How to clean exposed internal brickwork?

TREE

I have opened the fire place and had the plaster all taken off the wall and left the brickwork exposed. There was a massive crack going all the way down and had the bricks replaced and it looks lovely.
The problem is now, you can tell the newness with the bricks, but it had to be repaired.

I need to clean the bricks up and not sure what to use for the best results? Is there anything I can buy that will seal the bricks but looks like nothing has been used?
I want it to look as natural as it can and no shine on it at all?

Many thanks for any help in advance....

Furts

Brick acid is used for cleaning bricks but this is intended for removing mortar and concrete - basically cement based products. Plaster is gypsum so I will pass on this other than suggesting washing and scrubbing - plaster will come off if you are careful. But you will not end up with a perfect job that cannot be spotted by eye - here you are asking the impossible. Patched brickwork will show, even the mortar will show.

My greater concern is the "massive crack". You may have patched the brickwork but have you cured the underlying problem that created this? Only you know if use of the fire and chimney will cause the massive crack to re-appear.

Hope this helps.

MisterBaxter

I am going to assume that the crack was dealt with properly; if it wasn't then you have bigger problems.

I think to clean the brickwork it is going to be down to using a hard-wire brush and copious amounts of free elbow grease; even then I'm not sure how clean you'll get it looking. Externally sand blasting will get bricks looking clean and uniform but that isn't going to be practical internally.

There are coatings that can be used on brickwork; I've used them mainly in the communal areas of flats primarily to provide an anti-graffiti surface; they end up with a slightly matt glaze that takes away some of the 'roughness' of the bricks but it will depend on the type of finish you want; it doesn't in my opinion detract from the look of the brick. The stuff I specified was from a company called Tor but there are others out there. Shopfitters may be able to offer a solution as the brick effect seems quite popular in pubs, restaurants and shops.

vansboy

I've used the Swarfega product , but maybe some the others may be ok for you

http://www.screwfix.com/c/auto-cleaning/outdoor-cleaning/cat8820001?cm_sp=managedredirect-_-cleaning-_-brickcleaner

VB