. In the furnace, where the combustion of fuel products occurs, add 100-200 gr. rock salt... This popular method is preventive in nature, therefore, it is unable to completely clean the chimney from soot.
Potato peels are a mythological pipe cleaner. To effectively use this method, you need to prepare a bucket of potato peel. During the operation of a fireplace or stove, parts of the cleaning are poured onto the fire.At the combustion stage, potato starch is mixed with hot air vapors, which, when passing through the chimney, softens the soot that has settled on the walls of the chimney. However, after using this method, it is still necessary to manually clean the chimney.
The third pipe cleaner is dried aspen wood. To clean the chimney with your own hands, you need two or three armfuls of aspen logs. This type of fuel will heat the pipe to very high temperatures.

Due to the fact that aspen wood has a very high heat transfer, this method is not recommended for use if a thick layer of soot has formed in the pipe and the chimney is made of fragile materials. When heated, the pipe may not withstand such loads.

Liquid chemical compounds: the best options for cleaning a clogged chimney

When the stove smokes with black soot, then it's time to use more effective methods for cleaning soot accumulations. These include industrial-type cleaning products. Such chemical chimney cleaners are made in the form of powders, briquettes and liquids. Depending on the type of agent, a certain amount of the mixture is added to the furnace of the heater. Combustion releases chemicals that decompose the build-up of soot on the walls of the chimney. The decayed deposits are crumbling. You can clean the chimney with special tools.

The chemical compounds used to clean the chimney do not harm human health during combustion.

A popular flue gas cleaning agent is a composition against the formation of carbon deposits on the pipe walls. The chemical composition is presented in the form of a special powder, poured into heating products. Such a chimney cleaner is used in a strict proportion: up to 250 grams per 1 ton of fuel.
The Czech soot cleaning agent Kominichek effectively copes with the task. When burned with wood, this chemical starts a catalytic reaction that burns off soot deposits on the walls of the flue pipe. A distinctive feature - the combustion of creosote deposits occurs when low temperatures.
A well-known tool for cleaning the chimney is the "Chimney sweep" log. By outward appearance such a tool resembles a bar or briquette. It is recommended to use the composition as a preventive measure to clean the chimney duct. With regular use, the degree of formation of creosote deposits is reduced to zero. An undoubted advantage is the fact that there is no risk of soot ignition when using this type of chemical composition. The chimney cleaning log is burned in the stove no more than twice during the entire heating season.

To properly use a log chimney sweep with your own hands, it is imperative to study the instructions for use.

Mechanical cleaning: how to heat the stove after pine wood

In case of unavailability of chemicals and ineffectiveness of folk remedies, the most effective method is carried out - cleaning the chimneys with your own hands. For high-quality performance of the work, you will need to equip a brush for cleaning the chimney with your own hands. Correct cleaning of chimneys and stoves from soot is carried out in the following order:

We block each cleaning hole and all revisions. We close the firebox door. Open fireplaces should be covered with a damp blanket.
It is recommended to clean the chimney in good weather, as the procedure is performed on the roof of the building. Using safety belts, we rise to the roof.
We conduct a thorough inspection of the chimney for debris and foreign objects. If there is a soot deposit with a layer not exceeding 3 mm, the mechanical cleaning procedure may be postponed. Otherwise, push the entire available layer down the pipe.
The visible area of soot is cleaned with a scraper, after which you need a brush to clean the chimney. For greater efficiency, a metal brush is made with a brush at the end.
We clean out the remnants with a scoop from the firebox itself.

Correctly cleaning the chimney from soot is easy.

When faced with insurmountable blockages in the pipe, you can use a core (metal ball) with a diameter corresponding to the chimney, which is tied to a rope. As you can see, there are plenty of options and methods for self-cleaning the chimney channel. Therefore, such a task is easily solvable for everyone. The main thing to consider when choosing a cleaning agent is the amount of creosote accumulations in the chimney. Before using this or that remedy, you should charmingly read the instructions of the manufacturer of the chemical composition.

When you really need to clean up

Research has shown that properly maintained and operated Russian stoves are less likely to need the chimney cleaning process. The duration of use in this mode reaches several years. According to the rules, the burning of household waste, bags and plastic products in ovens does not have the most favorable effect on the cleanliness of the inner walls of the chimney. Therefore, so that there is no need to clean the pipe from soot, it should be properly operated heater... It is easy to identify the symptoms of the onset of flue duct pollution. First of all, the color of the emitted smoke changes. In a soot-free chimney, its color is white or transparent.

When soot deposits accumulate, the color gradually changes to dark shades... If these symptoms do not occur, experts recommend performing preventive cleaning at least twice a year. After each chimney cleaning action, a quality control is carried out. To control the performance of cleaning work in the smoke exhaust pipe, special mirrors are used, which are lowered from top to bottom along the chimney channel. This method allows you to find the most vulnerable points of the smoke exhaust pipe and take appropriate measures. For example, create a new revision in order to often clean the chimney in its individual parts. Everyone can clean the chimney.

How to properly clean the chimney from soot with folk and other means

Subject to the basic rules of use, the chimney will be cleaned no more than once a year. Remember, if the stove smokes, it's time to clean

How to clean a chimney pipe on your own and at no extra cost

V old days cleaning the chimney was a common, common thing for any owner. After all, a wood-burning stove was in every home and the subtleties of this process were passed on from generation to generation. Now these skills are known only to a narrow circle of professionals, whose services are quite expensive. However, there is nothing particularly difficult in this lesson. In this article, I will talk about how to clean up the chimney with your own hands using traditional tools, as well as the available grandfather's cleaning recipes.

