Houses with chimneys seem like old fashioned but the truth is they serve a purpose which is why chimney cleaning is very important and most of the time hard to do. Because of this some people would rather hire a chimney contractor especially if the winter season is about to come.

If you think that you wanted to it all by yourself then that won’t be a problem too, however, certain level of creosotes can be cleaned only by professionals, so if you were able to measure it and came out to be very thin layer then you can clean it right away.

Chimney Cleaning Preparations

1. Check your chimney if there are any animals that are nesting inside. Often times, when you don’t use your chimney for a long time, animals tend to use this as their home, by using a bright flashlight, you’ll be able to see if there is some.
2. Measuring your chimney flue helps you determine the size of tools that you will need in order to clean them up, it’s usually round or square in shape.
3. Get your cleaning supplies from a hardware that has products specially made for chimneys. Remember to bring your list and the sizes so that you don’t miss on anything.
4. Protect yourself by using dust mask and protective goggles to avoid any eye irritation as well as inhaling soot in your mouth or nose.
5. Prepare your house for the cleaning of the chimney, remove if there are any carpets or use some materials to cover them as well as other furniture close to the fireplace.

Ways to Clean the Chimney

There are several ways to clean a chimney if you wish to do it on your own or with a partner. All you need is the right set of tools to start cleaning.

1. From Top to Bottom – make sure you trust your roof before doing this while a sturdy ladder is a must. Attach your chimney cleaning brush to the pipe and start cleaning with up and down motion.
2. From Bottom to Top – almost the same thing with the previous method only used by some people if they are unsure of their roof.
3. Working with a partner – having a pulley rope where in the brush is attached at the center, together you can pull up and down as you clean the flue.

Dangers of Cleaning Chimneys

During the old times, younger boys were hired to clean chimney flues, the reason behind is that most routes are very narrow to fit an adult and so the boys are the ideal workers. Since soot is carcinogen, most of  would get chimney sweep cancer, thus restricting the boys to do such job, looking after their welfare.

Nowadays, we have chimney sweeps that we can hire to do the job, while they are aware of some risks; they were also prepared to protect themselves. They have tools and cleaning aids that are effective in removing soot that makes it more practical ad safe to get a contractor to do your chimney cleaning.