How to clean door glass

sixman said:

Low 40s at night and high 70's in the day and first year on wood. This is really hard to get used to. All the windows open during the day to get rid of heat with stove turned all the way down and all closed up in the mornings to stay warm. Needless to say my glass is getting pretty dirty running the stove on low and was just wondering the best way to clean it without scratching it.

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Are you burning 24/7? It sounds like it.

Maybe try quick hot fires late in the evening. The coals should carry some heat through to the morning. Last night at 8 pm I got a quick, hot fire going with a bunch of really small splits and pieces etc, it could have almost been considered kindling. The stove was still too hot to touch this morning just from the coals in the bottom and retained heat in the brick. I think this style of burning will help much more with your problem of being too hot during the day. It should also help with the glass problems.

I wouldn't even bother firing the stove if it's just low 40s at night and then 70s during the day. Even here unless it's getting to the low 30s at night I don't fire the stove... and during the day it might hit 50 if we are lucky.

The simplest and easiest way we've ever used for cleaning glass is to crumble some newspaper, dampen it (not soak it; just damp), dip it into the ashes and wipe the glass. It comes clean. If you have any streaks or whatever some simple windex will finish the job, but the ash really takes off the black easy.

1) Your burning during the shoulder season will be different . . . or should be different . . . than when you're burning in the dead of winter. As others have said when it gets chilly inside you want to build a single fire in the evening or morning . . . let the stove come up to temp . . . engage the secondaries by cutting back on the air . . . and then let the fire go until it goes out . . . no reloading should be necessary . . . and the temps should keep things warm until evening . . . morning . . . or even a full 24 hours.

About the worse thing you can do is keep the fire going since you'll either end up over heating the place . . . . and having to open the windows to cool the place down . . . and in the process burn up a lot of wood which you may wish you still had come March . . . or you'll try to run the stove cooler and will end up sooting up the glass and chimney. Instead run single, hot loads . . . (hopefully you have thermometers for the stove and flue) . . . and then let the heated stove radiate heat to the house . . .

2) To remove the black you can either wait and once you get the fire good and hot with some prolonged secondaries you should see the black "magically" burn off . . . or you can get some damp newspapers and dip them in ash and clean the glass as Backwoods mentioned . . . I usually use three sheets -- first sheet I dip in the ash and get most of the gunk off when needed . . . second sheet is just slightly damp and I use that to clean up the glass without dipping it in the ash . . . third sheet is dry and I use that to dry the glass for a streak free look.

sixman said:

The way I have been burning is to start a good hot fire late at night around 10 or 11, get the stove temp up around 550 to 600, shut the bypass and close the air inlet all the way. Sometimes makes for a smoldering fire but end up with a good bed of coals to start from the next day some 20 hours later. If I let the stove burn clean or hotter it will run us out of the house. I may have to resort to burning the gas stove in the mornings for a bit until it gets colder. Thanks for the glass cleaning tips and hopefully it will stay clean when the weather gets colder.

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So don't put as much wood in. That is the "smaller" in "hotter, smaller fires". If you build a smaller fire, but still let it burn hot then you won't be run out of the house and it should completely die by the next day and you won't have to open the windows.

Will the house get warmer than usual over night? Probably, but it will be nice and toasty in the morning when you wake up.

I use a cleaner from Rutland Fire Clay Co. They have a specific cleaner for wood stove glass. It really works!

http://www.rutland.com/productinfo.php?product_id=43

Hope this helps.

RS

sixman said:

The way I have been burning is to start a good hot fire late at night around 10 or 11, get the stove temp up around 550 to 600, shut the bypass and close the air inlet all the way. Sometimes makes for a smoldering fire but end up with a good bed of coals to start from the next day some 20 hours later. If I let the stove burn clean or hotter it will run us out of the house. I may have to resort to burning the gas stove in the mornings for a bit until it gets colder. Thanks for the glass cleaning tips and hopefully it will stay clean when the weather gets colder.

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Hmmm - my concern is that the way you are burning your stove you are likely putting a lot of build-up in your pipe as well as on the glass. I've heard it said "dirty glass == dirty flue" and I believe it could well be true in most cases. Have you checked your chimney at all during these burns (30 minutes after you have done your final air adjustment perhaps?). If you are seeing smoke something isn't right - that stove should be burning clean.

If you do choose to keep up this practice, do be sure and inspect and/or clean your chimney more frequently.

sixman said:

You are correct about the alarm clock, a good husband would get up a couple hours early, start a fire from scratch for the family to be warm when they get up and about. Just not sure I am that good.

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Couple years ago, our daughter and her 3 girls stayed with us for a few months. I would be up in the middle of the night and first thing in the a.m. to make sure the house was warm for the little ones.
I'm retired though, so........I'm not that good either. :lol:
The damp newspaper dipped in ashes works great, to answer the original question.
No fire last night since the forecast was for mid 40's, but when I got up this morning, the outside therm. told me it was 30 out. The house had cooled to 60 since I didn't light a fire last night. I put 2 pcs. of spruce and 2 pcs. of oak in the stove and the house temp was 62 in about 1/2 hour. I just let it burn out, and house temp is now (6:24 p.m.) still at 70.
This weather will make you crazy.

Dapened paper towel with a little ash, followed by a dampened clean paper towel, followed by a dry towel works great for me.

Your wood is not as dry as you think. My first year I had dark glass all the time. Three years later I have good stock of seasoned firewood. Dry wood = clean glass!

sixman said:

Low 40s at night and high 70's in the day and first year on wood. This is really hard to get used to. All the windows open during the day to get rid of heat with stove turned all the way down and all closed up in the mornings to stay warm. Needless to say my glass is getting pretty dirty running the stove on low and was just wondering the best way to clean it without scratching it.

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I use Speedy White Hearth and Stove cleaner on our glass, seems to work great.

http://www.speedywhite.com/?redir=true


zap

I bought that stuff and found oven cleaner works much better.

koavt said:

I use a cleaner from Rutland Fire Clay Co. They have a specific cleaner for wood stove glass. It really works!

http://www.rutland.com/productinfo.php?product_id=43

Hope this helps.

RS

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I use a razor blade.

koavt said:

I use a cleaner from Rutland Fire Clay Co. They have a specific cleaner for wood stove glass. It really works!

http://www.rutland.com/productinfo.php?product_id=43

Hope this helps.

RS

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+1 on the Rutland glass cleaner, works well.
I think I'm going to try the damp newspaper and ash this year, maybe save a few bucks.

Oderless oven cleaner works great

oilstinks said:

Oderless oven cleaner works great

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+1 Then some Windex to get rid of the streaks and film. After a good cleaning the kids think I took the glass out!!

I've been doing just three small splits or 1 big one and 1 small one towards the front of the stove to get things warmed up. Or I run the small cast stove a bit, the heat from that is much softer and in the brick hearth, 1 small quick fire really holds heat for the nighttime.
hours.

I also have a kerosene heater that I will put in a cold room for about 20min with the window cracked and thats enough this time of year. $10 worth of kerosene lasts a long time in the fall and cheaper than the furnace running in bursts throughout the day.