How to Clean a Fireplace

I always take a week or two to deep clean my house after putting the holiday decor away. This year, once I was done at my house, I decided to sneak over to my mom's while she was out and clean something I have noticed could use a good scrub....her fireplace! Fireplaces are probably the least fun thing to clean but with the help of my SteamMachine Elite, it was so much easier!

The first thing I did was vacuum out all the old ashes with my shop vac. I also ran the vacuum attachment over the stone and brick to get as much loose soot as possible. The more you vacuum away, the less you have to scrub clean.

Next I started with the plastic bristle brush attachment and steamed away the majority of the soot around the outside of the fireplace using my SteamMachine Elite. Most of it just dripped right off!

Have some rags handy to wipe away the sooty water that drips down. It is so satisfying!

For the tougher spots, and for the inside of the fireplace, I used the wire brush attachment. Be careful not to scrub too hard or it will damage the rock or stone.

It still takes a bit of elbow grease to scrub away years of black soot, but I didn't have to use any harsh chemicals. It really only took about an hour, some water, and a handful of rags. Now it is all ready for a new fire!

This sponsored project was created by Not Just a Housewife. Head to the blog for the full post and details.