Cleaning tour open fire

[mypropertea]

How do you clean your open fire? Mine has been full of ash since Christmas, I just swept it... What now?

In my defence, we only had it 5 years

When was the chimney last swept and was the fire used much after that? Do you need to polish a cast iron surround? I'd clean out the ash and set it up for the next fire, but not if it will be ages before you plan to light one.

It has been used about 10 times since sweeping. It is cast iron. I guess I want to know if it needs any special treatment?

Zebo grate polish? You can buy it in the supermarket or ironmongers. It's black grate polish in a tube.

There won't be much in the way of soot but there could be nests or other debris dropped in the top.

(We didn't sweep ours out until July ;-) )