Fireplace help

[Marmitelover55]

We have this Victorian fireplace in our soon-to-be snug. It has lovely blue tiles, a black marble top and tortoiseshell surround. Anyone have any ideas about how to clean up the very dirty/sooty tortoiseshell please? Thanks.

Hi there - I'll be happy to try to help, but your photo is too dark to make out any detail. I may be wrong and am prepared to be corrected, but I have never heard of a tortoiseshell fireplace - surely it was used on smaller decorative items? It is much more likely to be marble or wood with a paint effect.

What does the material (the 'tortoiseshell') feel like to the touch? Is it cold, does it feel warm/room temperature? Please post a better photo. I suspect it is dark red/brown marble, but I cannot tell.

Actually by pointing phone at the window I think I can see which bit you mean, but it's just not clear.

YY, I would say that is a form of marble rather than tortoiseshell - a better (close up) photo would help...

Thanks - will post another close-up when I get home.

Here is a close up and another of the whole thing. The tortoiseshell bit does feel like marble, although the lighter bits feel smoother, so maybe the darker bits are painted? It is the bit directly under the mantelpiece which is most dirty. Thanks.

I suspect it is all marble with decorative highly veined marble inserts, especially with the mantelpiece being marble because it would have to be something sturdy to support the weight.

Marble is porous and can be affected by acidic things so I would suggest to start of with you warm soapy water - no strong chemicals just a little washing up liquid - and scrub it and dry it off as you go. Then get a clean, damp cloth to buff it. You might need to give it several goes if it's really dirty.

On the tortoiseshell look panels, I'd clean a bit first and see how it comes up - if it is something other than marble you can stop and re-evaluate what to do and you won't have damaged it or made it look significantly different from the other panels.

Once you've got it clean you can get marble polish to protect it. Don't put your glass of red wine on the mantel or the hearth though - you could mark the marble!

On the cast iron use a wire brush and some black lead polish (it doesn't have lead in it). Buff with a soft cloth.

Thank you very much wowfudge - I will give this a go.

Post some photos when you've done it!