"Andrew Gabriel" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"David W.E. Roberts" writes:

I would have thought that any vacuum cleaner would suck up soot in much
the
same way that it dealt with anything else - about to find out as a load
of
soot has fallen down the chimney and I am having difficulty opening the
flap
on top of my log burner because of the soot on top.

Actually soot is a problem for vacuum cleaner bags because soot particles
are extremely small and sticky. If they don't clog the bag very quickly,
they are passing right through it. I would suggest doing two things...
Don't empty the bag before sucking up soot -- the dust in the bag will
trap some of the soot making the bag last longer, and if your vacuum
cleaner has an outlet which can be coupled to another hose, do so and
dangle the end of the outlet outdoors so you don't just blow the soot
which passes through the bag into the air inside the house. The bag will
be wrecked by the soot and you will have to replace it afterwards.
(Don't even think of using a vacuum cleaner with a permanent fabric bag,
soot will go straight through it and wreck it;-)

Should be no problem for a Dyson then :-)