The warm glimmer of a blazing fireplace inspires cozy holiday bliss in all of us. Even crooning Christmas legends feature roasted chestnuts and hanging stockings around the fire in beloved verse. A toasty fire presents a practical way to warm up the wintertime chill, and is particularly useful in rural living situations where consistent power may be iffy – in the event of an outage due to a snow-laden downed tree falling on wires, a fireplace can go from being a pleasant ambiance enhancer to an all-important heating source.
Nonetheless, a neglected fireplace may spark a flame you can’t control. When soot condenses from continuous use, a highly combustible substance called creosote accumulates, leaving you one match away from a dangerous house fire. Thus, to maintain a safe domestic blaze in a rural living setting, it is important to prepare for some winter hearth action with an annual cleaning. You may also want to have your fireplace checked, since excessive soot and smoke can be a sign that the chimney is not drawing properly.
As the hearth is the center of your home and a staple of the rural living lifestyle, protect your haven with these easy steps. (Plus, you’ll also have the added benefit of keeping your fireplace looking its best!)
You will need:
- Hearth Utility Gloves
- Newspaper/tarp
- Trash bags
- Shovel and ash bucket
- Chimney Sweep Brush
- Bucket of warm water
- Scrubber
- Detergent (optional – see below for steps to make your own)
- Ash vac (optional – but very useful!)
1. Manage the mayhem with some simple preparatory tasks.
First thing’s first. Has it been one day? For this undertaking, it’s important that you wait 24 hours since the last lit fire so everything is properly cooled down and safe for handling.
Slip on a pair of good hearth utility gloves and make sure you’re dressed for the occasion – old clothing is great for fireplace cleaning as ash and creosote can stain. An old oversized shirt or smock and also go far toward protecting your wardrobe.
Place newspaper or tarp on the floor fireplace floor to catch the soot. Also, be sure to cover the carpet around the fireplace with an old sheet or drop cloth, and take the time to cover all nearby furniture items with old sheets or cloth. Trash bags are also helpful to have nearby so you can quickly dispose of the debris.
2. Detection leads to perfection.
Open the flue and peer into your chimney and see if you can spot any blockages. With a little skylight (or a good flashlight), you can inspect soot and possibly metallic hardened deposits of creosote.
Now let’s get to work!
3. Brush, brush and away!
Begin by using your handy dandy fireplace shovel to remove ashes and debris piled in the fireplace.
Next, take up a chimney sweep brush and brush away! A round poly brush made for this purpose does a thorough job without scratching up the flue. Pair your brush with a fiberglass extension rod and make sure to brush each wall from the top to the bottom. Shovel the ashes into a pan and dump the waste into your standby trash bags or a sturdy ash bucket or coal scuttle.
Finally, take a scrubber brush and a bucket of warm water and begin a deep cleansing of the fireplace interior. To make it even more effective, add a squirt or two of detergent (or some of the homemade solution cited below) in the pail. Rinse with a sponge and wipe dry with an old towel.
4. Throw it in the bag!
Pick up your protective newspaper or tarp full of soot and waste deposits and throw it in the bag! (The trash bag, obviously.) Relax while the walls dry and savor that awesome feeling of do-it-yourself accomplishment. Close the flue, and we’re back in business and ready for another winter of rural living!
Bonus tip: Are soot and soil marks still hanging around the bricks on your fireplace? Mix together a cup of washing soda (this is different from baking soda – look for it in the laundry section of your local grocery store) and a gallon of hot water and apply it with a stiff brush (and a lot of elbow grease!) to the stained bricks. You can then wipe the bricks clean with some old rags. (You can even use this solution to scrub outdoor stucco walls!)
Success! You’re is clean and ready for safe use again.
Now you’re ready to rekindle another winter of yuletide bliss before the fireplace. Who needs lengthy footage of a burning log? You’ve got your own safe, efficient, slow-burning beauty at the ready. And if a winter storm in your rural area should knock the power out, no worries…you can rest easy knowing your fireplace is ready to safely see you through.
By Jennifer Whipple