How do I clean this? - Soot off fireplace bricks

[Denvergirlie]

Here is a photo:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/1421215...7623069084429/

How do I clean this?
Can I clean it?
Do I just try to "rub" it in and smear it around too blend it in?

We are going to paint the ceiling, but wondering if I can touch up the soot on the bricks?

Any advice appreciated, thanks

[just_lily]

Is it loose? I would try to brush it all off and then vaccuum it up, or even try with the brush attachment of a vaccuum. You may need more of a stiff bristled brush though.

What a great house!! It needs a bit of updating, surely, but what potential! I'm jealous!!

[ArtsyMomma]

No idea about the bricks...I just wanted to say I LOVE YOUR HOUSE!!!!

[Denvergirlie]

Thanks for the kind words ladies, we are very excited to be moving into it.

We are so grateful, but at the same time... I have a million new things to learn, and we are moving the bulk next weekend.

Anyways, hopefully someone else will chime in on cleaning the brick/ stone.

I've goggled all over, some say bleach, bathroom cleaner, salt, oven cleaner, or Ajax.
Some say no scrubbing because it will sink into pours of rock.. some say scrub with stiff brush.

There is nothing loose to vacume off, the house had a professional but basic cleaning just last month.

I am going up here tomorrow to work on a few things in the late afternoon, and thought that this might be a good projet to tackle.
I suppose it could wait until after fire season is over, but if it could be easy-ish I would like to tackle sooner than later.

thanks all

[luv-my-boys]

we cleaned a fireplace that was like that, not that much but similar soot going up the outside. Have you had yours checked to make sure its working (venting) properly? I ask because ours was not which caused the soot problem when the previous owners used it.

It took me over the course of 2 weeks to clean it but the majority of it came off and what was left looked more like the stonework than soot residue.

I bought a stiff bristled wire brush (lowes) the kind with short knubby bristles. I brushed the stonework and used a dry vac to suck up all the dust it created. The key is to get as much of the dry soot off before wetting it as wetting it will actually help it sick and soak in the brick work more. After I got most of it up I used this thing I bought at a bbq grill store. It looked similar to a magic eraser only more latexy and thick. I used that semi wet and worked in small patches to get up as much of the soot. Wrung it out and rewetted it. After I made a paste of baking soda and used the wire brush again and cleaned the stonework and re-rinsed the stonework until there was no baking soda residue.


Nice house btw

[2cutiekitties]

gorgeous fireplace! Hate to say on some of those design shows on HGTV, they paint because they say it is impossible to clean.

there are some suggestions here.....
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...1171917AADGh3I

[Jackies Ladybug]

when i moved in to my last place with brick work i had a sandblaster come in and sand the brick down.
it looked brand new when finished. it cost me about $300, best money i spent on the whole place.
i would really recommend something like that, i know some people dont mind painted brick, but i feel its the same as putting carpet over beautiful hardwood floors. it makes me want to cry!

[echospiritwarrior]

great new place! congrats!!!!

If I had a chance to attack it without children or belongings around this is what I would do. I would take my DHs pressure machine thing and put the air valve on it, and try to use pressured air to blow it all off first. Then I would go into it with a wire brush and vacuum.

[Denvergirlie]

thanks ladies.

yeah, I am going to try and work on it this upcoming Friday, as we are due to move the most of our belongings in on Saturday.

thanks

[echospiritwarrior]

good luck! can't wait to see 'after' pictures

[annethcz]

I am so excited for you! What a great new house.

When we had similar issues, we were able to clean the soot with a stiff wire brush. But it wasn't as bad as your brick.

Good luck with the move!

[bigteamug]

'nother thought - try calling one of the restoration/cleaning services that deal with the issues after a fire - if anybody know how to easily get that off, they will (and they probably have a list of progressively more effective things to go thru if the first idea doesn't work...)

[hibana]

What a lovely room!

Is that a woodstove insert in the fireplace? If it's putting all that soot up there, it's not properly installed, and possibly a fire hazard. If the soot was there before the insert went in, that's a different story, but it would be a good idea to find out.

Un-vented gas fireplaces can do the same thing, because the chimney is plugged up. The small amount of smoke just goes out into the room, eventually making a big mess.