Tag Archives: fireplace

Tips for freshening and cleaning the fireplace

Cleaning Fireplace

Cleaning your home or office fireplace is always a daunting task, not when you read these tips and tricks on how to best clean your home or office fireplace.

A fireplace adds hugely to the aesthetic appeal of a room, particularly if it is a working one. There’s nothing like the quiet crackle of a real fire on a cold winter’s evening to make a home feel really cosy.

Yet many are put off lighting fires, due to the ash, coal dust and mess left behind.

Not to mention the hassle of keeping the fireplace clean afterwards. Here are a few ideas to help.

1. Never put hot ash into a plastic dustbin. Collect in a metal bucket and allow it to cool thoroughly – preferably overnight before disposing of it. Or use it around the home – wood ash makes great rose fertilizer. Mix some with a little water and use it to clean fireplace glass doors. Or spread it on frosty paths outside to add traction when walking outside in icy weather.

2. Scrub glazed tiles around a fireplace with warm soapy water and dry well. Shine them with liquid silver polish afterwards to make the tiles stay shiny for longer.

3. Protect a fireplace made from kiln-dried bricks by painting it with an equal mixture of raw linseed oil and turpentine. This will give it a dirt-resistant finish.

4. Use a fire guard to stop sparks landing on a fireside rug. Sponge the rug occasionally with a water and alum solution to further prevent damage done by stray sparks.

5. Invest in a decent companion set or similar fireplace cleaning equipment and keep it separate from the rest of your cleaning stuff. Working fireplaces get very dirty very quickly, and you don’t want to spread the soot and ash further round the house. Wash your cleaning equipment regularly too.

6. Remove soot stains from a carpet by covering the area with salt. Brush with a stiff brush and repeat until the stain has disappeared. Never add water to a soot spillage.

7. Have your chimney swept regularly to prevent build-up of ash, soot or dirt. Modern sweeps use highly advanced equipment that will leave the chimney, fireplace and room extremely clean – and safe for many more fires to come.

8. If you have an electric fire instead, you can still keep it clean by brushing the artificial coal with a black shoe polish brush during your cleaning rounds.