How Do I Clean The Brick Around My Fireplace?

If you have a fireplace, you lot know how cracking it is to exist able to light a fire in your dwelling on a common cold night. Nevertheless, you also know how dirty the bricks in your fireplace get from all the smoke and soot. Because they get so dirty, fireplace bricks should be cleaned at least in one case a year. Luckily, the process of cleaning these bricks is relatively like shooting fish in a barrel, whether you're using traditional cleaning products or ordinary household items!

1. 1

   Vacuum the bricks with a soft brush attachment. Utilize the castor zipper on your vacuum and get over all of your bricks. Vacuum equally much loose dust, debris, and soot as you tin can so the bricks are easier to clean after.

2. 2

   Scrub your fireplace with dishwashing detergent to remove light stains. Combine ¹⁄₂ loving cup (120 mL) of dish detergent with 4 cups (950 mL) of water in a spray bottle and shake. Then, spray this solution onto your bricks and scrub them with your differently-sized scrub brushes. Rinse the bricks with warm water afterward they're clean and dry them with a clean, dry cloth.^[ane]

   • Dish detergent is the easiest and quickest cleaning method for fireplace bricks, so information technology should exist the start method y'all should try if the bricks don't look besides bad.
   • Dishwashing detergent is relatively harmless, and then this is also the all-time method to utilise on older bricks.

3. 3

   Go with borax to both clean and disinfect fireplace bricks. Mix ii tablespoons (34 grams) of borax with 4 cups (950 mL) of hot h2o and one tablespoon (15 mL) of dish soap in a spray canteen. Shake the mixture together, and then spray information technology onto the bricks. Scrub the sprayed bricks with your castor in a circular motion, and so utilise a clean, damp cloth to wipe away the grime after they're make clean.^[2]

   • Y'all can also make this cleaning solution in a bucket and apply it to the bricks with a paintbrush or sponge if you don't have a spray bottle.

4. 4

   Clean newer, sturdier bricks with ammonia and detergent. Combine ¹⁄_two cup (120 mL) of ammonia, ¹⁄_four cup (59 mL) of dishwashing detergent, and 4 cups (950 mL) of hot water in a spray bottle, swirling the canteen to mix the ingredients together. Spray this solution onto your bricks and scrub them with your scrub castor to clean them. In one case they're clean, wipe them off with a damp cloth to remove the cleaning solution.^[3]

   • Ammonia can be harmful on brickwork, so don't use this method on especially old or frail bricks.
   • Exist sure to wear rubber gloves and rubber goggles when working with ammonia.

5. 5

   Use trisodium phosphate (TSP) on the toughest stains and grease. Swirl together ¹⁄_eight cup (30 mL) of TSP with 1 gallon (iii.eight Fifty) of hot water in a tall saucepan. So, dip your castor into the cleaning solution and employ it to scrub your bricks clean. Finally, rinse off the bricks with warm water.^[4]

   • Simply effort using TSP if dish soap and water doesn't work.
   • TSP is a very strong cleaning solution, so make certain you lot don't handle it without wearing rubber gloves and safety goggles. Avert getting the solution on your peel, your dress, or the carpet.
   • TSP can be purchased at most home comeback stores and some grocery stores.

1. 1

   Use baking soda and lather for a convenient cleaning method. Combine near 2 to 3 tablespoons (thirty to 44 mL) of dish soap with ½ cup (5 ounces) of baking soda to brand a cleaning paste. Then, dip your scrub castor into the paste and utilise it to scrub the bricks using small, circular motions. Let the paste sit on the bricks for about 5 minutes, then rinse it off with warm water.^[5]

   • Work from the bottom up when scrubbing the bricks, to avoid leaving streaks.

2. two

   Spray your bricks with vinegar and h2o if they aren't too one-time. Mix equal parts of vinegar and warm water in a spray bottle and spray the bricks with this solution. Spray the bricks once again later on a few minutes, then scrub them in a round motion with a scrub brush. Rinse the bricks with warm water one time you're done.^[vi]

   • Because the acidity of vinegar makes it a tad annoying, you may not want to use this method on bricks that are more than xx years old.
   • To avoid streaking, work from the bottom of the fireplace up when scrubbing the bricks.
   • You may want to apply a mixture of baking soda and water to the bricks after you're done, to cancel out the acerbity of the vinegar you merely sprayed on them. Yet, this isn't strictly necessary.

3. 3

   Make a paste out of cream of tartar and use that to make clean your bricks. To make your paste, combine 2 tablespoons (twenty grams) of cream of tartar with a small corporeality of water. So, apply an old toothbrush to apply a layer of the thin paste to a sooty expanse of brick and let it sit for v-10 minutes. Finally, rinse the paste off with warm water.^[7]

   • Unless you have a lot of cream of tartar on hand, this method is best used for spot cleaning relatively small areas of soot.

