How to Clean a Fire Pit: A Detailed Guide
Having a functional fire pit doesn’t only provide access to lots of delicious treats, but it also has mental and emotional benefits. According to scientific research, sitting around a fire can help with controlling blood pressure and evoke feelings of relaxation and comfort.
Sounds interesting? You can enjoy these fantastic benefits too if you have a fire pit set up in your outdoor or indoor area.
But the most important thing is to make sure that it’s perfectly functional by cleaning and maintaining it. If you want to know how to clean a fire pit so it’s always safe for use, read this article.
Cleaning a circular firepit is easier as there are no corners.
How to Clean a Fire Pit
Watching the flickering light of a fire, enjoying the coziness and warmth, and getting lost in the crackling sounds relieve stress and promote relaxation. Scientists link these feelings to humans’ evolution, as fire represented safety, where humans could cook food, ward off predators, stay after dark to interact, and live in dark and relatively safe places.
Today, sitting around a fire pit still evokes these feelings of warmth and safety, whether you’re sitting by yourself or with your loved ones. But neglecting to clean your fire pit and maintaining it can ruin your plans.
Luckily, we’ve prepared this easy-to-follow guide to help you clean your fire pit and keep it in perfect condition.
Materials Needed
- Leather and rubber gloves
- Safety glasses
- Dust mask
- Metal can
- Shovel
- Soft Cloth
- Vacuum cleaner
- Scrub brush
- Steel wool
- Towel
- Dishwashing soap
- Muriatic acid
- Garden hose
Steps
- Put on your gloves, glasses, and dust mask before you start cleaning.
- Ashes can smolder for days after your fire is out. Collect all debris in a shovel and toss them in the metal can. Add wood ashes to your soil if you want to make it slightly alkaline. (see creative ways to use fire pit ashes)
- Use the vacuum cleaner to clear all the debris.
- Add ½ cup of dishwashing soap to a 2-gallon bucket of hot water and use a scrub brush to scrub all the stuck debris.
- Use steel wool to scrub the metal bowl if it’s made of cast iron.
- If your pit is made of stone or masonry, use a solution of 1 part of muriatic acid and 9 parts of water for scrubbing. If it’s made of metal, use dishwashing soap for cleaning.
- Rinse the fire pit using the garden hose and dry it with a towel. Make sure that the cast iron bowl is dry because it’s prone to rust.
- Leave your fire pit to air dry.
Chemical Free Fire Pit Cleaning Tip
Try using vinegar plus baking soda rather than muriatic acid.
- mix same amount or part of baking soda with vinegar
- allow it to sit over night
- Use a water pressure jet and rinse well
Fire Pit Cleaning Tips
Follow these tips to keep your fire pit in top condition.
- Give your fire pit a thorough cleaning once a year if you use it only in winter or twice a year if you use it all year long. If the fire pit is portable, store it away.
- Use a cover to protect your fire pit from the elements when it’s not used.
- Don’t start cleaning the fire pit while it’s still hot because the sudden temperature change can crack metal and masonry surfaces.
- Check all the fasteners and connections before using your fire pit.
- Avoid using accelerants like gasoline in a wood-burning fire pit because they will weaken its construction and increase creosote build-up.
The will be slightly different steps to cleaning the grill plate, and dutch oven.
These methods work for
- copper fire pit
- iron fire pit
- wood-burning fire pit
- masonry fire pit
- stone fire pit
- metal fire pits
For gas and smokeless fire pit, there is extra care needed and we will cover these in a different article.
How often do you need to clean a fire pit?
Cleaning your fire pit guarantees that it will always be safe and ready for use. You should clean your fire pit once or twice a year, depending on how often you use it. If you have a big group over for a cookout and party then it might be worth cleaning your firepit after that also. The reason is that there will be lots of fat and food scraps that can attract animals and bugs.
Another good tip or trick is – how to actually make soap from your fire pit ashes.