All About Fireplace Tools - What Are Those Things Used For?

A fireplace is an excellent source of warmth and a cozy and welcoming home addition. Fireplaces remind us of hearth and home, family, traditions, holidays and other great things. A fire doesn't just appear in your fireplace, though. You also have to work to maintain the fire and the fireplace itself. You may have seen those silly-looking tools that hang out near your own fireplace. What are those silly-looking things used for? Let's take a closer look...

Pokers

Fireplace pokers have been around for years and there are three different kinds of poker designs - the single poker design, the closed weave design and the twisted rope design. Fireplace pokers used to be made of wood; nowadays they are made of steel, wrought iron, or solid brass. A decent poker has to be sturdy, solid and have either a sharp end or a hook end. The difference between a sharp-ended poker and a hooked poker is that the sharp ended ones push logs around while the hooked pokers pull logs around a fireplace. Most handles for pokers are short and sturdy, although, some of them are long, too. The main duty that fireplace pokers have is to be able to move logs and firewood around so that you don't burn yourself.

Shovels and Brooms

Fireplace shovels and brooms have a very important duty when it comes to fireplaces. There are two styles of shovels - Tampico brushes and corn brooms. Tampico brushes differ from corn brooms because they are heat-resistant. Tampico bristles are also different from corn brooms because they are made from a Mexican plant called, 'Agave plant.' Corn broom bristles, however, are made of corn stalks. The Tampico brush is more used than the corn broom but, in most wrought iron sets, the corn broom is used. They are both easily replaced if they become tattered. The main duty of fireplace shovels is to clean up the ashes when a fire is burnt out. It is very important that the ashes are cleaned up or it could be dangerous.

Tongs

Fireplace tongs are also good to have when it comes to fireplaces. Like the shovels, they have two styles - the scissor tongs and the clawed tongs. The scissor tongs have two handles with the shaft connect in the center and two prongs at the end to grab logs with. The clawed tongs, however, have three finger-like prongs that are used to grab logs. Both are popularly used, but the clawed tongs are found mainly in the wrought iron sets.

Bellows

A bellows is that funky, accordion-looking thing. This popular fireplace tool is used to aid in boosting the fire combustion by circulating air. Fire breathes! The expandable bladder-accordion-looking part-forces air from the bladder into the flames. Most commonly these are triangular in shape with handles in the back for expanding and contracting the bladder and the air outlet at the front. These can be made from many different materials from wood to vinyl to leather. Antique bellows are known to be rather beautiful and intricate in their design.