A Guide to Cleaning Your Fireplace

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Love it or hate it, fall is now upon us, which means the inescapable shadow of Old Man Winter is right around the corner for much of the country. No matter how you feel about it, this does mean a lot of preparations have to be done around the house, which goes double for anyone lucky enough to have a fireplace to enjoy while the snow falls outside. If you need some tips on how to get started getting your fireplace ready for the winter, we’re here to help!

 

Stock Up on Wood

Firewood always gets a little harder to come by in wintertime, so now would be a good opportunity to stock up and make sure you’ve got as much as you need or want to save a lot of time, effort, and money later. And look at it like this – if you accidentally over-buy, you can use it next summer for wiener roasts!

 

Clean Off the Mantel

Fireplace mantels are a great way to add some accent and decoration to your fireplace (and the entire room) but being right next to a fire means they tend to get a little dirty. If you need to get soot off your mantel, remove all of the decorations from on top first and then gently run a vacuum cleaner with a brush attachment over the surface. After that, take some all-purpose cleaner (like a ‘green’ type, or foaming bathroom cleaner), grab a wet towel, and scrub away!

 

Check Out Your Chimney

This might not be much fun, depending on how you feel about ladders, but it’s a pretty important stop all the same. Check out your chimney or exhaust pipe to make sure it’s not clogged up with soot, ash, or even bird’s nests! (Don’t feel bad – they’ll understand when you have to move them!)

 

Give the Fireplace Room to Breathe

You’ve probably rearranged your family room a little bit since the last time you used your fireplace, so now’s the time to re-rearrange it if you need to! Fireplaces need a lot of open space around them to prevent any potential fire, so try to move any obstructions off to the side and far enough away to avoid issue.

 

Follow our handy advice and your fireplace should be good and ready to keep your family toasty and warm all through the winter!