In loving memory of Kenis D. Keathley 6/4/81 - 3/27/22 Loving father, husband, brother, friend and firewood hoarder Rest in peace, Dexterday

Cleaning your stove glass

Discussion in 'Modern EPA Stoves and Fireplaces' started by HDRock, Nov 11, 2015.

  1. Norky

    Norky

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    For daily cleaning while the stove is hot, I use fine steel wool and it works great. Used it at least twice a week last winter and there are no scratches.
    For a good cleaning when the stove is cold, I use either soft scrub or stove top cleaner. Doesn't seem to be a lot of difference between the 2.
     
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  2. yooperdave

    yooperdave

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    Has anyone else noticed that when very dry wood is used for burning, there is hardly any buildup on the stove glass?
     
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  3. wildwest

    wildwest Moderator

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    x2 on the wood stove, except on my pellet stove, I tend to run it on low alot, and it still soots up regardless of the uber dry pellets, then clears up a bit when on a higher setting.
     
  4. HDRock

    HDRock

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    A most paper towel dipped in ash on a warm stove, contrary to popular belief will not crack or break your glass,
     
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  5. HDRock

    HDRock

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    Small loads give me the most trouble with build up, full loads burning hot there's nothing there
     
  6. yooperdave

    yooperdave

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    Oh yeah. Pellet stoves. The dark side of wood burning. Forgot about those.
     
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  7. Mag Craft

    Mag Craft

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    The only time I see a haze on the glass is when the stove is not drafting good on start up. If I crack the front door open or a window then no issues. Once the heat starts to build up in the stove it creates its own draft and then I can close everything with no issues. When it starts to get really cold out into the single digits then the draft gets really good and no need to open anything. I see very little haze on the glass by following that and what does show comes off really easy.
     
  8. ranger bob

    ranger bob

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    Absolutely Dave! In fact we've been using our new Regency F5100 and only using 3 or 4 splits due to warm outside temps in 20's. With 2 year old wood there is a slow build up of brownish creosote that covers over half the glass and radiates out from each bottom corner. Tried a piece of Canadian Tire money in both corners when cold and could wiggle them back and forth and pull them through with some effort required. Switched over to 4 year old wood after a good cleaning yesterday and it was about half as bad but still there. It may have to do with not filling up with a full load of splits but that would turn our place into a dry sauna. Bottom line - 4 yr old maple burns cleaner than 2 year old maple. Both are probably ok.
     
  9. bobdog2o02

    bobdog2o02

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    0000 Steel wool does a great job for me. I have some coarser stuff if it gets real bad but it 0000 does a nice job of buffing it out.
     
  10. ranger bob

    ranger bob

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    Yup, we've always just took a dampened paper towel and touched it into the fly ash and used it to remove the creosote or whatever. Now with the big Regency F5100 and mild, damp 20-35 degree days and nights it has become a little more difficult. Seems like the big stove with loads comprised of about 4 pieces and low draft once it gets temp gauge up to about 3/4 area and then draft closed about 90% it burns away for 5 or 6 hours but the outside bottom areas really muck up big time. The black can be burned of if so desired but the brownish stuff really bonds to the glass. Saw a post where the suggestion was to use the glass stove top cream stuff and finish off by polishing it with it. It really helps. Now with some elbow grease it comes off and then polish it again and repeat. If winter ever gets here this year or in 2016 the loads will increase and I expect we'll have the brownish stuff as a permanent situation. I guess we could just shrug it off but we both have always wanted a clear view of the fire. Our old Napoleon 1400p was fun to watch with the secondary burn flames swirling away and so on. Our old bods do not deal well with cold anymore so running the new cat/hybrid hot will not be an issue with us. I will just have to watch the temp thing on top and keep it below the max area. It runs about 75-80% of the way now and throws 'beaucoup de chaleur' in the words of my wife's ancestors. Not sure what the Irish is for that?
     
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  11. FatBoy85

    FatBoy85

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    Tinte Ifrinn.
     
  12. BDF

    BDF

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    I use a razor blade to scrape anything solid off the glass and then the Rutland cleaner on paper towels to remove the last of the haze. It works very well.

    But over time, the glass does etch and leaves a haze that eventually looks like a white cloud in the glass, just like the earlier poster showed in that photo. I have tried to buff it out using glass polish (an abrasive but I do not know which one) and while it works OK, it takes a long time and for me, did not bring the glass back to new. It takes a new piece of glass to do that. As I remember, it was not all that expensive for an Ideal Steel as they use rectangle glass, and two panes so only the inner one needs replacing.

    My glass tends to get a black crust on it as I run the firebox pretty cool, and I got tired of trying to clean the glass on a stove I was using to heat the house; finally bought a second door and just swap them, allowing the dirty one to cool and cleaning it while lying flat in the laundry room. Much easier to do a decent job of it when there is not a fire licking at my left elbow.

    Brian