Pipe cleaning process.

Indirect signs of a clogged chimney

You should not be negligent in cleaning the chimney, because a chimney overgrown with soot or even a clogged pipe can lead to the fact that at a certain moment carbon monoxide, which has neither color nor smell, will go into the room. And this is no longer just a mild poisoning with a headache, but a real mortal danger for you and your family.

The first thing to look out for is cravings.... Anyone who regularly had to heat a stove or kindle a fireplace knows that in addition to the firebox itself, the stoves have a blower that provides air flow and a damper on the chimney. This damper is needed to adjust the cross-section of the chimney; without it, the lion's share of the heat will literally fly into the chimney.

The position of the damper is usually determined by eye, empirically. So, if you need to open the damper more than usual to ignite the stove, it means that the section of the pipe has become smaller and it needs to be cleaned;

Another indirect sign of the need for such cleaning may be the color of the smoke.... When wood is burning, the smoke is usually light, almost white, and at high burning intensity it can generally be transparent. If dark smoke poured out of your chimney, and shreds of soot appeared on the roof and in the yard, then it's time to get down to business;
You can also determine the blockage of the system by the color of the flame.... Under normal conditions, the fire will be light yellow in color. If the intensity of combustion drops, and the flame turns bright orange, it means that the fuel does not burn out completely, therefore, the stove needs to be cleaned.

Chimney cleaning methods

For thousands of years of existence stove heating in the piggy bank folk wisdom gathered in many different ways. I did not stand aside and modern science, on this moment a number of formulations are available to solve this problem.

Cleaning the firebox with an industrial vacuum cleaner.

What the modern market offers us

The simplest, albeit not very cheap, way to clean fireplaces and stoves is to use a variety of chemical mixtures that, to one degree or another, actively destroy soot layers in chimneys and furnaces:

Domestic company "Dymovoy" produces whole line similar devices. The cleaning box is considered a serious soot preventive measure. This is an ordinary cardboard box with a flammable chemical inside, which must be placed in the furnace and set on fire.

The whole process takes about an hour and a half. After that, within 2 weeks, the soot will actively fall off and fall into the firebox or burn inside the channel, poured out through the chimney;

Box for cleaning pipes "Smoke".

If the cardboard box didn't help, there are more radical remedy, the so-called "Smoke" log. This is a briquette of compressed chemicals, decorated to look like a regular log. The developers claim that this is one of the most powerful tools. In addition to the practical benefits, the burning of such a log is accompanied by interesting visual effects, it gives an original flame with a pronounced turquoise hue, children will be delighted with such cleaning of the fireplace;

In the product line of this renowned manufacturer there are also special cleaning pellets designed to prevent clogging of pellet heating boilers and stoves. To maintain the normal operation of the boiler, the instruction prescribes to mix a ten-kilogram packet of the product with a ton of ordinary pellets. To clean conventional stoves with such pellets, it is necessary to burn a kilogram of this chemical in the firebox for 5 days;

Pellets for pipe cleaning.

Approximately the same line of products is offered by the concern operating under the common brand "Chimney sweep". This brand is the result of cooperation between our manufacturers and the well-known German company "Hansa". If you believe the advertising, then their products are capable of destroying not only soot layers, but also react with creosote, which is the basis of a dense and viscous substrate under the layer of this soot;

Log from the Chimney sweep trademark.

The products of the Czech company Kominichek have gained popularity among Russians for a long time. One package contains 5 sachets of the mixture, 14g each. It is used at the rate of 1 sachet per 1 kg of firewood.

The advantage of such a mixture is acceptable price as well as the ability to degrade soot even at relatively low temperatures. But the product has a pungent odor, which is why it can only be used in tightly closing fireboxes, it is not suitable for open fireplaces;

In addition, one of the most available funds is a protivagarnoe chemical composition or PCA. The compound is effective, but quite aggressive, for 1 ton of fuel there is no more than 150 g of powder. It is sold and used in the same way as Kominichek, in paper bags that are burned without opening.

All this powerful arsenal of modern chemistry, according to the manufacturers themselves, is more designed to prevent chimney overgrowth. If the thickness of the carbon deposit in your pipe does not exceed 20 mm, then the chemistry will cope with it. Large blockages can only be removed mechanically, that is, by hand.

Folk ways to clean pipes

Fortunately, not all grandfather's recipes were irretrievably lost and in the treasury of folk wisdom, there are still many actionable recommendations... Personally, I trust folk methods more than aggressive chemistry:

The simplest remedy is regular table salt. It is poured onto burning coals and upon evaporation, it gradually destroys the soot layer. There are two opinions on when to add salt. I was taught to sprinkle salt on embers in a dying oven.

At the same time, I have met masters who, on the contrary, argue that salt should be poured over high heat. Apparently the truth, as always, is in the middle. After all, whatever you pour, at the moment of maximum combustion and the thrust will be maximum, therefore, most of the composition will simply fly out through the pipe;

Table salt for chimney cleaning.

In parallel with salt, I use the softening and destruction of the soot layer with the help of potatoes, more precisely potato peelings. They are thrown closer to the end of the firebox and, according to the rules, should completely burn out. Destruction occurs due to the absorption of starch into the loose layer of soot. The method is completely safe and does not require practically any costs;

Peelings from potatoes to combat soot in chimneys.

One of the grandfather's methods of preventing chimney clogging, which was widespread in the past, was periodically heating it with dry wood from aspen, alder or birch, and this wood must be cleared of bark. During such a firebox, the flaps must be periodically gradually closed and opened completely.

