CLEANING FIREPLACE AND WOOD BURNING STOVE GLASS

CLEANING FIREPLACE AND WOOD BURNING STOVE GLASS



(from an article in Wiki How)

Cleaning glass on your fireplace is not hard if you have the proper household chemicals. Here are a couple of different ideas that can help get rid of the black soot.

As with anything else you do to restore or repair an item: make sure you check your owner’s manual for recommended procedure.  It is not worth losing your warranty over a dirty piece of glas

1.   Make sure fire place is cool .  Wash with ammonia

  Fill a spray bottle with a   diluted mixture of ammonia and water. The water helps keep the ammonia from evaporating on the glass and makes it easier to use. Some also recommend using some vinegar in the mixture, although this is not necessary. Grab some paper towels and spray the glass. Start wiping the black or foggy glass clean. It will take a couple of times to get a clear window depending on how coated your glass is. If there are some unusually difficult spots let the solution sit and react. You may also use a scouring pad to really scrub. Do not scratch the glass. Also take your ammonia and water soaked paper towel and dunk it in the ashes in the bottom of the stove. Using this to scour the glass as the ash will aid in the chemical cleaning of the glass. Wipe clean with a dry cloth

2.  Burn It Off - Most black or dark spots  on the glass is caused by insufficient combustion of the wood particles.

A really hot fire once will not only help clean the glass, but help keep your chimney clean.

3.  Scrub with Newspaper and Water (With Ash) - This actually works, although it takes a lot more elbow grease.  

Dunk your newspaper in a little water and coat with ash. Scrub until all deposits are removed. Wipe clean with a dry rag

.4.  Scrape it off - Sometimes when all else fails, there is no other option than to take a scraping razor blade and remove deposits that cannot be removed by any other method

5.  Also, for foggy windows  an application or two of "Weiman Glass Cook Top" cleaner works quite well.

6.  Clean your glass regularly to make each cleaning easier. Once deposits are on your glass for many cycles it becomes more and more difficult to clean it.

7.  When the window is clean, coat the glass with a thin coat of soap. It will look "soapy" until the stove gets hot but then it turns clear.

8.  If you try everything else with not much luck, the old fashioned automotive chrome cleaner can do an excellent job. Do it twice and then clean up with glass cleaner.

9.  Try using "Easy Off" oven cleaner. Let it sit on the glass for three minutes, then wipe the burn marks and soot clean off.