Tried a new creosote remover spray and my whole house smelled like burnt sugar for a day

I got a can of 'Soot-Away' spray to try on a standard brick flue in an old house. After the clean, I sprayed it like the can said and lit a small test fire. Instead of a clean smell, this weird sweet smoke filled the place and stuck around. I had to open every window in January. Has anyone had a chemical smell backfire like that, and what do you use instead?

3 comments

3 Comments

cora8632mo ago

Ever get that fake maple syrup smell from a log lighter? Same thing happened to me, it was awful.

jamiew532mo ago

Wait, a log lighter? That's a new one, I've only ever smelled that from a car.

bennett.mason2mo ago

oh man that fake maple syrup smell is the worst, i know exactly what you mean. i had a log lighter once that would hit you with that sickly sweet smell every time you lit it up, like someone spilled a bottle of aunt jemima on the logs or something. it just hung in the air and felt so artificial, totally killed the whole fireplace vibe for me. i ended up switching to regular logs because i couldn't handle it anymore, that smell just sticks to your clothes and everything.