Soapstone fireplace stripping

I managed to strip about 5 layers of different colored paint off my fireplace. The soapstone looks great but I’m having a hard time with the summer cover. Parts of it are grey and other small patches are black but it’s not paint so I’m assuming some kind of grate polish that was removed during the stripping process. We have the same fireplace in the bedroom and it was never painted. The surround and summer cover are black but not painted so I’m confused about the living room cover and if I went too far with the stripper? Why is it grey when unstripped versus the bedroom one. I’m thinking of applying grate polish but having a hard time finding it. If anyone has any suggestions about what to do I’d appreciate it. Thanks!

murphy84

in About Brooklyn 9 years and 7 months ago

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murphy84 | 9 years and 7 months ago

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thanks everyone for the information. i’ve attached a picture of the type of fireplace (this is not the cover i mentioned above). at first i thought it was slate but someone else told me it was soapstone upon seeing a picture. what do you guys think?

hancockone | 9 years and 7 months ago

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The summer cover should be cast iron. I took mine to Ever-Nu metal finishing in Midwood and had them sandblasted down to bare metal and powder coated with a baked enamel finish. Any color you want, I had mine painted ivory to match my white marble mantle. They will also sandblast it down to the bare iron and clear coat. The metal is kind of a graphite or gun metal gray, which might be a nice match for your slate/soapstone fireplace.

BobMarvin | 9 years and 7 months ago

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Assuming the summer cover is metal, why not paint it an appropriate color if the color is uneven?

NeoGrec | 9 years and 7 months ago

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I doubt your fireplace is made of soapstone — more likely, it’s slate.

nyc_sport | 9 years and 7 months ago

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Soapstone darkens with age. The paint may have affected the darkening process. Also certain substances (e.g., mineral oil) give it a darker appearance and speed the darkening process. Soapstone is extraordinarily impervious, so unless there is something on the surface it is unlikely to have been absorbed. The coloration may be natural to the stone. You could try applying mineral oil to the entire cover to darken the lighter areas. If you think there is some residue on the surface, wet sand it — that is the usual way to take scratches out of soapstone. It won’t harm the stone — use some 150 grit, and then 220 or higher.

Arkady | 9 years and 7 months ago

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Not sure but the black patches might be ‘stove black’ – a kind of heat-resistant polish. You can buy it at Lowe’s & HD I think & it would probably take care of bringing the whole thing back to black.