As a result, when you close the valve, the temperature rises, and when you open it fully, you get maximum thrust. Such "swing" leads to complete burnout of the layers. But for old stoves this is dangerous, as the walls of the chimney can crack;

Chopped aspen firewood.

Light soot build-ups can be destroyed by naphthalene vapors. According to experienced cleaners, it is supposedly enough to burn one tablet for 3-4 days in a row, and within two weeks after that all the soot will burn out and the channel will become clean.

But I have doubts about the safety of this method. Firstly, naphthalene is a rather harmful and smelly compound, and no matter how hard you try, some of the vapors will get into the room anyway. And secondly, at high concentrations, naphthalene vapors are considered explosive;

There is another radical method, this is cleaning the chimney with boiling water. As a rule, it is used for serious blockages, as a temporary measure, until the hands can be mechanically cleaned. It's simple, three liters of boiling water are poured into the pipe of the melted stove, from a steam shock, the plug simply knocks out, plus the structure of the entire layer is disrupted and part of the soot burns out;
If we talk exclusively about cleaning furnaces, then here you can use a mixture of crystals of copper sulfate (5 parts) with saltpeter (7 parts) and coal or coke powder (2 parts).

Such a product is burned at the time of the highest possible temperature in the firebox. For 100 kg of fuel, 20 g of powder is enough. But keep in mind that this tool is not suitable for fireplaces;

Crystals of copper sulfate.

I don't know how true this is, but I was assured that the periodic burning of aluminum cans in the firebox, for example, from under the beer, perfectly cleans the chimney. Only thin aluminum should not melt, but burn. This effect can be achieved only if you heat the stove with good coal or coke, with the help of firewood you will not get such a temperature.

All traditional methods of cleaning are good only as a preventive measure or preparation for general mechanical cleaning with your own hands. So there is no need to place high hopes on them.

We clean the pipe ourselves

Cleaning pipes and chimneys by chemical or old-fashioned methods is certainly a good thing, but as I already mentioned, in case of large blockages, you can only put things in order manually. And the first thing you should take care of is the tool.

Pure metal pipe.

What you need to clean the pipe yourself

The most common, one might say classic, chimney sweep tool is a wide brush. To be honest, despite the development of scientific and technological progress, as chimneys in private houses were cleaned with brushes and Serbs 100 years ago, they are still being cleaned to this day.

Of course, in fairness, it should be noted that in addition to metal brushes, their plastic counterparts are now actively used. By the way, chimneys made of stainless steel can be cleaned, only with plastic brushes, metal bristles, you completely ruin the structure, and such pipes cost a lot of money.

Chimney brush diagram.

The design of this device is extremely simple. A round core weighing from 2 to 5 kg is attached to the brush with horizontally oriented bristles from below with a carabiner, and from above all this miracle of design thought is suspended on a cable or rope. These brushes can be round or square, but in any case, they should be at least 20% wider in size than the chimney.

The lower core does not have to be round, it can be cone-shaped, oval, in general, whatever, the main thing is that the weight is well centered, otherwise it can get jammed in the canal. That is why you cannot hang sports weights or dumbbells here.

One more useful device this is a scraper, in itself it resembles an ordinary chisel screwed to a long stick. Honestly, when I was faced with the problem of cleaning the chimney in the country, and there were no special devices at hand, I did just that, screwed a wood chisel with a wire to a long pole, in my case to a bamboo rod.

A complete set for high-quality chimney cleaning consists of three main accessories. I have already told about the brush with the core. In addition to it, you will need about the same brush, only fixed on an elastic metal or fiberglass cable. With the same device, only with a different nozzle, sewer pipes are punched.

The fact is that a straight chimney, that is, going straight up from the combustion chamber, is rare. Usually, between the chamber and the vertical pipe in stoves and fireplaces, a so-called "rough" is arranged, it is needed to increase heat transfer.

Classic brush with core.

In this segment, the gases heated in the firebox move along a broken path, in other words, like a snake. So, at all problem points of this snake, technological windows are made, through which the chimney channel is cleaned. A flexible, but resilient cable with a brush is just needed in order to clean the hard-to-reach places of the chimney, from below through the technological windows.

In modern private houses with low storeys, the chimney or chimney turns out to be quite long and with severe blockage one wire brush may not be enough. In order for you to be able to scrub the chimney along its entire length with a scraper, it will not be superfluous to purchase a set of stackable meter rods made of fiberglass.

Of course, a factory specialized tool is a convenient thing. And although the price of this set is relatively affordable, our person allocates funds for such purchases last, and before that he will definitely try to make something with his own hands.

Fiberglass cable brush for cleaning the chimney.

Here are a couple of recipes for such homemade products from my own experience. At first I tried to make a bristle brush out of millimeter steel wire. I chopped up pieces of wire, a little wider than the chimney, and wrapped them in one ring in the middle around a stud with an 8 mm thread. Then, through the washers, he pulled all this with nuts.

Of course, such a device scrapes off soot quite well. But a steel wire of 1 mm is a rather tough thing and not every brick pipe can withstand such a test. At home, on the new chimney, this issue has still passed, but the old chimney in the country house almost crumbled from the steel bristles. Therefore, I do not advise you to step on this rake, it is better to use the following recipe.

Plastic brooms are now on sale. So I decided to make a second brush from such a broom. Most of all I had to tinker with the disassembly, because those who did it apparently did not expect that it would be disassembled.

Then everything is simple. The broom rim turned out to be a soldered monolith. In the center of this monolith, I drilled a hole in the diameter of a metal stud, after which I put on wide washers on both sides and tightened them with nuts. Under the pressure of the washers, the durable synthetic bristles parted and took a horizontal position.

