Cleaning bricks

[charlotte05]

I have recently opened up an old fire place and wish to make a feature of it. Unfortunately the brickwork is blackened with soot. What is the best way to remove this, and is there a product on the market that does this job?

[spudqueen]

It might be worth getting the chimney swept - look in yellow pages for chimney sweeps, as if there is a lot of soot it may not have been swept before being blocked up, and you don't want more soot falling down after you've cleaned the bricks! Also the sweep may know the best way to clean the brickwork.