Found a weird trick for cleaning stubborn creosote with a potato

Had a customer in Cleveland last winter with a chimney so caked in stage 3 creosote I couldn't get a brush through. I remembered an old guy telling me to shove a raw potato up there before the regular cleaning, something about the moisture and starch loosening it up. Gave it a try on a 10 foot section of terracotta flue tile and it actually worked better than any chemical treatment I've tried. Has anyone else used this trick or did I just get lucky?

2 comments

2 Comments

margaretrivera20d ago

Gotta admit I was skeptical when I first heard about this trick from an old mason in Vermont. Tried it on a job a few years back where the creosote was so thick it looked like tar dripping down the flue. Stuck a potato up there, let it sit overnight, came back and the brush cut through like it was nothing. The starch really does make a difference on the glazed stuff. Yours was probably no fluke.

skyler_mitchell20d ago

Buddy of mine from the union tried this on a real nightmare job. Said the previous homeowner had been burning nothing but green softwood for years. The creosote was literally dripping down the flue like black candle wax. He shoved a whole potato up there, left it for a day, and came back to find the crust had softened right up. Took him half the time to scrape it clean compared to what he was expecting.