The cargo was melted from lead. I made a clay mold, inserted a hairpin with a ring at the end in the center and filled the mold with lead. I also screwed rings on a homemade brush on both sides. And all these segments were connected with carbines.

Dismountable fiberglass pole.

One of my acquaintances "fished" from the network a scheme for making a brush from plastic bottles. There, at two bottles, you need to cut off the bottom and, before reaching the neck, lengthwise, cut the walls of the bottles with petals. Then, towards each other, so that the necks "looked" into different sides these two segments are pushed onto a stud and bolted together.

All this was beautiful, cheap and attractive while this brush was being made, but when they tried to clean it off the dense carbon deposits, it turned out that there was not much sense from this device. Such a "brush" is too weak to scrape off old carbon deposits.

Plastic bottle brush.

There is one more assembly diagram homemade brush... It will work well, but you will have to tinker with its creation. It uses a thick steel rope disassembled into wires as bristles.

The hardest part is to disassemble the rope itself. Such things are knitted with special machines and disassembly can take a lot of time. You need to work slowly, in thick mittens, otherwise you will prick your fingers. The threads are tightly tied there, so that you can hardly disassemble it with your bare hands, it is better to use pliers.

The device is a homemade brush with metal bristles.

When the rope is disassembled, a nut is screwed onto a steel threaded stud, a wide metal washer is put on it, on top of which the same washer is put on only made of thick, dense rubber.

The wire is laid out from the center in a circle, after which another rubber gasket with a wide iron washer is put on top. The fabrication is completed by tightening these two washers on both sides.

Chimney cleaning technique

First of all, remember that all work at height is dangerous. Believe me, it only seems from below that there is nothing terrible on the roof of a two-story house, in fact, a fall can lead to serious consequences, up to and including death.

Strongly overgrown pipe.

The first thing to take care of is insurance, the more reliable it is, the better. In addition, it is customary to clean pipes in calm, dry weather. It is up to you to decide whether to wear tight overalls and gloves, but a respirator and glasses will not be superfluous for sure.

Before starting work, clean the firebox first. In general, before climbing on the roof, I “steam” the pipe using folk methods for a week. Usually, potato peels and table salt are sufficient.

Immediately, before starting active cleaning, the doors, ashtrays and technological windows of the oven must be closed and preferably covered with a damp cloth. We simply cover the fireplace opening with a dense, damp cloth.

Results of work in comparison.

Before you run a brush with a weight or a scraper into the pipe, make sure that there is nothing but soot there. If the stove has not been heated for more than two weeks, then birds' nests or bats can settle in the chimney. In addition, old brick pipes can crumble from the inside, and it is better to notice the shifted brick and try to fix it right away, rather than turning it out with a brush and dropping it down.

I warn you right away, cleaning the chimney is hard work and you will have to sweat a lot. First, lower one core on a rope, without a brush, to the full depth of the pipe. Make sure it runs freely and does not cling to anything. After that, you can fasten the brush and back and forth, from top to bottom, slowly clean the chimney.

If the core does not pass, then you need to act with a scraper. In general, it is believed that the diameter of the core should be at least 2/3 of the cross-sectional dimensions of the pipe.

The movement of the brush in the pipe.

Of course, the brush can also be screwed to the long type of rod. But if with the core you will only expend effort to lift it up, it will go down by itself, under the weight of the core, then in the case of the barbell you will have to spend 2 times more energy.

Configuration of one of the types of smoke channel.

All the soot you clean off will naturally fall to the bottom. So don't wait for the pipe to fill up with debris. From time to time you need to climb off the roof and clean out the soot through the technological window.

When you are done with the pipe, start cleaning with a flexible cable with a brush at the end, "rough". The firebox and the blower are the last to be cleaned, despite the fact that you already cleaned them at the beginning, by this moment they will be dirty again.

Blockage prevention

Cleaning of chimney pipes will be required much less often if you adhere to the elementary rules for operating stoves and fireplaces. Above all, forget about burning raw wood, especially softwood. Coniferous trees contain a large amount of resin.

These resins, dissolved in water vapor, are heavy compounds, so they will immediately settle on the walls of the chimney, forming a dense, hard to remove plaque. In the same time dry wood, even conifers, does not pose a great danger to stoves and fireplaces.

A set of factory brushes.

Another problem modern ovens is the disposal of garbage in the firebox. Of course, old rags and paper do not pose a great danger, but synthetics and plastic bottles, sooner or later, can lead to the fact that you will have to completely relocate your oven. And I'm not even talking about those harmful carcinogens that will literally irrigate you and your family in the yard.

The table below summarizes some of the guidelines for the operation of furnace equipment.

Naturally, the above standards are valid for regular use of stoves, boilers and fireplaces. During periodic operation, for example in the country, a great danger to the chimney is represented by bird nests and plugs from fallen leaves.

As you can see, although self-cleaning of the chimney pipe is physically and quite difficult, technically it is not particularly difficult. The truth is, do not forget that regular prophylaxis can significantly reduce the frequency of do-it-yourself cleaning.

We clean the chimney from soot with folk remedies

Safe operation of stoves and fireplaces requires effective draft, provided by periodic cleaning of the pipes. The owners of heating devices know that regular preventive maintenance is necessary.

Regardless of the design features of stoves, decorative fireplaces, any chimneys require cleaning. In order for the heater to function and give pleasure to the owner, his family members, you need to know how to clean the chimney from soot.

The relevance of prevention: how to determine?

