As autumn arrives and the outdoor lifestyle of summer recedes, it’s natural that our focus turns back to our interior spaces.

If you’re thinking about exchanging your open fire for a wood burning, pellet burning or multi fuel stove, you may be wanting to remove the inevitable black residue, caused by soot and smoke, that has accumulated on the brickwork or wall at the back of the fireplace.

Personally, we rather like the characterful look of a fireplace that has been lovingly used over the years. However, we understand that many people want to smarten up the backdrop before adding a beautiful new stove. So, here are some tips for making your brickwork fresh and ready for the new addition.

There are several fairly simple methods for cleaning off soot debris, most of which involve just a few basic materials and a bit of elbow grease. The first step should always be to run a brush or vacuum cleaner over the brick to remove any loose debris.

For cleaning off the more stubborn marks, you have a few options. Marks that have been made by tar and smoke are likely to be greasy, so a simple combination of washing up liquid and hot water, applied with a stiff bristle brush, rinsed with clean water and then wiped down with a dry cloth, can be very effective.

Creating a paste of washing up liquid and salt gives you an abrasive solution that helps to shift tough residue. Alternatively, adding ammonia or Borax to the dish washing liquid – again, with that essential elbow grease – can give you good results.

So, once your fireplace is sparkling clean and your thoughts turn to how fabulous a new stove would look in the rejuvenated space, it’ll be time to give Stove Sellers a call!