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Best Ways to Clean a Fireplace

Cleaning a fireplace, whether it’s a standard stone fireplace or a gas fireplace, is a tedious but important task. Nevertheless, the more regularly and effectively you do it, the easier it’d be. More importantly, however, it will also ensure that your fireplace works as safely and as efficiently as possible. In the winter months when the fireplace is used most excessively, we’d recommend monthly cleanings for the best results.

But how exactly should you do it? Here are our tips and recommendations:

How to clean stone fireplaces?

Cleaning stone fireplaces is a slow but vital process that needs to be done regularly to maintain your fireplace in a good condition.

  • First, you’ll need to make sure that the fireplace is completely turned off and cooled down. Next, take a big towel or a bedsheet and spread it in front of the fireplace to gather most of the ash from the fireplace. If there’s furniture close to the fireplace you’d do well to move it away or cover it with something.
  • After that, get a broom and a small waste bin and sweep as much of the ash and soot from the walls and floor of the fireplace. Be careful while doing so to reduce the amount of ash in the air. If there’s too much ash we’d recommend wearing a face mask to protect your respiratory system.
  • After you’ve swept away most of the dirt and ash, use a vacuum cleaner to remove the rest of the ash from the fireplace and the area around it.
  • Next, you’d probably want to do some brick cleaning to remove any leftover soot from the fireplace’s bricks. The easiest solution here is to mix 3 tablespoons of dish soap with half a cup of baking soda into a paste. The paste needs to be thin and easy to work with so add more soap if you need to. Once the mixture is ready, use a scrub brush to spread it on the inner bricks of your fireplace, using simple circular motions. After you’ve spread it all over the fireplace, leave it on for several minutes and then rinse it off with warm water.
  • Then, just let your fireplace dry off and you’ll be ready to use it again. In the meantime, you might want to take care of the fireplace glass too.

How to clean fireplace glass?

Fireplace glass can get very filthy very quickly so it also requires regular cleaning. A dirty glass can kill a lot of the joy of having a stone fireplace at home as it hides the beauty of flames.

  • The first thing you’d want to do is to make sure that the fireplace is completely turned off and cooled down.
  • After that, carefully remove the glass as per the fireplace’s instructions. If the fireplace is still in its warranty period, make sure you doing void the warranty.
  • After you’ve safely taken off the glass, ball up several pieces of paper towel, dampen them in water, and scrub the glass as clean as possible. You can lightly dip the wet towel into the ashes from the fireplace as well to make it more effective.
  • This should remove most of the grime on the glass but if it’s not enough you might also want to use a specialized fireplace glass cleaner from your local hardware stone. Just make sure you’re not using a regular glass cleaner as those are not intended for fireplaces and you don’t want residue from them left on the fireplace glass.

How to clean a gas fireplace?

Gas fireplace cleaning needs to be done about once per month for the best results as this reduces the dirt and dust buildup and prevents damage to the fireplace’s mechanisms.

  • Before you start you’ll need to make sure that the gas valve is turned off and there’s no gas in or going into the fireplace whatsoever. You’d also want to check that the pilot light is off and wait a few minutes after you’ve turned off everything to allow any leftover gas to leave the pipes.
  • After that, the next step is to carefully disassemble the fireplace as per its instructions. If there are glass doors, a metal screen, or a mesh curtain, remove them first.
  • Then disassemble the burner logs and remove the burner unit. If you can, take the components outside and clean them there with a soft paintbrush. Remember – do not use spray cleaners or water on gas fireplace parts as this is dangerous for its following operation.
  • After you’ve manually cleaned and inspected all the internal components of the fireplace, vacuum away any dust or cobwebs from inside the fireplace.

The best way to clean gas fireplace glass is with a specialized fireplace glass cleaner that should be sold at your local hardware shops. Just spray it, leave it on for several minutes, and wipe it off with a soft piece of cloth.

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