For centuries, a fireplace has been a sign of wealth and hospitality of the owners; it is this item that makes a home cozy and warm. Most people who have dachas and country houses, they make fireplaces in them so that you can relax and rest near an open fire, admire the beautiful flames and dream about beautiful things.

The classic option is an open fireplace insert; it is very popular among true connoisseurs of family values ​​and comfort. It is not always possible to make a fireplace with an open firebox in the house, so sometimes they do home fireplace with closed firebox. You can watch the beautiful flame of the fire through, such fireplaces are safe, since sparks will definitely not fall on the carpet or furniture and won't harm them.

How to care for a fireplace

Owners of a fireplace with a closed firebox have one problem that appears while using it. The glass of such a firebox gets very dirty from burning, which is why it needs to be washed frequently. Soot and soot will cling to the glass when any type of fuel(this could be gas or wood). It’s very rare that you can clean glass quickly and without much effort, and this spoils your mood. To start need to figure out the reason occurrence of soot.

Gas fireplace

Often, people who don’t like to waste time lighting wood don’t want to have to worry about cleaning the ash and prefer gas fireplace options. Such a fireplace does not need to be cleaned very often, since gas good quality should not stain the door. If soot appears, then it is worth looking for the reason in the wrong proportion gas and air that enter the combustion chamber, it is also worth checking the burners - they may become clogged, and the jets may be in the wrong position.

Read also: Installing a TV over a fireplace

Fireplace burning on propane

Soot appears near a fireplace running on propane for only two reasons. This may be due to an imbalance in the proportion of air and fuel, or the use of low-quality materials for the firebox. Incorrect gas/air ratio may occur subsequently due to debris jets or gas nozzles.

Glasses near wooden hearths become dirty much more often. Most of the soot appears from coniferous wood, since they contain large quantities of resin. If you systematically clean the chimney and open the damper, the glass will not become dirty so often, but it will still be. Owners of such fireplaces should know that they will have to clean the glass more than once. and this process will be labor-intensive.

In fireplaces that burn wood, when they burn, a sticky coating appears, which consists of soot and creosote; it is this that settles on the glass, after which it attracts particles of ash, which have to wash. Subsequently, the fireplace cannot cope with its main purpose, it begins to heat poorly, appearance becomes unattractive and the glass turns from transparent to cloudy. In such a situation, it is necessary to use a cleaning agent.

Selecting a Cleaning Product

To cope with very challenging task cleaning, you need to purchase a cleaning agent with a chemical composition. To clean any surface, modern world there are many compositions that makes the task much easier. To clean and care for your fireplace yourself, you can buy special paste and spray.

Cleaning is an essential part of using a stove or fireplace. It is recommended to do it at least 2 times a year. Usually this unpleasant moment is simply forgotten, which leads to serious problems with the stove and chimney. Previously, chimney sweeps were responsible for cleaning stoves, fireplaces and chimneys; now stove makers perform this honorable function.

If you have installed a heating stove in a private house or installed a fireplace, you need to remember that before the first heating in winter period It is best to clean the pipe from soot. You can always call chimney sweeps in Moscow and the region by phone listed on the website.

Before you start cleaning your stove or fireplace, you need to understand what is most often clogged.

Fireplace cleaning

A stove or fireplace, as a rule, is equipped with a special combustion chamber with a grate through which coals and ash fall. The formation of soot in the combustion chamber and under the grate occurs rather slowly due to the high temperature and the constant transfer of firewood, coal and ash. The soot simply does not have time to accumulate inside.

However, sometimes it is necessary to clean the grate from adhering soot, clean the tray for coals and ash, and also treat the chimney inlet. All these actions are usually carried out once a year. You can clean the fireplace with a regular metal or any other brush with stiff bristles. Currently, special chemicals for cleaning fireplaces are also sold.

Chimney cleaning

Unlike the fireplace itself, the chimney needs to be cleaned much more often, preferably 2-4 times a year. The thing is that the smoke released during the combustion of coal or wood settles on the walls of the chimney, forming a dense and very durable substance - creasote. Creazote is extremely flammable and can completely block the air flow in the pipe. The smoke will go straight into the room. Furnaces that are not cleaned for 2-3 years become completely clogged and are no longer suitable for use until they are cleaned.

