How to Clean a Chimney Yourself

If you are looking to do some basic home maintenance this winter, one project that you might encounter is the need to clean your chimney.  If you are looking to tackle this project yourself, be aware that it is certainly a messy and time consuming one, but know that you can do it yourself.  Let’s look at what a chimney cleaning home repair project entails.

To get started on this home cleaning project, you will need a nylon brush, flexible metal rods, a tarp, some tape, a mirror, a chimney broom, a vacuum, a flashlight, a mask, and some goggles.  Make sure that you wear the mask and goggles at all times to protect your eyes and lungs, and keep the tarp covering the area near your fireplace to keep soot and ash off of your furniture and carpet.

Once everything is set up and the tarp is taped into place, use the chimney broom or vacuum to sweep or vacuum up all of the soot and ash in the fireplace.  Attach your cleaning brush to the flexible metal rods, and start cleaning from the bottom.  Drop-cloths, tarps, and masks are essential in this part of your home cleaning job, as you will be bringing a great deal of soot down and there is no real way to keep the ash from escaping the fireplace.  Work your way toward the top of the chimney, adding more rods as necessary. 

When you have reached the top, simply sweep or vacuum the fireplace again and clean any new soot that has gotten on the bottom of the chimney and fireplace.  Your chimney is now clean!