Chimney clogging is caused by various factors. Knowing them, you avoid problems, you can improve traction, ensure the safety of your home. Let's talk about the reasons for the appearance of deposits, why it is necessary to clean the home chimney from accumulated soot.

Start by identifying visual clues - notice the smoke. White or light gray puffs emanate from a clean pipe. The appearance of dense smoke is a signal for maintenance work. Check the color of the flame. Changing from light orange to dark orange requires cleaning work.

Remember that annual maintenance is required even under ideal operating conditions.

Causes of soot deposits

The smoke, in addition to gaseous decay components, contains mechanical particles that pollute the channel surface. Soot accumulates in the chimney and forms a black coating. The mass of sediments is saturated with water vapor and hardens. The pipe gradually clogs up. Soot covers canal bends, narrow passages, rough surfaces of brick pipes.

The amount of sediment is determined by various factors:

improper installation of a stove or fireplace;
violation of the technology of stacking product units;
substandard Construction Materials- cracks appear on the surface;
clogging of the smoke exhaust system with debris;
incorrect design - the pipe is not equipped with an umbrella.

These factors can reduce cravings. The accumulated mass of soot quickly reduces the cross-section of the pipe, which makes it difficult for fireplaces and stoves.

The rate of accumulation of deposits is determined by the design features of the heating device, the type of fuel, and humidity. Regular cleaning of your chimney from soot deposits, condition monitoring will help to avoid negative phenomena.

Why clean your chimney

Chimney cleaning is a mandatory procedure. Gradually, the soot layer becomes powerful, which can cause serious consequences:

a decrease in the cross-section of the flue duct, causing a decrease in draft;
decrease in the efficiency of the heating device, caused by a decrease in the heat capacity of the pipe;
the likelihood of ignition of deposits inside the chimney;
wear of the discharge lines.

It is problematic for smoke to move through a clogged chimney, observing right direction... He gradually returns, filling the room with carbon monoxide, creating a danger to the health of others. Remember - soot is an excellent heat insulator, accumulates in a thick layer, significantly reduces the coefficient useful action ovens. The result is that more fuel is needed to maintain a comfortable room temperature.

Risk factors

The main danger is the likelihood of a fire, burnout of the pipe walls, and the escape of sparks. They, being incandescent solid particles of soot, can create a fire hazard for neighboring buildings and pose a serious hazard.

Let us briefly characterize the expediency of cleaning. Prevention provides:

safe operation of heating devices;
increased traction.

Knowing how to clean the chimney from soot can limit the likelihood of problem situations. The operation is easy to perform on your own using folk methods.

Line of chemical compositions

Industrial enterprises produce several types of products that are used to clean chimney systems. The products are absolutely harmless, they can be in the form of powders, liquids or briquettes. Let's dwell on the most popular purifiers:

PHC compositions. Special anti-carbon powder, similar in composition to copper sulfate, intended for filling into the heating compartment. It is recommended to use no more than 200 g of the product per 1 ton of firewood.
"Comedian". A powder cleaner that is catalyzed by heat treatment to reduce the combustion temperature of the soot.
Briquettes "Log-chimney sweep". They are used in conjunction with liquid or solid fuels. In fireplace structures, 1 log is laid for 60 days, and in large furnaces - up to 2 pieces. Using the Log for the first time, examine the chimney for debris. Burn the briquette on hot coals without removing the packaging. The active substances act for about 14 days, then the pipe is inspected and the firebox is cleaned.
HG is a soot remover for household chimneys, capable of efficiently removing plaque. These products for stoves and fireplaces are manufactured in the Netherlands. The manufacturer recommends using powdered components once every six months, filling in 2 tbsp. l for a well-burnt solid fuel.

Using any of the above chemical products, follow the manufacturer's recommendations, carefully study the instructions. The owners of suburban real estate do not always have the opportunity to use a chemical cleaning agent.

The problem is solved independently, if there is an algorithm, how easy it is to clean your own chimney from soot deposits with proven folk remedies.

Traditional cleaning - proven solutions

Effective cleaning of any chimney, chimney from soot can be carried out, guided by folk recipes, proven for centuries. Let's consider the most effective options for cleaning the chimney:

A fairly popular method is the use of rock salt, which partially cleans the canal, eliminating accumulated soot deposits. The recipe is available - it is necessary to carefully, in a thin layer, add 100-200 grams of ordinary rock salt. The specified folk method is a preventive measure for cleaning chimneys.
High-quality cleaning of the chimney system contaminated with soot is carried out using a potato peel. Achieving the result is not difficult. Prepare a bucket of potato peels. During the operation of the stove, load in parts into the firebox. The result is achieved by combustion of the starch contained, entrained in the hot air (passing through the pipe, gradually loosens the soot). The method is preventive and requires further manual cleansing. Previously, the owners used a load tied with a strong cord, they cleaned the inner surface of the pipe, removing layers.

Dry aspen logs, alder, birch are a good cleaner for a clogged chimney from soot deposits. Using a couple of armfuls of logs, heat the pipe, provide a higher temperature. The soot will begin to fade. Remember - the presence of significant deposits, insufficient strength of the pipe, causes problem situations because aspen wood has a high heat transfer.
Naphthalene is used to clean chimneys. Its use requires a preliminary check of the condition of the pipe surface. Destruction, cracks to be eliminated are inadmissible. Implementation of the method - throw a naphthalene tablet onto the burning logs. White flakes of heated soot will fly out. Remember, using mothballs is not a safe exercise. The substance is explosive, causes destruction of pipes, ignition of deposits. The disadvantage of this method is the presence of a characteristic odor, obtaining a positive effect with a layer of soot - 10 mm.

