I finally found a crown brush that survives a full season of creosote
After 4 years of buying cheap brushes that shed bristles by August, I picked up a steel one from a supply shop in Omaha for $48. Did a double flue job on Tuesday, 3 inch crust, and the brush held up fine. No bent wires, no bristles in the ash pan. The old nylon ones would be toast after 2 months. Anyone else running steel crown brushes or am I missing something with the poly ones?
Steel is the way to go, the poly ones only make sense if you're doing light cleaning and even then you're replacing them every year. Spend the $48 once and forget about it, plus steel scrubs the flue walls way better than nylon ever will.