• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

How To Clean Stuff.net

  • Automotive
  • Fabrics
  • Floors
  • House
  • Kitchen & Bath
  • Misc
  • Outdoors
  • People & Pets
  • Stains
  • Blog
  • Ask a Question
Home » Cleaning Guides » House » Surfaces » How to Clean Brick

How to Clean Brick

Table of Contents:
  1. Cleaning Brick Over Carpets
  2. Using a Home Remedy
  3. Using Commercial Cleaners
  4. Cleaning Severely Stained Brick
  5. Cleaning Fireplace Brick
  6. Additional Tips and Advice

Brick has a tough reputation, but it is easily damaged by harsh cleaning. When cleaning your interior brick surfaces, always start with the mildest method and work upward until you achieve the desired result. What follows are several methods, each one a bit more aggressive than the previous. Start with the first and work your way up.

Cleaning Brick Over Carpets

Wrap a painter’s drop cloth around the base of the brick and tape it in place with a weak tape like masking tape. Do not use duct tape or you may later have to remove adhesive residue. Painter’s drop cloths are available at most supermarket and hardware stores for a couple dollars. This will protect your carpet from getting wet as you clean the brick. Once the carpet is covered, clean the brick with one of the methods below.

Using a Home Remedy

You Will Need:

  • Borax (usually found in the laundry aisle)
  • Bucket
  • Warm water
  • Scrub brush (coarse bristles)
  • Cleaning rags
  • Rubber gloves

The Cleaning Process:

  1. In your bucket, add about 1 tablespoon of borax to one gallon of warm water.
  2. Wearing your rubber gloves, dip your scrub brush in the cleaning solution and scrub the surface of the brick.
  3. When you’re done scrubbing, rinse away the solution with a rag dipped in warm water.

Using Commercial Cleaners

You Will Need:

  • Rubber gloves
  • Commercial cleaner (see suggestions below)
  • Cloth or paper towels
  • Water

The Cleaning Process

  1. There are several cleaners on the market that work well for cleaning brick. For general cleaning and stain removal, Nature’s Miracle Hard Floor Cleaner works well. It  is an enzyme cleaner that will eat up any dirt or bacteria from the surface and then dry without any washing or scrubbing needed. It is available in the pet aisle of most supermarkets or at most major pet stores. Be sure to test it on a small hidden area first, then follow the instructions on the label to use it.
  2. Another cleaner that can work is Rutland Brick & Stone Cleaner. Although primarily sold for use on fireplace brick, it can work to remove general dirt as well. Follow the instructions on the label to use it.
  3. If the brick is particularly dirty, wipe it with a cloth after a few minutes to remove the dirt that the cleaner has lifted.
  4. Once the brick is clean, we recommend wiping it down with a damp cloth to remove any residue from the sealer as the residue may cause the brick to attract dirt more quickly in the future.

Cleaning Severely Stained Brick

This is your method of last resort. Trisodium Phosphate (sold in most home improvement and hardware stores) is a hazardous chemical, and you should wear heavy duty rubber gloves and safety goggles when using this product. Avoid getting this solution on anything except the brick, including skin, flooring, carpeting, and furniture. For more information regarding hazards associated with TSP is available online.

You Will Need:

  • Large bucket
  • Trisodium Phosphate (TSP)
  • Hot water
  • Scrub brush (coarse bristles)
  • Cleaning rag
  • Goggles
  • Heavy duty rubber gloves

The Cleaning Process:

  1. Making sure you are wearing your protective gear, in your bucket, mix about 1/2 cup of TSP with 1 gallon of hot water.
  2. Dip your scrub brush in the solution and scrub the brick.
  3. When done scrubbing, rinse the area thoroughly with hot water, using the cleaning rag.
  4. If stains remain, you may scrub again, increasing the TSP to 1 cup per gallon of hot water. NOTE: This will be a VERY strong and abrasive solution! Be careful not to get it on yourself or anything else, except the brick!