In addition, soot and creazote are chemically very aggressive components. They not only clog the chimney, but also gradually destroy its walls. This is why it is so important to clean the chimney of a stove or fireplace from soot and creasote before firing the stove or fireplace for the first time in a year.

Chimney cleaning

Of course, the more often the chimney and fireplace are cleaned, the easier the procedure itself becomes. The soot does not have time to sinter into creazote and, as a result, is relatively easily cleaned off the walls. But this simple procedure requires a special tool.

The simplest device, known since the 18th century, is a metal brush with a heavy metal weight of 2-4 kilograms attached to its lower end. Cleaners are available in various sizes and shapes. Bristles of varying hardness are suitable for metal, brick or stone chimneys. Cleaners are available with various attachments.

Among modern methods When cleaning chimneys, it is worth highlighting electric cleaners, vacuum cleaners and other devices that help automate the cleaning process.

However, chimney cleaning has always been one of the dirtiest jobs around. In addition, it requires additional dexterity and dexterity to stay on a roof that is slippery from rain or snow. It is worth noting that cleaning the chimney is carried out before cleaning the stove or fireplace, since all soot and debris will fall down, clogging the grate and ash pan.

Cleaning products

Fortunately, modern chemical chimney cleaners can help clear creasote and soot from your chimney faster. The most widespread today are the so-called special logs for cleaning.

A mixture of chemically active components is packaged in a combustible briquette and looks like a small log. Sometimes it is called a "log chimney sweep." It can be placed directly in the fireplace or combustion chamber– it will burn just as well as real wood.

The substances released during the combustion of such a mixture destroy the structure of creasote and turn it into harmless smoke, helping to quickly clean the chimney naturally. Popular chimney cleaning chemicals can be used in combination with chimney brushes.

If the soot layer is small, then preventative cleaning stoves, you can use 1 briquette of fuel. By repeating the procedure every 3 months of active use of the stove or fireplace, you prevent the appearance of a thick layer of deposits on the walls of the chimney.

You can buy these products in specialized stores. Sometimes you can find other cleaning solutions, for example, liquid mixtures to dissolve soot on the walls of pipelines.

Today the owners country houses and dachas, fireplaces are very often installed, which are not only a source of heat, but also an excellent element of the interior. Like any other heating equipment, fireplace installations require careful maintenance, so it is important to know how to properly clean fireboxes and chimneys from soot and soot. And if we are talking about a closed fireplace with glass doors, then you need to take care of them too.

Cleaning the fireplace with a vacuum cleaner

Preparation

Cleaning the firebox and chimney is quite a dirty job, so you should wear rubber gloves before starting. You should start cleaning the firebox twelve hours after the last ignition. Cover the furniture with some material, such as film, and lay newspapers on the floor. This is necessary so that soot particles do not get on things and damage them.

The first thing you need to do is collect all the ash from the fireplace insert. You can use a spatula for this. Then you need to get a firewood stand or a special grate so that you can reach the most inaccessible areas of the fireplace. The inside of the firebox must be thoroughly cleaned of soot and ash; this procedure can be carried out using a vacuum cleaner.

The next step is cleaning the chimney.

Cleaning the grille

Cleaning the fireplace grate with a brush

After the fireplace is cleared of soot and ash, you need to thoroughly clean the firewood grate. To do this, you need to take ten liters of water and dilute 6 tablespoons of a product that is used to dissolve solid deposits of mineral origin. If you do not have such a composition, then you can use another: four liters of water and two hundred grams of bleach. The simplest and safest solution is a solution of equal amounts of vinegar and soda. Clean the grate from top to bottom. Apply one of the compounds to the surface and scrub thoroughly with a brush.

Once the soot has been removed, you can begin cleaning the surfaces. To do this, take a soft sponge and warm water. Wash the chimney, firebox and grate thoroughly, as well as the door and floor around the fireplace. After completing the procedure, place all the elements in their places.

Cleaning the fireplace glass

How to clean fireplace glass? The first question that arises before users. And this is not surprising, because fireplaces closed type needs to be cleaned much more often than open hearths. Cleaning procedures must be carried out regularly, because the slightest dirt will be immediately noticeable on the glass fireplace screen.

First you need to figure out: why does glass smoke in a fireplace?

