I have a hearth that is made of unpolished stone. What is the best way to clean the surface?

Question

It's not terribly grimy or stained, but it is a little dirty. I am not sure what cleaning materials to use on it because it is rough. I don't want it to look worse after having attempting to clean it.

Answer 1

My fireplace is a rough, unpolished limestone and I use a bucket of warm water mixed with 1/2 cup of Borax and scrub with a brush. Borax won't hurt the stone and is inexpensive (it's a box of powder found in the laundry aisle). The box is green and says 20 Mule Team Borax and should be around stain removers. It's great for so many things the box won't be wasted. Try it on laundry stains too.

Answer 2

You don't say what the stain is, and maybe you don't know. I would guess that it is creosote. If true, it's like a tar so paint thinner, or bug and tar remover might work. Kerosene too. I would test a small area out of eyesight first and see if what you use leaves a stain. You may have to make more than one cleaning. For something a little better smelling, since it's inside, I would try a citrus based creosote remover. I just did a quick search and found this

http://www.acshomeandhearth.com/

I've never used the stuff and don't work for the company. You can probably find similar products locally. They tend to be lemon or orange based so even if they don't work it will not stink up your house.

Depending upon the texture of the stone you may use a wire brush. If the stone is sedimentary stone you may wear away some of the surface, but it would be clean. I don't think I would use a wire brush on marble or granite since it may leave unnatural swirls, which will not come out.

You can buy a sealer for the stone which may help in the future for cleaning, but if you do that you would not want to wear off the sealant at future cleanings. I believe most / all polished stone is sealed - like granite counter tops.

This describes creosote

http://www.speedywhite.com/CreosoteRemov...

Again I know nothing about the product.

If it's not creosote then I've wasted your time and I do apologize. Creosote looks brown to black in color. The older telephone poles and railroad ties are coated in it.

Lastly I recommend that you think about why the stain is there. Again this applies mainly to creosote. If you have it on the area around your fireplace that probably means that air from your fireplace, which should be going up your flue. This may mean that smoke is coming into your house. If you already smoke that may not be a big concern, but I've recently learned that living with a wood burning inside heat source is like living with a smoker on the days you use it.

Not all chimneys draw (the smoke up) well. This tends to happen more with shorter chimneys and when the chimney cools down and when low pressure systems come in. I'm not a professional on any of this so use the advice with your own good discretion or consult a professional.

I always hated gas fireplaces, but we have one now and since I've learned about the dangers of wood fireplaces from my doctor I love the thing. They look a lot better than the old ones in the middle of the Pizza Hut dinning room.