Chimeny cleaning logs?

[mothernature]

Has anyone ever used these things? We have a wood burning stove for extra heating and do clean the chimeny pipe yearly with a brush. I've heard those cleaning logs help a lot, would like to hear your experiences please!!

[Pelenaka]

Hubby uses those soot sticks that I think are suppose to loosen or help burn off creosote in the chimney. Not sure because when he explained the concept I really wasn't listening.
We clean the chimney twice a year sometimes three whenever there is a good day of warmer temps. It is our primary heating source so it's 24/7 until we run out of wood.
By cleaning the chimney I mean that the door comes off the stove for cleaning, the inside pipe is also dismantled, finally the outside chimney pipe.
Kinda like wearing suspenders with a belt but I sleep better at night.

~~ pelenaka ~~

[glenn amolenaar]

We have an air tight wood burner, We have been using it since 1978/9, tried them really could not see any value in them I clean chimney about once a month with wire chimney brush takes 10/15minutes this is on a two storey home.
Glenn

[nc_mtn]

My parents use some kind of powder that they just throw a scoop full into the fire every so often. Not sure what it is called but it seems to work. They use the stove all the time and hardly needs cleaning.

[Belfrybat]

I haven't used the logs but have used the granules. They worked really well when I had a woodburning heater as my primary heat. Very little soot when I had the chimney sweep come out. I used Creosote Remover by Rutland Products. One tub lasted me two years (but I live in a fairly warm climate).

[mothernature]

I live in north Tx Belfrybat, but we use our stove almost every evening. I'm going to look into the granuals and powder before I try any of them, sounds like they all at least help w/ cresote build up!!

[Harry Chickpea]

Please skip them. TMEN did a review of various products back in the 1970s and found they were not effective. On another forum, a forum member how she had used a couple of them and immediately HAD a chimney fire. This really is a case of saving pennies and losing thousands. Get a brush of your own and do your own sweeping, or hire a sweep.

For about $25 one time charge, I bought a brush, attached it to a length of PVC pipe, and clean ours twice a year.

[tammy from wv]

We have a wood burner that we use all the time as our only source of heat in the cold season. My husband routinely cleans it with the brush and we also use the powder. We have found the powder to be very effective. We have also used the tubes of stuff but just find it easier to use the powder. It dries the creosote very well and it is easily cleaned out.

[Alice In TX/MO]

Do you want to risk your home and your life to them?

Clean the chimney.

[arcticow]

I have used them in a wood stove which was used almost constantly 6 months a year. DID clean the pipe w/a brush every year, more than once. What the cleaner logs did was to change up the creosote deposit so that it was MUCH easier to brush out. You DO need to do both, logs won't be enough.

[Cascade Failure]

Well seasoned wood (c/s/s one year for most species and 2-3 for oak) combined with proper burning eliminates the needs for chimney additives. You should still inspect/sweep at least once a year to ensure no blockages.

[fordson major]

not something to mess with, it will find the weak spot in a chimney.

[mothernature]

As I mentioned, we do clean the chimeny with a brush once a year. Think I'll skip the logs and powder. We do burn only very seasoned wood and have not had but a little creosote when we clean so I guess we are on the right track!! Thanks for all the great advice!

[Beeman]

One consideration is type and length of chimney. I'd be more concerned with what that stuff was doing to my chimney long term for short term fix.

[Cabin Fever]

IHMO chimney chemicals are analogous to septic tank additives. In both cases, it seems almost too good to be true....just use the additive and you'll never have to clean the chimney (or have the septic tank pumped). My recommendation for both situations is to do a proper inspection, and when needed, clean it out.