Cleaning Fireplace Brick

To clean brick that is part of a fireplace and has soot stains, use the guide How to Clean a Brick Fireplace.

Additional Tips and Advice

  • To avoid damage to your brick, always try the mildest method of cleaning first, and graduate step by step to more aggressive cleaning methods until you find one that works.
  • Never apply sealant or waterproofing to any brick surface; brick needs to breath and applying any such substance to your brick will ultimately ruin it.
  • Your brick surfaces should be dusted and vacuumed regularly to lessen the frequency of heavy duty cleaning.
  • No matter what cleaning method you are using ALWAYS keep your work area well-ventilated to avoid the ill-effects of fumes from your particular cleaning solution.
  • For heavy patches of grime or burnt material on brick fireplaces, oven cleaner may be an effective alternate cleaning method.

Filed Under: Cleaning Guides, Surfaces Tagged With: brick

Was This Guide Helpful?

+38
-2
Rating: +36. From 40 votes.
Please wait...
  • If you would like a response from us, please leave your question in the comment area at the bottom of this page instead of here.

Reader Interactions

Related Posts

How to Clean Mortar Mix Dust off of Brick
How to Remove Baby Bumper Adhesive from Brick
How to Remove Blood Stains from Brick
How to Remove Plastic Residue from Wood

Comments

  1. Larry says

    October 31, 2014 at 2:04 pm

    How do I clean the water damage (white powdery efflorescence) on the surface of only a section of an old brick house due to water from a window-mounted AC?

    Would appreciate your comments…Larry

    Reply
    • Melanie says

      November 7, 2014 at 4:33 pm

      Larry,
      I left a lengthy comment on the post How to Clean, Seal and Polish a Brick Driveway about removing efflorescence from brick. See it here. Hope it helps!

      Reply
  2. Laurie says

    November 4, 2015 at 8:24 am

    I have an interior brick foyer. When the walls and ceiling were primed, paint got on a quarter of the bricks. Any idea how to clean this and maybe polish them? Using a pressure washer indoors is not an option.

    Check it out! We’ve answered your question! Yay!

    Reply
  3. Sue says

    July 22, 2015 at 10:21 am

    I have a brick wall around our fireplace that has water damage from a leak. Do I still use these methods to clean the brick back to normal?

    Reply
  4. Chris says

    July 11, 2015 at 1:33 pm

    How do I clean motor oil from vandalism? It’s been on the exterior of my brick for a small period of time. Any suggestions would be great!

    Reply
    • Melanie says

      July 13, 2015 at 5:54 am

      Chris,
      This is the article that you need: How to Clean Automotive Fluid Spills.

      Reply
  5. Gaynell says

    May 9, 2015 at 3:12 pm

    I need to clean whiskey and coke off my brick wall that’s been there for years. Any tips?

    Reply
    • Melanie says

      May 11, 2015 at 6:14 pm

      Gaynell,
      Try using an enzyme cleaner that is safe for brick, such as Nature’s Miracle Hard Floor Cleaner. Follow the directions on the label of your selected cleaner. Since the stain is old, it may take a couple applications to remove it fully.

      Reply
  6. Ric says

    June 20, 2014 at 2:47 pm

    Try this!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Featured Guides

Fresh Strawberries

How to Wash Strawberries

How to Properly Clean and Protect Hands from Coronavirus

How to Clean Hair and Dust from a Bathroom Floor

How to Clean Your Toothbrush

Related Posts

How to Clean Mortar Mix Dust off of Brick
How to Remove Baby Bumper Adhesive from Brick
How to Remove Blood Stains from Brick
How to Remove Plastic Residue from Wood

Footer

Cleaning Index

  • Cleaning Blog
  • Automotive
  • Clothing & Fabrics
  • Floor & Carpet
  • House
  • Kitchen & Bath
  • Outdoors
  • People & Pets
  • Things You Own

Site Search

About Us

  • About Us
  • Guest Post Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Accessibility Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Ask a Question
  • Contact Us
  • Site Map

© Copyright 2022 HowToCleanStuff.net · All Rights Reserved ·