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We need help! We recently purchased our beautiful 80's home that has a nice, cosy fireplace. It seems like the top of the fireplace is burnt or stained with ash.
We have two questions we need help with.
- Does anyone know why this happens?
- Does anyone know how to clean it without ruining the bricks or removing the brick colour?
I have had suggestions of oven cleaner, but I am unsure that this won't remove the brick colour as well.
Any suggestions are welcome 
Kaylah
Hi @kaylah_rose,
Have you tried anything to clean the bricks as yet?
I would agree that you need to be careful as (being porous) you could damage the bricks.
My recommendation would be to start with the most gentle cleaners and then if you're not having success you could move to something more heavy duty. And remember to try it out on an inconspicuous area first. If you've got some spare bricks under the house - even better!
For example, you could start by just using a paste of washing detergent with some salt and apply using a scrubbing brush. If you don't have success, you could then move up to something stronger like Borax and then Shellite.
Good luck,
Jason
Thanks @Jason
Appreciate your help on this. We have some holidays at the moment and are dertemined to try and get rid of the black markings, so we will give your suggestions a go.
I'll be honest, I needed to google what Shellite was, but this seems like a good starting point for us.
I will keep you updated with our findings and let you know if it works!
Kay
Hi @kaylah_rose,
Just wondering how you went with cleaning the fireplace? Any luck so far?
It seemed like this job might be a candidate for the hardest thing to clean in your house...
Jason