4. iv

   Try bathroom cleaner or oven cleaner if that'due south all you have. People have sometimes had success cleaning fireplace bricks with bathroom cleaning spray or oven cleaner. Spray the cleaner onto your bricks and let it sit for 20-xxx minutes. Then, scrub the bricks with your castor and employ a sponge dipped in water to wipe off whatever residue left over.^[viii]

   • Using bathroom cleaner or oven cleaner isn't an effective method for cleaning bricks 100% of the time, then you lot should only consider using them if yous have no other style to clean your fireplace bricks.
   • You can acquire bathroom cleaning spray and oven cleaner at any grocery store that sells home cleaning supplies.

Add New Question

• Question

  How do I clean the brick on a fireplace that runs to the ceiling?

  

  Michelle Driscoll is the Owner of Mulberry Maids based in northern Colorado. Driscoll received her Masters in Public Health from the Colorado Schoolhouse of Public Health in 2022.

  

  Founder, Mulberry Maids

  Expert Answer

  You will need to scrub the brick with a scrub castor and a dish soap solution. To achieve the high ceiling, you will most likely demand to utilise a high ladder. First cleaning higher up on the brick wall equally possible and work your mode down. Utilise cautionary measure while working on the ladder. If you exercise non experience safe cleaning on the ladder, yous may want to call a professional.

• Question

  How do I remove pigment and plaster stains from the fireplace brick?

  

  Michelle Driscoll is the Owner of Mulberry Maids based in northern Colorado. Driscoll received her Masters in Public Wellness from the Colorado Schoolhouse of Public Health in 2022.

  

  Founder, Mulberry Maids

  Good Respond

  Utilise paint stripper using a trowel to the paint stains and go out it for several hours and scrape away as much equally possible. You may also desire to scrub the bricks with manifestly water to remove any remaining paint and to remove the chemicals from the brick. For the plaster stains, you tin showtime scrape away as much of the plaster as possible. For any leftover residual, you can utilize a hydrochloric acid solution with a wire castor to clean the brick.

• Question

  Can the bricks on the inside of the chimney be painted?

  

  Yes, bricks can be painted, fifty-fifty ones around and inside the chimney. Just make sure the bricks are make clean earlier applying the first base of operations coat.

• Question

  How do you clean old fireplace bricks?

  

  Drew Hawkins1

  Community Respond

  Avert using ammonia or an acidic cleaner such equally vinegar on old bricks considering it can cause them to break downwardly. Brand a uncomplicated cleaning solution that's safe to employ on older bricks past combining about 2 to iii tablespoons (thirty to 44 mL) of dish lather with ½ cup (5 ounces) of blistering soda to make a cleaning paste. Dip a scrub brush into the paste and clean the bricks using small, round motions. Allow the paste to sit on the bricks for 5 minutes, then rinse it off with clean water.

• Question

  Does vinegar harm brick?

  

  Drew Hawkins1

  Customs Reply

  Vinegar is a not bad solution you tin can use to clean newer, sturdier bricks. However, the acidity of the vinegar, which makes it a bully abrasive for cleaning, is harmful to bricks that are more than 20 years old. If you plan to use vinegar to clean your bricks, make certain they're younger than 20 years one-time.

• Question

  How practice you lot make clean soot off fireplace bricks?

  

  Drew Hawkins1

  Customs Answer

  Soot is easily removed from fireplace bricks using a simple cleaning solution. Combine 1⁄ii cup (120 mL) of dish detergent with iv cups (950 mL) of water in a spray canteen and milkshake it up well to mix it. Spray the solution onto the bricks and use a scrub castor to clean off the soot. Rinse the bricks with warm water afterward they're clean and dry them off with a clean cloth.

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• Be certain to wearable prophylactic gloves and safety goggles when using cleaning chemicals to clean your fireplace.

• Before using any chemical solutions to make clean all of your fireplace bricks, try them out first on a small spot in your fireplace that isn't well visible. Some chemicals may bleach or stain and information technology'south all-time to know which ones will affect your fireplace before using them.

• Diluted muriatic acrid is sometimes suggested equally a adept manner to clean fireplace bricks without having to scrub them. Notwithstanding, there are a lot of safety precautions you have to have when using the acid, so it's better to exit this cleaning method to the professionals.

Things You lot'll Need

• Dishwashing detergent
• Common salt
• Saucepan
• Stiff Bristled Brush
• Warm H2o
• Borax
• Ammonia
• Trisodium Phosphate
• Rubber Gloves
• Vinegar
• Cream of tartar
• Baking soda
• Bathroom cleaner or oven cleaner

About this article

Article Summary 10

To clean fireplace bricks, offset by mixing blistering soda and dish soap and rubbing the paste into the bricks with a scrub castor. Then, let the paste sit down for 5 minutes before rinsing it off with warm water. Y'all can also clean fireplace bricks by spraying them with equal parts water and white vinegar. Subsequently you spray the bricks, scrub them with a scrub brush and rinse them off with warm water. To acquire how to use commercial cleaning products to clean fireplace bricks, read on!

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