Hot take: Cleaning out ash is the worst part of the job, no contest.

Every time I finish a sweep, I'm covered in soot and ash. Why can't they invent a vacuum that actually works for this mess?

3 comments

3 Comments

matthew_owens91mo ago

Watching you talk about a shop vac with the right filter just makes me feel worse about my own system. I still use a broom and a dustpan like some kind of medieval peasant, which guarantees I end up looking like a human-shaped dust cloud. My garage looks like a chimney exploded every single time. Guess I really need to get with the times and stop making my own problems.

mason2831mo ago

I totally get the 'covered in soot and ash' problem. What worked for me (after a lot of trial and error) was using a shop vac with a filter made for fine dust. It sucks up the ash without making a huge cloud, so you stay much cleaner.

miles_grant351mo ago

Saw a woodworking forum post where a guy swore by adding a water filter to his shop vac for ash. He basically rigged a five gallon bucket with a lid between the hose and the vacuum. The idea is the ash and water mix into a slurry in the bucket so it never even touches the filter. Seems messy to empty, but he claimed it was the only thing that worked on fireplace ash without clogging a dry filter immediately.