My brand new brush split in half on the third job Tuesday

I bought a new poly brush from the supply house thinking I was treating myself. Third chimney on Tuesday, a standard 6x6 flue, and the head just cracked right down the middle when I hit a little patch of creosote. Lucky I had an old wire brush in the truck, but now I'm back to using that one. Anybody had a poly brush fail like that, or did I just get a lemon?

2 comments

2 Comments

jennyp1920h ago

The temperature shock is what probably got it. When you go from a warm chimney back into a cold truck bed then back up to a hot flue, the poly expands and contracts fast. I bet the plastic got brittle from that cycling more than a few times. My buddy had the same thing happen and he realized he was leaving his brush sitting in direct sunlight on the dash all summer. Polyproylene degrades in UV light way faster than people think. Check if yours was stored anywhere near a window or in the sun for long stretches.

kevin_dixon15h ago

Gotta agree with @jennyp19 on the UV thing, I've seen the same pattern with plastic tool handles and even kids' toys left outside. It's one of those little details that can wreck perfectly good gear, and it's easy to forget how much sun can mess with poly over time. Idk maybe it's just me but I've started keeping that kind of stuff in the cab instead of the bed during summer, seems to help.