There can be several reasons for the formation of dirt on the glass of the fireplace insert:

1. If the fireplace operates on gas fuel, then soot and soot indicate that the burners are clogged or the jets are not positioned correctly. All these shortcomings affect the fact that air and gas are correlated incorrectly and, as a result, soot settles on the inner walls of the firebox.
2. Units operating on propane are even more susceptible to the formation of dirt than gas fireplaces. And most often the main reason lies in low-quality fuel, clogged burners and damage to the regulator tank.
3. Fireplaces that use wood as fuel. Soot most often forms on the glass of such devices. This is usually due to the fact that coniferous trees are used as fuel. Another reason is the lack of holes for air intake.
4. Soot can also occur as a result of contamination in the gas exhaust pipe.

Soot on the glass of the fireplace

You need to search for the cause of contamination if you have to clean the glass of the fireplace from soot more often than once every 12-14 days.

To cope with the problem, you need to know how to clean the glass of the fireplace.

Fireplace glass cleaner - perfect solution this unpleasant situation. On sale today a large number of various chemicals, which will successfully cope with deposits of soot and soot.

When choosing a cleaning product, look at the composition: it should not contain any aggressive components that can damage the glass.

How else can you clean smoked fireplace glass besides special chemical compositions? You can use regular dishwashing detergent, but this will require some effort.

Another great tool is ammonia, which allows you to clean soot well.

The stages of cleaning glass with ammonia are as follows:

• you need to wait until the fireplace cools down, it is important that the door is cold;
• then you need to mix ammonia and water in a container, add a small amount of vinegar to the mixture. The resulting composition must be filled into a spray bottle;
• then simply spray the liquid on the glass and wipe it with paper napkins.

There are other methods for cleaning glass from soot:

1. The fire is lit at full power until the flame burns the soot deposited on the glass. This technology will not only effectively remove contaminants, but also allow you to maintain cleanliness in the chimney.
2. The next method is to lower the newspaper into water and then into the ashes at the bottom of the firebox. Then you need to apply it to the contaminated area and rub until the plaque is removed. After finishing the cleaning process, you need to wipe the glass with a dry cloth. It is worth noting that such a process is quite labor-intensive and time-consuming, but effective.

Complete the series simple rules and you will have to clean glass fireplace doors much less often:

1. Every time the fireplace stops working, you need to wipe the door. This way you can avoid the long-term routine cleaning of glass when soot accumulates.
2. To keep your glass as clear as possible, wash it regular soap. After each cleaning, apply soap to the glass. As soon as the fireplace heats up, all soap stains will dissolve and the glass will become transparent.
3. In order to cause the glass to form strong soot, fireplaces should be lit only with clean and dry wood.
4. When using the fireplace, use the “clean glass” method. It is based on the fact that a narrow slit needs to be made on top of the glass. When air penetrates through it, an invisible barrier will be formed that will prevent plaque from occurring. There is a door with similar holes on sale.

Knowing how to clean the glass of a fireplace from soot, you can get rid of dirt at any time.

Therefore, there is nothing difficult in cleaning a fireplace.

Today it is fashionable to install luxurious fireplace structures in the living rooms of country houses, which decorate the interior design and heat the room. Agree that it’s nice after a frosty winter day to spend warm evening surrounded by family, sitting near the hearth. But a fireplace, like any other equipment, requires maintenance. Owners of fireplace structures should know how and with what to clean the fireboxes and chimneys of fireplaces from soot. After all, over time, a substance settles on the inner walls, which has a tendency to spontaneously ignite. To protect your home, you need to regularly clean the fireplace with your own hands in the photo.

Preparation

Considering that cleaning the firebox and chimney is quite a dirty job, you need to protect your hands from excessive contamination. To do this, we use household rubber gloves. Cleaning work should begin no earlier than 12 hours after the last ignition. First you need to take care of protecting the furniture and flooring in the room. It is better to cover all furnishings with film and cover the floor with newspapers. To collect soot, prepare a large bucket and several garbage bags.

After the preparation is completed, you can proceed to work. First, we collect all the ash that has accumulated in the firebox. For these purposes it is necessary to use a spatula. Next, you should remove the firewood stand or a special grill to gain access to the farthest corners of the fireplace. It is necessary to thoroughly clean the inside of the firebox from ash and soot. It's better to use a vacuum cleaner.

