Yes! the cave dwellers had fires, once they finally found out how they worked. Most probably by accident…

So what was it that lead to the fireplace screen being invented and
what was it that ancient cave dwellers experienced that they would have
needed a fire screen
for if only they thought of it instead of the troublesome experiences I
could only have imagined they had to go through without them.

Let’s find out…

Firescreen History

The fire screen
was developed early in the 19th century to prevent sparks from your
open fireplace from flying into the room, (yes sounds like it is much
needed…) and as people have different tastes they decided that giving
the rise to the ornamental designs, and also shaped to serve a
decorative as well as the functional purposes of the fire grate and even
fireplace smoke guard.

Yes… its called that too…

The fire screen
sheet as it was called, began as a form of furniture, yes furniture…
that acted as a shield between the occupants of the room and the
fireplace itself.

Its primary function was actually to reduce the discomfort of that
excessive heat coming out from the open log fire. Now early firescreens
were generally shaped as flat panels at that time, standing on attached
feet to keep it upright. Or as adjustable shield-shaped panels mounted
on tripod table legs.

And as Firescreens found their way into The Modern Home

They had transformed themselves, becoming decorative shields of wire
mesh, sheet metal, even glass. They were placed in front of a fireplace
opening protecting the room from the open flames and flying embers that
may be emitted by the fire.

And.. Fire screens themselves were even just used to cover the
fireplace when the fire was out, just make it look more decorative. From
three panel fireplace screens to the single panel fireplace screen.

I am sure the cavemen would have liked that…

Different Types of Fire Screens

The Pole Screen

This pole screen design began to appear in the 18th century.

Being a smaller screen than its counterparts, it was placed on a
vertical pole which was mounted on a tripod… sounds a bit confusing…
anyway, it was placed between a lit fire place and the occupants or
occupant in the room at the time, the screen could also be adjusted up
or down to shield the person’s face from the heat (what a good idea).

The screen started to take different shapes like a rectangular
design. Even more decorative shapes that could topple over if you
weren’t careful, and they were decorated with such things as lacquer
even embroidery, and we cannot forget paint.

The Three-Panel Fire Screen

This panel screen has two side panels angled away from the central
panel. It was an effective way of providing not only decoration in a
room it also covered the fireplace almost completely, adding to the
safety of the floor around it from any flying sparks that might find
their way out of the fireplace.

Well.. you never know when a sudden breeze comes flying into the room do you… hmmm.

The Horse Screen

Or cheval screen as it is also called (cheval being the French word for horse) yes, the French also had fireplace screens too…

They were in common use from the 18th century onwards. It was a
widescreen having two feet on each side of it, the arrangement of the
feet on the bottom of the screen giving the screen its name.

When this horse screen was placed in front of the unlit fireplace, it
also served a double purpose being a decorated screen that improved the
appearance of a room itself. These screens were also decorated with
such things as painted wood, stained glass to embroidery to paper maché.

They even went as far as carving designs in the framework and feet.

The Banner Screen

Now this banner screen was similar to a pole screen, yes it was… But
instead of a solid screen like the other screened for the fire, there
was a loose piece of silk or embroidery that was weighted down with
tassels on the lower edge like a banner, it is supported from the top
edge by a
crossbar connected to a pole, and I am sure that is why they called it the banner screen.

What Does A Fireplace Screen Do And Are Screens Necessary

Well…. after what we have talked about with all those fire embers
sparking up the fireplace and landing wherever. I should think that a fire screen is necessary, don’t you…

As we have discovered, the primary function of a fireplace screen is
to keep ash and embers from blowing into the room right. So if you have a
downdraft for instance,or if a drifting log, meaning a log that just
does not want to stay still. This disrupts the underlying embers…

Falling logs due to the disrupting of logs burning away can also be a
hazard to flying embers so a fireplace screen can only be functional
while you have that fire burning to keep the embers where they should
be.

After all.. do I need a fire screen?

I think that is answered for you now, when a fireplace is inside we
need to tame it so that the room keeps safe and clean… don’t forget the
clean part – it’s enough to have to clean out the ash of the fireplace
without having to think about the floor of the room.

Do You Need A Fireplace Screen With Gas Logs?

You would think that this question is a bit silly, but in fact no it isn’t, and this is why…

You should know that all gas fireplaces in fact, should have a
protective screen over the glass – really! all fireplaces are required
to as of January 1, 2015, as part of the new standards issued by the
American National Standards Institute.

And probably the rest of the world bar some countries that is but
we’re not going into finding all those places that don’t as it’s just to
much time to find out. Oh, there’s one, and another, and I did not
think that that country didn’t either.

No were not!

Does the Fireplace Screen Block Heat?

A reasonable enough question…

The fireplace screen never really gets very warm and yes it does
block quite a bit of the radiant heat. Well, you can’t have one thing
without the other, can you?

Not that you won’t be getting a heat, yes you will, but on the bright side the fire screen is there for protection and also might keep all the heat from entering the room but safety is the important thing here.

How Do You Clean A Fireplace Screen?

Yes… it does come down to having to clean a fireplace screen
sometimes, you can’t have all the good bits without some negatives when
it comes to the good old open fireplace.

So this is how you would clean a Mesh Fireplace Screen

• Wet a cloth with just water and use it to wipe down the front and back of the mesh screen firstly.
• After that go and rinse your cloth out and then add some dish soap to the cloth, not the screen, the cloth.
• Now go and rinse the mesh screen out by holding it under the tap either in the sink or outside.
• Dust
  the mesh screen in between your cleaning regime so that the soot does
  not build up as quickly and you don’t have to clean it so often.

How Do You Remove Rust From A Fireplace Screen?

Yes, at times the good old firescreen does tend to get some rust
creeping in the crevices especially if its made of metal like iron.

Now to clean it, brush a small amount of a phosphoric acid-based rust
remover over the entire surface of the screen, if needed only. Leave
the rust remover on the fireplace screen for about 10 minutes give or
take…

Then go and rinse the screen with fresh water to remove the product
so that it stops the cleaning process, then allow the screen to dry.

If at first you have not succeeded in getting all the rust of the
screen then have another go at putting some more cleaning agent on.

Common… find out more by the fires light