HOUSEHOLD TIPS NOT FOUND IN WOMAN'S WEEKLY

[Stanley]

Chuck your old chip fat on the coal instead of pouring it down the drains.

[Gloria]

If we did that Stanley the fire would rush straight up the chimney.
Does anyone have a tip to sweep a really narrow chimney with a difficult bend in it. It used to join another chimney which was off set in the room behind and then go upwards??? Any ideas would be really welcome as it has to be done, we keep putting it off---not a good idea.

[Tizer]

Does anyone have a tip to sweep a really narrow chimney with a difficult bend in it.

Know any very small boys who need to earn a few bob? Mores seriously, I think some chimneys like that used to have a small access hatch through the wall of the upper room so you could sweep the top part separately. But I don't know how they stopped the hatch door getting scorching hot - perhaps it was just used as a way to also heat the upper room!

[Gloria]

Not got one of those hatches Tizer, BUT, got a small grandson who could be put to good use

[Big Kev]

Does anyone have a tip to sweep a really narrow chimney with a difficult bend in it. It used to join another chimney which was off set in the room behind and then go upwards??? Any ideas would be really welcome as it has to be done, we keep putting it off---not a good idea.

I swept the top half of my friend's chimney from the top, as he could only sweep three quarters of the way up from the bottom. Only needed 3 rods so not much to carry up with me.

[Big Kev]

Does anyone have a tip to sweep a really narrow chimney with a difficult bend in it. It used to join another chimney which was off set in the room behind and then go upwards??? Any ideas would be really welcome as it has to be done, we keep putting it off---not a good idea.

I swept the top half of my friend's chimney from the top, as he could only sweep three quarters of the way up from the bottom. Only needed 3 rods so not much to carry up with me.

Alternatively; do you have a chicken? Live chicken thrown in the top should give a relatively good sweep...

[Gloria]

Ha ha Kevin, we could use the cat!!! We have a multifuel burner which goes into a tight angle so we cannot get upwards at all really. I keep putting it off but I am sure it does need doing.

[Stanley]

Gloria, you're right, dangerous to throw it on the fire but I never said that. I said "put it on the coal". That way it gets burnt a little at a time every time to put coal on and perfectly safe.
Kev is right, sweeping from the top can often deal with a sharp bend. Classic cure if this doesn't work is to cut into the flue and put a soot door in direct to the seat of the problem. A good stove fitter like Deadly would be the best source of advice.

[Gloria]

Thanks Stanley I think I will just drop the cat down---

[Stanley]

My old Fluer at Bancroft, Charlie Sutton of Brierfield, told a good story about a man who was told by the landlord at the Brierfield Hotel that the reason why the fire was smoking in the bar was that the flue couldn't be swept properly. After a few more pints the bloke staggered out and evidently decided he could do the landlord a favour. He got a ladder and an old hen and went on the roof of the pub. He dropped the hen down the chimney that was smoking and the hen swept the flue perfectly. Problem was of course that there was nothing to stop all the soot going into the bar. There was a further problem, he picked the wrong chimney and popped the hen into the flue from the best room which was full of customers. I think you can visualise the scene as soot poured into the room closely followed by a very annoyed old hen! Charlie said the man was very unpopular and was permanently barred.
When he wasn't cleaning flues at the mills Charlie traded as a domestic chimney sweep. The enterprise was known as 'Well Done' and you might even come across references to it in Brierfield.

[Bodger]

in my locality they talk about a "smoke doctor" he would modify your flue / chimney to get the maximum draught, they say he was so good that if you left the door open the draw was that strong it would pull the smoke from the top of the chimney back into the fire!!

[Tizer]

I love the story of the hen! They say that farmers really did use hens to sweep their chimneys but I don't know how common it was.
Gloria, another old way is to drop a rope down the chimney and into the grate, attach a generous bundle of gorse bush prunings and then pull them up through the chimney. Organic chimney cleaning! Gorse has always been a useful `crop' and there were gorse mills to grind it up for feeding to farm animals.

[Stanley]

Tiz, up here they used ling (heather) for the same purpose. You can get the rope round the bend by tying a stone to it, lots of jiggling and patience.
Bodge, I suspect they were getting confused, if you think about it leaving the door open would make the draught better. That's how the old Baxi under-fire draught system worked, it was connected direct to the outside.
Flues are funny things, I've seen smoke that was so heavy it dropped out of the chimney when you opened the flue door in the stack....

[Gloria]

Good idea Tizer, I think we will look into that one.

[Stanley]

If you tie the 'brush' in the middle of the rope you can drag it backwards and forwards and make a better job.

[Stanley]

I brought this topic back up because it's one that Moh thought had disappeared.
I was thinking about chipped spouts on many antique teapots. My mother had two pieces of porcelain that she valued and when she washed them she used to put a folded towel in the sink to protect them from the hard pot surface. It was before the days of soft plastic washing up bowls.

[Stanley]

Once upon a time the galvanised dolly tub was essential washday equipment. I think most of them finished their days on allotments as water butts. What brought this to mind was the fact that the interior of the tub always had a coating of hard soap and lime scale, I can't remember it ever getting cleaned. The same thing happens to modern washing machines (including dish washers) and one of the consequences of modern low-temperature washing programmes is that soap deposits can build up inside the pipework. It's a good thing to do a maximum temperature wash every now and again, say once a week, this keeps the deposits at a minimum level and prolongs the life of the machine.

[Wendyf]

I've been trying HP sauce for cleaning brass. it works brilliantly, but the smell is a bit odd.

[Bodger]

Stanley you'll need this
http://www.iels.org/agile_assets/19/A36 ... _380_.jpeg

[Moh]

Re the chimney problem I thought there was something you could buy which you burnt on the fire to do the job. We haven't had an open fire for many, many years now so don't have that problem. In fact this bungalow does not even have a chimney.

[Gloria]

I'll look into that Moh thanks, we were only talking about it again yesterday.

[Gloria]

Googled it and it says--It is advisable to arrange for the chimney to be swept prior to commencing Flue Free treatment- so I am going to have to have it done.

[Callunna]

Re the chimney problem I thought there was something you could buy which you burnt on the fire to do the job. We haven't had an open fire for many, many years now so don't have that problem. In fact this bungalow does not even have a chimney.

You can buy sachets of some kind of powder, but they're full of nasty horrible chemicals which don’t do you or the environment much good, apparently.

Moving away from chimneys (sorry) I heard that if you smeared toothpaste on your car windscreen then rinsed it off, it gets rid of all the grease and traffic film left behind by ordinary car shampoo. Not sure if it prevents cavities though...

[Stanley]

Bodge, I have one!
The old chimney cleaners were 'Little Imps'.
Cheap lemonade works on windscreens as well but don't put it in the washer bottle, it does the pump in...... Toothpaste works because it is a mild abrasive.

[Steeplejerk]

Toothpaste works like T-cut,didnt really move the topic away from chimneys,i had an uncle who cleaned his teeth with chimney soot,he had the whitest teeth in the asylum