Chimney cleaning

The process of cleaning a fireplace will not be complete if the chimney is not cleaned. To do this, you need to carefully inspect the smoke exhaust pipe. A thick layer of black plaque is soot that needs to be gotten rid of. To do this work yourself, it is recommended to use a brush with synthetic or natural bristles. To clean narrow places, you need to use a brush. In addition to soot, resinous substances are deposited in the chimney, which form a hard, uniform coating. You can use a spatula to remove resins from the pipe.

Cleaning the grill

After the basic cleaning of the fireplace from ash and soot, you need to clean the firewood grate. To do this, dilute 6 tablespoons of a product intended for dissolving solid contaminants of mineral origin in 10 liters of water. If such a product is not at hand, you can use another composition: dilute 200 grams of bleach in 4 liters of water. The simplest and safest is a mixture of vinegar and soda mixed in equal parts. Start cleaning the grate from top to bottom. One of these compounds and a brush will help thoroughly clean the surface of soot.

Final stage

Once the soot removal is completed, you can begin cleaning the surfaces. Use a soft sponge and warm, clean water. Thoroughly clean the chimney pipe, firebox and fireplace grate. Also remember to wash the door and the floor around the fireplace. To make metal parts shine, rub them after drying by special means. Then all the parts are installed in their places. Cain is ready for further use.

How to clean a fireplace with your own hands, watch the video.

We comply with safety measures

• Mixing chemical substances When cleaning the fireplace structure, be extremely careful. If ammonia or bleach is used, do not add vinegar to the solution. When mixed, these substances release harmful gases that can poison you.

• Considering that some connections may be dangerous, wear protective clothing and gloves when working. If necessary, goggles can be used to protect the eyes.
• If the cleaning solution accidentally gets on your skin, you should immediately wash it off with plenty of running cold water.

To summarize, we note that the process of cleaning a fireplace, although it is a dirty job, is quite possible to do it yourself. Before starting work, read the instructions and be sure to equip yourself with protective clothing and special tools. Step-by-step, unhurried completion of all stages of work will allow you to efficiently clean the fireplace from soot.

Many home and cottage owners use wood stoves and fireplaces for heating. Their effective and safe work impossible without good draft, which directly depends on the condition of the chimney. But with regular operation of furnaces, the pipes often become clogged with combustion products and mechanical blockages. They impair draft and make it impossible to use the stove. To prevent clogging, you need to clean your chimney regularly.

Don't forget to clean the chimney regularly

Causes of clogging

When the stove is operating, the fuel does not burn completely. The resulting smoke contains not only gas, but also dense soot particles. They accumulate in the smoke channel, forming a coating. Water vapor, also contained in the smoke, thickens it. A particularly dense layer forms on rough surfaces, on bends of chimneys and in their narrowings. It significantly worsens traction.

Another danger is posed by mechanical blockages that appear as a result of various debris, leaves and branches, and bird nests getting into the pipes. A layer of soot quickly forms on them. Such gaps can completely block the chimney.

Cleaning the chimneys of stoves and fireplaces from soot is carried out as follows: traditional methods and with the use of chemicals. The effectiveness of a particular method depends on the degree of pipe clogging and the density of the soot layer.

You can also clean the chimney with chemicals.

Traditional methods

It has long been known that well-dried firewood from deciduous trees: aspen, birch, and alder is most suitable for combustion in a stove. They have high heat transfer; wood does not form soot or soot when burned. Coniferous firewood contains a lot of resins, which are released during combustion and settle on the inner surface of the smoke channel.

Undried wood releases a lot of water vapor, which is absorbed by soot and contributes to the formation of a dense coating.

You can clean the chimney pipe from soot using aspen firewood. They have great heat transfer and create high temperature combustion. At the same time, the walls of the chimney heat up, the plaque loosens and burns. When burning aspen wood, you need to ensure that the chimney pipe does not overheat too much. This may cause a fire.

In this video you will learn how to clean a chimney:

Another way to clean soot from a chimney the folk way- burn potato peelings. When burned, they form substances that make the soot loose and allow it to be removed from the pipes. But if a solid blockage has formed, then it will not be possible to clean it using traditional methods. In this case apply chemical methods chimney cleaning.