Solving the problem of how to clean the furnace system or how to qualitatively clean your own chimney from deposits or soot using proven folk remedies, inspect the structure and purchase building supplies.

Tools and materials

Before starting work, take care of the tools according to the type of construction. You will need:

metal brush;
brush - square structures are more convenient to clean with a device with stiff bristles;
clamps made of flexible material;
scraper;
round bucket;
self-prepared formulations or chemical agents;
steel ball - should cover 2/3 of the chimney.

The kernel is used for more than just removing blockages. It allows you to make the brush and brush heavier, and cleaning a clogged chimney from deposits or soot will be effective. By connecting the elements with a metal cable and carabiners, you can adjust the length of the device.

Manual mechanical cleaning

The mechanical method of cleaning soot, soot, also refers to the folk. For a long time, kernels have been used, fixed with a strong cable, piercing dense growths, ruffs of various shapes, scrapers. This option for removing deposits is a proven, effective method.

Mechanical cleaning of the chimney is carried out as follows:

Close all oven doors tightly to prevent soot build-up. When working with fireplace systems, place a damp cloth on top of the combustion compartment.
Open all the dampers by increasing the cross-section of the channels.
Climb onto the roof with the safety harness secured to your body.
Examine the flue gas duct. Soot, which has a layer of about 2 mm, is removed by chemical compounds. If there is debris, push through it.
Clean the chimney - remove the cap and, using a scraper, a stiff brush, remove layers.
Keep hard-to-reach pipe areas clean with a flexible brush. It is advisable to use a cable equipped with a nozzle. Move the fixture by gently turning the handle.
With the help of a suspended core, the chimney is cleared of serious blockages and soot. Move the steel ball by moving.
Be careful to keep the brick intact.
Remove soot by opening the smoke duct doors.
Clean the combustion and blower compartments. Open fireplaces are treated from the side of the firebox with a metal brush with a long handle.

After completing the work, melt the stove, check the efficiency of the draft. Install the head-piece, it is easy to install.

When cleaning chimney paths, take the advice of a professional chimney sweep. This will help extend the life of your fireplace or stove:

do not heat the stove or fireplace with fuel from softwood... The rock contains ethereal resins that settle on the walls of the chimney;
do not use raw firewood - due to moisture, the degree of soot and water precipitation increases;
do not burn plastic or synthetic waste in the oven - they settle on the chimney;
stop at wood from deciduous trees. The fuel must be thoroughly dried. After burning the fuel, burn some aspen logs - this way the soot will be removed from the chimney faster.

When choosing folk methods for removing sediments that disrupt the functionality of a stove, home fireplace or chimney, test the hood.

Reducing the thrust causes the return of smoke, and in this case it is advisable to apply a folk cleansing method using mechanical means.

How to clean the chimney from soot with folk remedies

The reasons for the pollution of chimneys and methods of cleaning them with folk remedies, as well as with the help of industrial products. Tips for avoiding contamination

Unfortunately, quite often people think about cleaning the chimney when the draft already disappears and the reverse appears - the smoke simply goes into the room. But this is already an extreme degree of blockage of the chimney. But even at the beginning of the problem, you are already breathing not only smoke, which seems to be safe (we all go to barbecues), but also dangerous carbon monoxide gases. And the soot that accumulates on the walls of the chimney can even catch fire and lead to a fire!

That is why the profession of a chimney sweep has long existed and is revered. And today's owners of private houses and baths are not at all afraid of cleaning the chimney - today a wide variety of special brushes are sold for this purpose, with a long handle or telescopic, round in the form of a brush with a load on a cable or more intricate. And believe me, there is nothing tricky in this matter!

When is the cleaning time?

It is impossible to completely do without cleaning the chimney, no matter what material and no matter what design it is. Indeed, over time, due to soot, the passage in the chimneys narrows and the so-called reverse draft effect occurs, when smoke no longer enters the street, but into the room. If you wait a little longer, then any oven will simply become unusable. Not to mention the fact that reverse thrust is dangerous even for people living inside the house!

When approaching the issue of cleaning the chimney, you need to take into account the following factors:

Downtime, namely how long there has been no cleaning.
What is the design of the chimney, how smooth its walls are and what are the lines of its operation.
What kind of fuel was used, whether plastic bottles or similar rubbish were thrown into the firebox.
Damp firewood has not been used.
Was there pine or spruce among the firewood? from them, resinous substances settle on the wall of the chimney.

You can notice that your chimney needs cleaning, you can on your own according to the following signs:

Change in smoke color. It is ideal if an almost transparent, inconspicuous white smoke comes out into the street and it is bad if it becomes dark - this indicates the presence of a large amount of soot.
Flame color change. The color of the fire in the firebox also signals problems: if it is light orange and the wood crackles, then everything is in order. And if the flame turns dark orange, almost orange, this is a sign that the chimney needs to be cleaned.
And, finally, the simplest and most logical way remains - a preventive inspection of the chimney. It's good if a professional handyman can do it, but even you can spot problems. For example, professional chimney sweeps put a special load into the chimney along the diameter of the pipe, and if it passes easily, everything is in order, if it rests, then it will have to be cleaned.

Moreover, the situation with soot can reach such a critical point when pollution completely blocks the chimney and ice plugs appear. And even worse - coking, when soot accumulates on the bumpers and burns out there to coarse solid fractions similar to coal. Such fractions clog the chimney and block the draft. And in order to remove all this, a brush with a load alone will not be enough, you will have to use a special jack to raise the chimney and clean the stove. That is why it is so important to keep all sections of the chimney straight. And on rare bends, install tees with a cleaning system.

