RPPSOA   Cleaning the Fireplace How to Clean Your Fireplace If you're planning some decorations for your fireplace, or if you just want to get rid of the unsightly build up of soot, you are probably wondering how to clean your fireplace without making a mess. Cleaning your fireplace may look like a forbidding job, but if you take it step-by-step you'll neither swear nor sweat. This tested method has worked on fireplaces up to 100 years old. Items You'll Need from the Hardware Store: Plastic goggles for eye protection A stiff nylon scrub brush Rubber gloves A cheap plastic drop cloth A small carton of TSP (Tri-Sodium Phosphate) or phosphate-free TSP Substitute A plastic bucket Removing Soot You can use latex doctor's gloves to keep your hands clean, but be very careful when scrubbing that you don't blister your hands, which will be moist and soft inside the gloves. Put down a cheap plastic drop cloth to kneel on. It's a good idea to have a large trash can, lined with 2 trash bags, standing by. Remove your andirons and grate and take them outdoors. Remove the excess soot with your wire brush and set them aside. (If your andirons are brass, you can polish them with a brass polish such Brasso, if you like.) Making sure no hot coals remain, now remove the accumulated loose ashes with your fireplace shovel, put them in the trash can, and sweep up the loose dust. Line the fireplace with newspapers, overlapping the edge of your drop cloth. Arrange you newspapers so that they "climb" the fireplace walls by 3-4 inches, so that all the soot will land on the newspapers. Use you wire brush and its scraper to loosen soot from the walls of the fireplace, starting at the top. As soot builds up, you can 'package' the soot in a couple layers of newspapers and put each package in the trash can. Deep Cleaning the Fireplace Walls Put down several layers of new newspaper. Put on your rubber gloves (not latex doctors' gloves) and goggles. (Did I say put on old clothes? I should have!) Some cautions: TSP and TSP Substitute are very caustic; either will burn skin or eyes; either will de-gloss enamel painted surfaces. Read and follow instructions on the label. Mix 6 tbsp of TSP or TSP Substitute and 1 cup of chlorine bleach with one gallon of warm (NOT hot) water. Making this mixture in a gallon bucket will help you avoid drips and splashes. Set the bucket in the fireplace. Dip your wire brush and scrub the fireplace walls, starting at the top. Use plenty of TSP solution and scrub until the walls are clean. On older fireplaces, there will probably be areas that remain stained black even though they are clean. Gather up the wet newspapers and put them in the trash can. Give the fireplace floor the same treatment. Wipe down the walls and floor with clean water and rags or paper towels. When the fireplace has dried, put back your andirons and grate and you are done. You can now give your fireplace a "make-over" using a fireplace candelabra or other fireplace items. RPPSOA Welcome to the Rohnert Park Public Safety Association's website. Use this site to inform yourself to the event, goals and views of the association and its members.