How to clean the chimney

The heating of a house, cottage or sauna is rarely without a stove or boiler. For our winters this equipment is optimal: it can produce the required amount of heat. But both furnaces and boilers require maintenance and one of the mandatory procedures – chimney cleaning.

Why the chimney is overgrown with soot

The process of fuel combustion is a process of oxidation, and this requires oxygen and high temperature. If at least one of these conditions is not met, soot appears – it 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, then it contains particles of soot, but most of it settles in the chimney, especially in the places of turns.

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

The rate at which soot infests the chimney also depends on the type of firewood. Resinous spruce and pine in this regard – not the best choice, but to stoke expensive oak or other hardwoods not everyone has the opportunity. In any case, you can take care that the firewood is dry. To do this, it is worth building a more spacious firewood bin, 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 the condition.

What you can clean the chimney from soot

There are three ways to clean the chimney:

• Mechanical. In the chimney put a ruff, with the help of which knock soot off the walls. The disadvantage of the method – it is necessary to have access to the pipe, which is not always easy. Climb on the roof is not all able to, and cleaning from below requires flexible rods and access. Another unpleasant moment: all the contents fall down, you will have to collect and carry it out, and then a long time to clean the furnace or fireplace from soot. Therefore, before you start cleaning, put some container in which everything will fall down.
• Chemical cleaning of the chimney – powders and briquettes (logs). When the system is heated up, powders are poured into the fire, logs are put under the fire. The substances contained in them soften soot, it gradually flies into the pipe, but it can fall down and block the passage in general. So these means are better to use for prevention, when the soot is still a little.
• Folk methods. The problem of soot overgrowing chimneys is not new and our ancestors knew how to cope with it and without chemistry. There were, of course, chimney sweeps, but they worked in the cities, and services from cost a lot. Nevertheless, they coped with the problem with very simple means – salt or potato peelings.

There is another cardinal solution – go to the firemen and call specialists. They are no longer called chimney sweeps, but they perform the same functions, but with other means. The solution is not bad, they know their job, since soot is explosive, they do not give permission to just anyone. The only disadvantage is the cost of such services.

Mechanical means for cleaning chimneys

Chimney cleaning with the help of ruffs has been used for centuries, and there are them now. At the end of a long elastic and flexible cable is tied to a brush ruff. The diameter is individualized to the size of the chimney. A small metal ball can be tied under the ruff to make it easier for the tool to go down. This construction is lowered into the chimney, lifted, lowered again and lifted again. This way until the passage is clear. It works simply – the bristles knock soot off the chimney.

Such cleaning of the chimney has one peculiarity: in the presence of a good draught, most of the soot flies into the pipe. Therefore, first of all, it is necessary to tie yourself to avoid falling off the roof from involuntary movement, and secondly, put on safety glasses and respirator. Gloves will not hurt either, but they are needed to the cable did not hurt your hands.

If you decide to make a ruff for cleaning the chimney yourself, at the bottom hang exactly the ball, and centered. Kettlebells or wrenches are not suitable – sooner or later they become a spigot in the chimney. You will be lucky if you can remove the tool without disassembling the chimney.

Not always the chimney is such that it can be cleaned from above – a sandwich pipe can rise several meters above the roof. You can’t get a ladder to it, you can’t get to it in any other way. In this case, the chimney is cleaned from below. For this purpose there are ruffs on flexible rods. Fragments of the rod are connected one to another, the ruff is moved along the chimney. In this case, part of the soot is also carried away by the draught, but part of it falls down and this should also be taken into account. Professional chimney sweepers use special vacuum cleaners for collection (not household ones, as soot is explosive), in case of independent cleaning you will have to collect everything manually.

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 glass for collecting condensate, removing it, you can easily run a 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 impossible, you will have to dismantle the chimney. Then it is better to immediately remake it, putting a tee with a cup.

Means for chemical cleaning of the chimney

You can clean the chimney with chemical means while it is not too clogged. If the pipe is brick, these means help to make mechanical cleaning more rare. As a stand-alone remedy can be used for ceramic chimneys or those made of stainless steel. All these powders or chaff for removing soot from the chimney are preventive. Clean them stove pipe from a large amount of soot is not always possible. There were cases when the soot that fell down after burning the powder blocked the chimney completely. You had to take a ruff and clean manually.

Despite these disadvantages means are used and here is why: when processing softens and soot, which is in the boiler, sauna stove or in the chimney channels. Strush them manually – a small pleasure, and regular use is not bad to cope with the problem.

Means for cleaning chimneys from soot in stores are plentiful, but here are the most popular:

After using all the chemicals, the room should be ventilated, the stove or fireplace should be cleaned. Note that after treatment soot can fall off for a couple more days – fly off the residue.

Folk methods of cleaning the chimney

The easiest way to prevent the formation of soot is to heat the already heated furnace with aspen wood. They burn very hot flame, soot in the chimney burns. The action is effective, but dangerous – if the soot has accumulated a lot, when ignited, it explodes and can rupture the chimney.

There are safer folk remedies with which chimney cleaning is both effective and safe. In a melted and well-heated furnace add half a kilogram of salt or about a bucket of potato peelings. It is better to dry the peelings or add raw ones a little at a time so that the temperature in the furnace does not drop. The effect is about the same as when using chemicals, but a little milder – soot flies out of the chimney for another three days.