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How do you clean a very sooty stone fireplace?

The firebox is black and the stone around the opening is too. The previous owner either built fires too large or didn't open the damper enough. The stone is a Tennesee Sand Stone. Any help? The fire place is in the basement so venting isn't going to happen. I know that degreesers don't work because they soak into the stone. I have heard about th acid working before but am a little worried at the caustic nature of it and the ability to rinse being limited as I am inside with a finished basement. I will have to try the boric acid first since this is coming from a mason. I will let you know how it works on the abuse that happened to this fireplace.

Public Comments

  1. some kind of degrees-er would work i would try awesome you can get it at most dollar stores you wouldn't believe what all it can clean
  2. Muratic Acid works GREAT.Dilute 1pt acid -3 pts.water. Use spray bottle, rubber gloves , scrub brush.Rinse. Ventilate
  3. Muratic Acid should do good, most hardware stores have it. Also try bleach and a scrub brush. Don't mix these together!!!!! You'll need rubber gloves with the Muratic Acid!!! Not real, real bad, but it will dry out your hands, and crack them.
  4. I hired a chimney sweep to clean my chimney first I needed the man to check for the safety of the fireplace as well before I was comfortable using it. It was a older home that I bought which has a fireplace which did look well used. But we are in earthquake country and I wanted to make sure there were no cracks, etc. So you would want a good chimney sweeper for the chimney. The fireplace itself, I vacuumed and cleaned with a good scrub brush and laundry soap water in a bucket and old rags. Just be patient, you'll get it clean enough eventually after many buckets. It's not getting any dirtier while you are not using the fireplace -- it can only get a little cleaner each time you work on it.
  5. you dont need muriatic for soot ,,,get boric acid at the drug store and mix it in warm water and take a stiff brush and scrub the masonry...rinse...