Painting a fireclay Fireback?

[trojan0852]

There's no fire installed, but I don't want to block the fireplace up. Left with a dirty, discoloured fire back.

Thinking of cleaning and painting it. In case a fire is installed later, I figure the paint should be heat-resistant, non-toxic etc. Can't find any mention of doing such a thing. Is it a stupid idea? If not, what should I use? Thoughts please.

 

[noseall]

Paint it black then let the fire burn it off should you have one later on. Any other colour will end up discoloured by the soot bleeding through.

It does sound a bit naff though. Firebacks are meant to look sooty.

If you want a fresh paintable surface then remove the old back altogether and re-line the aperture, then paint.