I finally stopped brushing from the top down after a call in Norfolk
Back in 2009 I got called out to a place in Norfolk where the flue had a bad puffback, and the old sweep I was working with told me to always brush bottom up so the soot falls into the firebox instead of raining down on the hearth. I had been going top down for 4 years at that point because that's how my first boss showed me, and I figured a brush is a brush. We pulled 3 grocery bags of creosote out of that chimney and barely any landed on the rug, which never happened with my old way. Now my drop cloths mostly stay clean and homeowners quit giving me that look like I wrecked their living room. Any of you still brush from the top, or did you switch at some point too?