Can I clean my fireplace by salting the wood while it is burning?

Can I clean my fireplace by salting the wood while it is burning?

Q: Jason – Can I clean my fireplace chimney the easy way and just pour salt on the logs during a burn? – TW

A: TW, No, Where do rumors like this come from? I have heard this before but it is not true. Salt added to your fireplace wood during a burn does not help clean your fireplace.

Personally, I use my fireplace about 6 times per year. I clean it myself with a brush every 2 years (in the summer) and have a chimney sweep come and do it every 4 years. But that is a fireplace that gets very little use.

I have used the chimney sweep logs every once and a great while, but they really only help to a small degree to make your creasote less flammable. They certainly don’t hurt but my opinion is they are falsely advertised if they say they “clean” your chimney.

There is nothing like a good chimney scrubbing every so often. – Jason

Do Chimney Sweep Logs work?

Q: Jason – I bought a Fireplace Chimney Creosote Sweep Log. You burn it like another log and it is supposed to release fumes to loosen creosote in the chimney. Do those things really work? – FW

A: It would be unfair to say that the chimney sweep type logs make no difference in your fireplace chimney. They, in fact, make such a small difference that it is almost imperceivable. But they do have a very effective marketing strategy. I don’t recommend them as maintenance items for fireplace chimneys. The chimneysweep type logs tend to give a homeowner a false sense of proper maintenance on sweeping their chimney. Nothing beats a good old brush scrubbing and inspection. – Jason