How to Clean the Front of a Brick Fireplace

Brick fireplaces give any room a warm, cozy feeling no matter what the season. However, if you use your brick fireplace regularly, then the front can become grimy and the bricks may get dark with soot. Fortunately, there is an easy way to clean the front of a brick fireplace that will have your brick facade bright and pristine in no time.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Wire brush
• Oven cleaner
• Scrub brush
• 5 gallon bucket
• Warm water
• White vinegar
• Cleaning rags
• Liquid detergent
• Rubber gloves

1. Mix up your cleaning solution. Put about a quarter cup of liquid soap in the bucket and then add several gallons of water. This measurement does not have to be specific, but the bucket should be about two-thirds full. If you want to bleach the mortar, then you can use white vinegar instead of dish soap.

2. Scrub down the fireplace. To do this, you will moisten the scrub brush and use it to scrub the bricks and mortar. Submerse the brush in the water, then knock it several times against the side of the bucket to remove excess water. Because you are scrubbing in an indoor setting, you do not want extra water puddling on the bricks or the floor around the fireplace. Scrubbing will loosen and lift most of the dust and grime on the front of the fireplace. However, it may not remove all stains and dark spots from use. Do not worry about that because this is just the first step in cleaning.

3. Apply the oven cleaner. If you have the option, open any windows in the room as the oven cleaner fumes can be pretty strong. Also, wear your rubber gloves from this point on. Most oven cleaners spray on, so hold the can fairly close to the area you are spraying so that you do not get the spray on furniture or your carpet. You should let the oven cleaner sit on the fireplace for about 15 minutes.

4. Scrub the fireplace front with the wire brush. Use gentle, but firm, pressure. This should lift any stubborn soot stains that did not come off with the soap and water.

5. Use plain water to "rinse" away the oven cleaner. Of course, because your fireplace is inside your cannot simply spray it down. You will need to wet the brush as you did earlier, knocking off the excess, then scrub the remaining oven cleaner off the front of the fireplace. The water in the scrub brush will rinse the cleaner off as you scrub. You can wipe up any drips or excess moisture with the cleaning rags.

6. Wipe down the fireplace. Bricks and mortar cannot be fully dried with a towel, but you can make sure that there is as little standing moisture as possible in the area by giving the surfaces of the bricks and the mortared area a good rub down with a dry cloth. This will also make the flat surfaces of the brick shine.

Tips & Warnings

• Some people like to use muriatic acid to really brighten up their brick. However, you should only use this option if all other stain removal and brightening options fail since muriatic acid should not be handled by people lacking specific experience with it.
• Be sure to leave your rubber gloves on throughout the process until all the oven cleaner is gone. This will prevent any damage to or drying of your skin. If your fireplace is old or crumbling, clean a small part and then observe the effects to make sure that it will not deteriorate further as a result of too-aggressive cleaning.

References

• A forum on cleaning brick fireplaces.
• Professional brick fireplace cleaners.