Old lady in Des Moines taught me a brush trick I still use

I was sweeping a small flue for Mrs. Patterson last fall, and she came out with a cup of coffee and watched me work. She pointed out how I was holding my brush and showed me this twist motion her dad used back in the 50s. It cuts down on soot scatter by like 40% in tight spots. Has anyone else picked up a random tip from a homeowner that actually worked better than the standard way?

2 comments

2 Comments

troythompson13d ago

Tbh I read somewhere that back in the day guys would use a piece of old inner tube rubber as a makeshift gasket for stove pipe connections. Always thought that was a clever shortcut. There's something about learning from older folks, they've messed with stuff long enough to figure out what actually works without all the fancy tools. Like that wet rag trick for drilling, simple stuff like that is worth more than a lot of the expensive gadgets out now.

kevin_dixon13d ago

Mom's trick was using a wet rag to catch dust when drilling into plaster walls.