If you have soot on the outside of the fireplace, you probably have the damper set wrong. In any case, after cleaning out all the ashes, I scrub the bricks with a stiff brush and warm sudsy water. After a good cleaning, I usually wipe the bricks down with with furniture polish. The cleaning lasts for months. 😇💖
I think the new waterless cleaners are the way to go..... when you use water you can open yourself up to efflorescence - mineral salts in brick/stone or mortar that creates a powdery salt deposit very hard to get rid of....
Every time I clean my mirrors, they end up having tons of streaks and almost look worse than before I started. What could I use to clean them that won't leave streaks...
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If you have soot on the outside of the fireplace, you probably have the damper set wrong. In any case, after cleaning out all the ashes, I scrub the bricks with a stiff brush and warm sudsy water. After a good cleaning, I usually wipe the bricks down with with furniture polish. The cleaning lasts for months. 😇💖
This one makes it seem like you will die a chemical death if you dont use the product.
http://tips.simplygoodstuff.com/cleaning-fireplace-soot-from-brick-or-stone/
These are all a workout but...
http://www.housecleaningcentral.com/en/cleaning-tips/living-area/how-to-clean-brick.html
https://www.brick-anew.com/cleaning-brick-fireplaces.html
https://www.wikihow.com/Clean-Fireplace-Bricks
...at least this one offers safe alternatives to chemicals
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/how-to-clean-a-brick-fireplace-with-all-natural-cleaners-apartment-therapy-tutorials-216668
And this link is to the search I did so you can see all the other how-tos:
https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?p=how+to+clean+brick+fireplace&ei=UTF-8&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-002
I think the new waterless cleaners are the way to go..... when you use water you can open yourself up to efflorescence - mineral salts in brick/stone or mortar that creates a powdery salt deposit very hard to get rid of....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMMIculvNGw