In olden days soot had many uses, cleared from chimneys by sweeps it was dirty, smelly and not very healthy to be around. However, it was believe it or not, a much sought after commodity. As the old saying goes “where there’s muck – there’s money” it was wanted by the fertiliser industry, it was used for making dyes for wool, it was even thought to be good for cleaning teeth but this was more likely due to the chimney sweeps black faces making their teeth look whiter.
From the 18th century onwards for over 200 years soot was sold and became a large part of the chimney sweeps earnings, the amount of soot sold in London in just one year has been recorded as much as 500,000 bushels. Used mainly for fertiliser as it contained high amounts of ammonia salts and nitrogenous matter. The best and most expensive soot was made when burning pure coal, coal when burnt with other fuels commanded a less high price.
Chimney sweep boys were often paid by how much soot they could get for the Master sweep and it has been recorded that the boys often asked to be allowed to sweep chimneys for free to ensure that they could deliver their quota at the end of each day. Chimney sweeps quickly latched onto how much money could be made from selling “best soot” and began to add soot from other fuels such as wood and in some cases where people used to burn ‘dried vegetables’. The farmers soon realised that something was amiss when their crops and harvests began to suffer. Soot was said to have been adulterated with farmers complaining of poor quality and short measures. The trade became so huge that some sweeps began to trade in soot and became the middlemen between the sweeps and the farming industry and gardeners. Burning coal then was in the main the only way to efficiently heat your home in those days and to provide heat for cooking and hot water in the large houses of London. As it was burnt daily virtually all day the chimneys had to be swept every 3 months – that’s four times a year, some even monthly so there was much work for the sweeps and much soot to be had.
Then, as newer man made fertiliser became more available the appeal for soot waned and its value plummeted although some was still traded right up to the 1950’s when people became concerned on the health implications caused by burning so much coal. New legislation came into force in the big cities and to comply with the new laws people had to burn cleaner ’smokeless coal’ a modern alternative to pure coal. As the use of oil and gas and even electric heating appliances became the norm real fires were used less and less.
Even in my relative short period as a chimney sweep (just over 30 years) I have been asked by allotment owners for pure coal soot and wood soot. Even some builders have asked me to supply pure coal soot which they add to paraffin and uni bond to paint new brickwork to make it look old and weathered.
Contact Apex Chimney Sweeps to book a professional chimney sweeping company! We serve all London postcodes and north Kent too.