Chemicals

There are a large number of different products available in stores for cleaning chimneys from soot. They are produced in the form:

• tablets;
• powders;
• liquids;
• briquettes

Usually drugs are sold packaged in single-use packages. They have a simple method of use: the package, without opening, is thrown into the fire of the oven. It must be burned together with firewood or separately. Detailed instructions can be read on the packaging.

Depending on the degree of pipe clogging, one or two bags are used. When chemicals work, the flame becomes colored green color. Under their influence, the plaque is destroyed and the soot quickly burns out.

Chimney cleaners made in the form of briquettes or pellets are especially effective. They are placed in a heated oven without removing the packaging. The oven is heated for 2 hours. During this period, the creosote and tree resins in the plaque decompose, large blockages break down and fall into the furnace. Small particles burn and fly away with the smoke. When the stove burns out and cools down, the condition of the chimney is checked through special holes.

For preventative maintenance, the chimney should be cleaned several times throughout the year. If the stove is lit once or twice a week, then cleaning can be done no more than 2 times a year. If the stove is heated daily, then it should be cleaned using chemicals once every 2 months to prevent the chimney from becoming overgrown.

Mechanical tools

If the chimney opening is severely narrowed or there is a large blockage there, then chemicals may be useless. In such a stove there is no draft, and the smoke goes inside the room. It is dangerous to use it, since deposits on the pipes burn out when exposed to strong heat, and a sheaf of sparks flies out, which can cause a fire. In this case it will help mechanical cleaning pipes It is produced using special tools. These can be a variety of scrapers, brushes, and brushes. To break through large and dense blockages, special cores are used. All this can be bought or made yourself.

There are several mechanical methods chimney cleaning

Chimney ducts are cleaned from top to bottom. The work is carried out in the following order:

• break through large blockages with a core;
• clean pipes using scrapers, brushes and ruffs;
• smoke ducts are cleaned through the doors;
• clean the dampers, firebox and ash pan.

Simple fireplace chimneys are cleaned from bottom to top with a brush on a long handle.

Cleaning technology

When carrying out work, safety rules must be observed. A ladder is installed on the roof and a safety net is attached that prevents a person from falling. A respirator is used during cleaning. Do-it-yourself chimney cleaning is done as follows:

1. Open the stove damper to prevent soot from accumulating, as this can increase the gap. The furnace ash and cleaning doors are closed so that soot does not fall on surrounding objects. The fireplace firebox is covered with a damp piece of cloth.
2. Remove the head from the chimney pipe and remove the soot with a scraper or brush on a long handle.
3. Places that cannot be reached with a scraper are cleaned using a brush on a flexible cable. It is launched into the chimney and carefully moved forward.
4. If the movement of the brush is hampered by a dense blockage, then it is pierced with a core. Do this carefully so as not to chip off the lining of the inside of the chimney.
5. After cleaning the pipes, soot is removed through the cleaning doors. The smoke channel is cleaned with a scraper. If the fireplace is equipped with a direct chimney, then there are no cleaning doors. In this case, the soot is removed directly from the firebox.
6. At the end of the work, clean the ash pan and firebox. For this purpose, it is convenient to use a vacuum cleaner with a disposable paper bag.
7. To check the draft, light the stove. If it is not restored, it means that the blockage has not been eliminated. It may be located in a hard-to-reach place, and you should call a specialist to remove it.

To facilitate the work of removing blockages, it is necessary to carry out preventive cleaning in a timely manner using chemicals or traditional methods. To avoid clogging the chimney, observe the following precautions:

1. Do not burn plastic bags, plastic film, wrapping paper or other waste in the oven.
2. Dried wood is used as fuel coniferous trees. At the end of the firebox, aspen firewood or chemicals for cleaning pipes are placed in the oven for prevention.
3. To prevent the appearance of condensation and moisture on the walls of the chimney, metal chimneys are insulated. Usually, ready-made pipes with a layer of insulation are used for this.
4. To prevent debris from entering the chimney, a cap is placed on it.

To prevent deterioration of draft in chimneys, they should be cleaned regularly. Cleaning is carried out using traditional methods, chemicals or using tools. Large blockages in the furnace are broken through with special cores on cables, and then the smoke channels are cleaned with scrapers.