Cleaning a brick fireplace...what to use? (floor, Home Depot, paint)

[Braunwyn]

I've tried a few different things. Diluted bleach, ammonia (separately, of course), tho, it was diluted, kitchen cleaner, warm water and dish soap, krud killer. I think the brick is clean enough, but the mortar still looks pretty dark. What can I do to whiten it up? I'm guessing soot and smoke are the culprits.

Thanks!

[akck]

I saw on a HGTV show where they used oven cleaner to clean the brick. When you think about it, it's not a bad idea.

[Braunwyn]

Yea, I heard about oven cleaner as well. I wonder if it will work on the mortar.

[BigJon3475]

Oven cleaner is acidic. As long as it can take a dissolution of it's facade it'll be fine. My grandfather used to use WD40 to give brick that wet look so I guess it's all in the eye of the beholder.

[harry chickpea]

You might test a small area of the mortar with scrubbing a salt paste. Otherwise, you'll need to abrade the surface of the mortar to expose a fresh surface, then seal it to prevent a recurrence. The centers of the floor cleaning pads used on commercial floor scrubbers have a coarse scrubbing plastic that can be used with an electric drill and sanding disk mount, but you may find the home stores have something they would like to sell you to do the job.

[Cattknap]

I used Mr. Clean Eraser and it worked like magic. Rinse with clear water and dry. Then I applied some furniture polish - looked like a whole new fireplace.

[Braunwyn]

Originally Posted by harry chickpea

You might test a small area of the mortar with scrubbing a salt paste. Otherwise, you'll need to abrade the surface of the mortar to expose a fresh surface, then seal it to prevent a recurrence. The centers of the floor cleaning pads used on commercial floor scrubbers have a coarse scrubbing plastic that can be used with an electric drill and sanding disk mount, but you may find the home stores have something they would like to sell you to do the job.

That's an idea. I wonder if I should put a new, thin layer of mortar over it and seal it. There are a few cracks here and there and one of the bricks is loose. That's a pretty big project.

[K'ledgeBldr]

Here's the Brick Industry Association's guidelines for brick cleaning;
and the most commonly used and approved (by brick manufacturers) brick cleaner:

[Braunwyn]

I've seen mention of Sure Klean. I'll have to check the home depot to see if they have it.

Thanks for the advice everyone. Also, yesterday, as I was trying all these different products the two almost purple type bricks I cleaned now have this odd shine to them. I wasn't going for that. So, all the bricks are flat except for these two. Some kind of reaction happened there. I'm really tempted to paint the fireplace, but I know that can go badly if not done well.

[Remisc]

If I'm not mistaken, they sell Grout and Mortar cleaner at Lowe's and Home Depot. That should fix it up nice. I don't know what happened with the shine on the bricks, Braunwyn. This is why I had my brick fireplace torn out and replaced with a wood one.