In total, today three types of methods are practiced for cleaning the chimney: mechanical, with the help of special devices that need to penetrate the chimney, biological, when natural ingredients are used, and chemical, when cleaning is carried out using industrial special preparations. Let's dwell on each of them in more detail.

Mechanical chimney cleaning: only in the warm season

As a rule, ordinary owners of stoves and fireplaces clean their chimney once, before each heating season, and it is good if this is enough. And the mechanical method is the oldest and even today it makes sense:

You can manually clean the chimney from inside the house, from below, or from above, directly from the roof. And for each of the methods there is a tool.

If you chose the brush that is used from above, you need to tie a rope to it and hook a load onto it, and then run it into the chimney through the roof. This will go along the entire chimney and catch soot from the walls with it. It is only important to lower the brush at the same time carefully and gradually, slowly, so that the soot collects efficiently and the load does not damage the chimney itself. In the same way, lower and raise the ruff several times until it becomes noticeable that the soot is cleaned and the blockage is broken.

Usually, such a brush is enough for up to three heating seasons. But this method has its drawbacks:

Firstly, you will need a lot of time for all this, at least an hour;
Secondly, if you need to clean the chimney, you will not always be able to get out onto the roof, especially when it is snowing and the wind is strong;
And, finally, with such a device it is rather difficult to clean the chimney elbows and hard-to-reach places, or the chimney itself is designed in such a way that it is generally impossible to clean it from the outside, through the roof.

And the method of cleaning the chimney from below, from the room, is much safer for a person. You can easily do all the necessary work and not risk your life. Just take the brush, place it on the flexible holder and push it through the heater or through the special inspection hole.

In addition, from the bottom, with the help of long flexible holders, the soot can be easily cleaned even in high bends:

So, for example, a brush with a telescopic holder is good because it is convenient to use it on the roof: you just need to insert one part into another, gradually lowering the brush down, and into reverse order disassemble when going upstairs:

Here is a step-by-step illustration of what is needed to mechanically clean the chimney with a brush and a load:

Cleaning with folk methods: both in the snow and in the rain

Today, many are asking the question: how to clean the chimney from soot with folk remedies in the middle of winter, without the need for mechanical cleaning, safely and reliably?

The most famous biological methods (they are usually called folk) are potato peelings. This method allows you to avoid rough mechanical removal of soot from the walls of the chimney and is ideal for those areas where the heating season is long enough, because then you do not have to stop the furnace for a long time.

The second method is dry aspen wood, which burns so fast and hot that it burns all the soot in the chimney. But you need to use this method carefully so as not to actually lead to a fire.

The third relatively cheap and reliable method to extend the life of the chimney during the heating season is to sprinkle salt on the wood. With each kindling, the salt binds the soot and prevents it from settling on the walls of the chimney.

You will be surprised, but even the usual, long-known in Russia, chimney cleaning with potato peelings is actually quite effective method:

We will give only little advice: If you want to peel raw potatoes from your chimney, you need to peel at least half of the bucket. When the peel is burned, starch will remain from it, which will corrode the soot, and it will simply crumble down. After that, all the ash will just need to be removed from the oven.

Dry Cleaning: Caution Needed!

But it so happens that soot is difficult to clean, especially if old wood was used, and then you have to resort to the chemical method. The advantage of this method is that it does not take up your time or your energy.

A variety of special products for chimney cleaning today pleases the eye: liquids, briquettes, special powders. Their secret is that such substances are ignited in a heating device and they emit active gases, which soot is afraid of. Under their influence, it becomes fragile and begins to fall away. Moreover, some of the small particles simply fly out along with the smoke, and the rest falls down and is already removed along with the ash.

Powders are simply thrown into the firebox without unpacking, right with the firewood, and there should be a lot of firewood itself. You only need to drop one packet every two to three weeks. The only limitation of this method is that it makes sense to use a powder product only if the soot on the walls of the chimney is no more than 2 millimeters. But if you use such a powder constantly, you will not need to clean the chimneys at all:

But if you have a deeper problem, then you will have to use a log - this is a chemical substance in the form of a briquette, which is enough to put in the firebox once every two months, also in a package. It is used when the wood has already burned out in order to set it on fire separately. In the composition of such a log, wooden files, urea, sodium sulfate, coal wax, ammonium sulfate and amorphous silicon.

Such a composition active substances is able to remove all accumulated soot in the chimney in just one go. After you burn the chemical log inside the firebox, for another two weeks, soot will fall off the walls of the chimney, and it will simply need to be removed.

Very convenient: just put the log in the fire, and the chemical gases corrode the soot not only on the surface of the chimney walls, but also inside the heater itself, even on the heat exchanger and the internal chimney. And in its own way even prevents the appearance of new soot. It is this method that removes soot from the most difficult-to-reach places of bends and knees. And, most importantly, such cleaning can be done at any time of the year - even with an active winter firebox. The only point: if the chimney has not been cleaned for a long time, there is clearly a congestion and there is almost no draft, then first you will still have to use a brush.

Here illustrative example how to clean a chimney with modern chemical means:

Professional chimney cleaning: fast, reliable and expensive

Strange as it sounds, the profession of a chimney sweep exists and is still appreciated all over the world. It will be interesting for you to know that the traditional chimney sweep cylinder has always been the privilege of only the master. And to become such, it was necessary to serve as an apprentice for more than one year - this specialty is so difficult.

