Chemical Chimney cleaners do not work

[Roy D. Cooke, Sr]

About time glad to see this happen ...Cookie
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Tribunal upholds the constitutionality of Competition Act requirement to have performance claims based on adequate and proper tests.

OTTAWA, February 11, 2008 – The Competition Bureau announced today that the Competition Tribunal ordered Imperial Brush Co. Ltd. and Kel Kem Ltd. (carrying on business as Imperial Manufacturing Group) to stop making claims that its chimney cleaning and conditioner products reduce creosote or prevent chimney fires.
The Tribunal further dismissed Imperial Manufacturing Group (IMG)’s challenge that the Competition Act’s adequate and proper testing provision infringes on the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Bureau argued, and the judge agreed, that the objective of this provision is to protect consumers from the harm caused by unsubstantiated claims about the performance of a product and promote accuracy of marketplace information. The judge also noted that accurate consumer information benefits not only consumers but also businesses selling competing products.
“It is important for consumers to be able to trust that the products they purchase have been properly tested to perform as claimed. This is especially true with products that are intended to make homes safer,” said Andrea Rosen, Acting Deputy Commissioner of the Competition Bureau. “Advertisers have a legal obligation to ensure that consumers are not misled when making their purchasing decisions.”
The Tribunal ruled that IMG contravened the Act by making performance claims relating to its chimney cleaning and creosote conditioner products which were not supported by adequate and proper tests. IMG has been ordered by the court to stop making these claims on the labels and in advertising material for its products. In addition, IMG was ordered to pay a $25,000 administrative monetary penalty.
The Tribunal will, in the near future, consider submissions from each party as to the terms of a public notice, product recall/withdrawal and/or change in packaging and the proper award of costs.
The products in question are marketed under the names: the Supersweep Chimney Cleaning Log, the Imperial Chimney Cleaning Log, the Kel Kem Chimney Creosote Cleaner, and the Kel Kem Creosote Conditioner. These products are sold across Canada at major home improvement retailers and hardware stores.
The unsupported claims suggested the products would:

• Clean chimneys or assist in cleaning chimneys;
• reduce, remove, condition or otherwise affect creosote;
• prevent, eliminate or otherwise affect chimney fires;
• help eliminate dangerous creosote in a chimney;
• reduce hard or glazed creosote to an ash;
• inhibit the rate of creosote build-up and react with most chimney deposits to reduce their adhesiveness;
• be non-corrosive; and
• be non-toxic.

The Competition Bureau is an independent law enforcement agency. It contributes to the prosperity of Canadians by protecting and promoting competitive markets and enabling informed consumer choice.

[tdietrich1]

My in-laws are chimney sweeps, Dr Soot, Inc. in Colorado Springs, Co, and they've see some bad chimney's because people thought by buying some junk will clean it. In fine print many products state that their use does not eliminate the need for regular professional chimney sweep services/inspections. Being the only licensed contractors in the area, they sometimes see chimneys in bad repair.


tom

[Brian A. MacNeish]

WETT courses and WETT certified professionals for years have been telling people that sweeping is the ONLY way to clean a chimney .......but in an effort to save the money they'd have to pay to the pros (about $50-$75 per flue.....really not much to put towards saving your home and maybe your life also), fools buy cleaners with unproven claims!!! "It says so on the package"...........reminds me of P.T. Barnum's quote "There's a sucker born every minute" or is it every 10 seconds now as population has increased markedly since his circa 1900 claim.

[rwand1]

What about the other myth that burning Potatoe skins assists in keeping the flue clean?

[Brian A. MacNeish]

Originally Posted by rwand1

What about the other myth that burning Potatoe skins assists in keeping the flue clean?

Do you buy the Farmer's Almanac, Raymond?

Here's a few other nuggets of wisdom:

-An acorn at the window will keep lightning out.

-A frog brings good luck to the house it enters.

-Ivy growing on a house protects the inhabitants from witchcraft and evil.

-Dropping an umbrella on the floor means that there will be a murder in the house.

-All windows should be opened at the moment of death so that the soul can leave.

[George A. H. Luck]

"-All windows should be opened at the moment of death so that the soul can leave."

So that's why the 'national' is still around. Somebody forgot to open the windows!!
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[dcook1]

Originally Posted by Brian A. MacNeish

Do you buy the Farmer's Almanac, Raymond?

Here's a few other nuggets of wisdom:

-An acorn at the window will keep lightning out.

-A frog brings good luck to the house it enters.

-Ivy growing on a house protects the inhabitants from witchcraft and evil.

-Dropping an umbrella on the floor means that there will be a murder in the house.

-All windows should be opened at the moment of death so that the soul can leave.

I thought the windows should be opened when someone farts, so the smell can leave!