Another question about exposed brick:

We own a 100 year old structural brick house. The bricks are solid and very soft. The previous owner removed most of the plaster in the main part of the house. We’re currently redoing the kitchen and have removed all the plaster, drywall, etc. in there as well.

The exposed brick still has plaster on it. It also has stains from where the seam between the main house and kitchen wasn’t properly flashed (now fixed) and dirty water leaked down the wall for years. Any ideas on how to get the brick clean(er)? Is that acid-based masonry cleaner okay for old, soft brick? Will it do anything to remove the plaster still on the brick surface?

-Dee