In recent years, the profession of a chimney sweep has been on the verge of extinction, and only relatively recently has it become sharply in demand. It's all about fires due to poor-quality installation of chimneys and their operation. A modern house is so expensive today that it is wiser to hire a specialist than to rely on "maybe". Indeed, it is much more logical to call a professional chimney sweep before the start of the heating season, and not a fire engine in the middle of winter.

For a long time, the All-Russian Voluntary Fire Society was engaged in cleaning the chimney, but today such services are already offered more by private companies. After all, the correct operation of modern chimneys requires periodic revisions, cleaning and prevention. So there was such a thing as professional chimney cleaning, when special equipment is brought for such a purpose. For example, a special vacuum cleaner that simply sucks soot out of the chimney through the firebox. And then there is no need to drag it through the whole room (and soot is volatile and is not easily washed off furniture).

Therefore, to this day, professional cleaning simply cannot be done in the most advanced cases, when:

the chimney is covered with a dense layer of solid soot (especially from wet firewood);
chimney walls are old and damaged, and soot clings tightly to them;
you do not have the slightest desire to do such a dirty job.

In practice, it looks like this:

For example, in the professional cleaning of chimneys of private houses, the following special devices are used:

Modern high-speed installations, which completely clean the chimney in just an hour, cope with their task quickly enough:

How to make DIY cleaning tools

Special devices for cleaning the chimney from soot are sold in an ordinary building supermarket or specialty store, or you can make it yourself.

Let's compare a metal brush with a plastic one. To begin with, the metal brush, of course, will retain its working shape longer, but with particularly intensive cleaning it can scratch the chimney from the inside. Modern plastic brushes are soft, they scratch the chimney much less, although they do not last long and at the same time they easily break, losing their working shape. That is why there is an unspoken rule among summer residents: take a metal brush for a brick chimney, and a plastic one for a metal one. Basically, these are such devices:

Plastic brush: short-lived, but gentle on the chimney

Making a plastic brush is as easy as shelling pears:

If you are going to build such a brush for cleaning the chimney, then all the work will take you no more than 15 minutes.

So, an ordinary chimney brush is a sturdy base with a brush threaded through a metal wire with a load on a chain. To all this, you will need a rope along which the brush will need to be lowered into the chimney. Instead of a load and a rope, it is also sufficient to use a special holder. At least, then the brush will not get stuck in the chimney and then you will not have to pull it out from there.

Plastic bottle brush: no cost

Moreover, homemade ruff you can even make from a regular plastic bottle (at least a few). Just 2-3 of these brushes are enough for one season. So, here's how to make such a bottle brush:

Step 1. Make round holes in the center of the cover.
Step 2. Cut the walls of the bottles into strips lengthwise, about 1.5 or 2 centimeters wide.
Step 3. Make a hole in the bottom of the bottle with a heated nail and pass a 5 mm wire through it.
Step 4. Now simply insert one bottle into the other through the cut strips and attach a thick wire to one end.
Step 5. Place two plastic bottles, press and fix them so that it is convenient to tie them with plastic wire.
Step 6. Spread the cut plastic strips evenly around the circle and secure the steel cable as done.

The only difficulty of such manufacturing is to make sure that the load and the rope (cable) are exactly in the center, and the ruff does not twist during use.

Hard round brush: the use of scrap materials

Another great option is to make such a brush from a disc brush for a grinder. This brush is much stronger than the previous options and will cope even with the soot itself. It is only important that the diameter of the brush is equal to the diameter of the chimney, because its bristles are stiff and bend badly:

To such a brush, you need to hang a load with a weight of about 5 kg on a steel cable, behind which you will pull the brush down the chimney. Just in case, attach another cable to the load to help another person from inside the room to stretch the stuck brush. It is important that the load is at least a third less than the chimney, otherwise it will catch on and if you have to tinker.

To clean the chimney like homemade devices you need it like this:

Step 1. Climb onto the roof, remove the damper from the chimney and lower such a brush into the chimney to the very end.
Step 2. Now start pulling the brush back.
Step 3. Lower the brush down again and pull it out again.
Step 4. All this needs to be done within a few minutes, keep in mind that below, inside the room, soot will be abundantly poured and it must also be removed.

As you can see, everything is simple!

Asymmetrical wire brush: for difficult chimney sections

If your chimney does not have a large length, bends, bends and is not heavily clogged (for example, it comes about the chimney in a seasonal bath), then such simple devices are also suitable for its one-time cleaning:

Telescopic brush: for indoor use

Usually flexible meter sticks, which twist into each other and are also called telescopic, otherwise - prefabricated, go well as a gesture. It is quite simple to work with it:

Step 1. Twist the brush onto the first handle, push it straight through the heater, push and clean one meter this way.
Step 2. The next step to the end of the handle, which you still hold and which sticks out of the chimney, screw the second one and push the brush another meter up the chimney.
Step 4. Repeat this entire process until you have completely cleaned the entire chimney.

See how simple everything turns out to be in practice:

The telescopic brush can penetrate very deeply into the chimney:

Such a brush is significantly more expensive than the previous version, but the advantage is that such sticks usually do not break, and they serve for a long time. It also makes it easier to push through the blockage in the chimney with such a rigid handle. In addition, this method is quite difficult to clean the soot in the knees of the chimney bends.

As for the choice of the size of the brush, everything is simple here: you need to select one according to the diameter of the chimney, preferably equal to it or 12 cm larger, so that the brush can easily hook on, and not slide along the walls, slightly missing them:

Let's summarize: no matter what device you use to clean the chimney yourself, the main thing is to do this cleaning regularly.