Etched Wood Stove Glass

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REDTAIL

New Member
Jan 26, 2012
47
N. CA
I've got a SCAN 60 with the big front glass in the door. It develops a semi-permanent grayish/whiteish smoke film
no matter what kind of wood I burn. I've used SpeedyWhite to get the black soot off, but this film is more of a
permanent type of thing; SpeedyWhite, 3 different grits of rubbing compound, simple green, CLR, Rutland, oven cleaner will not get it off.

Has anyone solved this problem?
 
I use paper towel dipped in hot water then dipped in wood ash. Then i take clean damp paper towel and go over it after i finish.
 
H2O-dampened sheet of newspaper . . . that is all.

Welcome to the forum by the way Redtail.
 
corey21 said:
I use paper towel dipped in hot water then dipped in wood ash. Then i take clean damp paper towel and go over it after i finish.

I've heard of folks doing that. But, if Speedy White won't make a dent in this stuff, I doubt that this method will work in my
case... However, I'll try it tomorrow. Note, this isn't the black soot that comes off fairly easily; this is more of a permanent
grayish film that blocks visibility through the glass. It may be particular to this stove model, I'm not sure...
 
I agree the glass may be made like that.
 
firefighterjake said:
H2O-dampened sheet of newspaper . . . that is all.

Welcome to the forum by the way Redtail.

Thanks Jake! It's a great forum. I know, for sure, that wet newspaper won't work for me. This is a
baked on grayish film, not ordinary black soot. Although, I do get a little soot normally too. But, SpeedyWhite
does a great job on the soot. Lots of other cleaners and probably wet newspaper will work well on soot also...
 
Adios Pantalones said:
paper towel, water, that's it.

edit: a permanent white film- either that's something about how the glass was made, or maybe it's scratched/etched? My white film comes off easy peasey

Yes. It might be etched in. Is there anything that will clean that?
 
REDTAIL said:
Adios Pantalones said:
paper towel, water, that's it.

edit: a permanent white film- either that's something about how the glass was made, or maybe it's scratched/etched? My white film comes off easy peasey

Yes. It might be etched in. Is there anything that will clean that?

Try Rutland Stove Glass Cleaner, avail. at Tractory supply, home depot etc. It cleans and puts coating on that makes it easy to wipe off future stuff. I do not work for the company, but bought some the first yr when I had unseasoned wood.
 
What were you using to clean it before? (Any ammonia products? Windex?)
 
madison said:
REDTAIL said:
Adios Pantalones said:
paper towel, water, that's it.

edit: a permanent white film- either that's something about how the glass was made, or maybe it's scratched/etched? My white film comes off easy peasey

Yes. It might be etched in. Is there anything that will clean that?

Try Rutland Stove Glass Cleaner, avail. at Tractory supply, home depot etc. It cleans and puts coating on that makes it easy to wipe off future stuff. I do not work for the company, but bought some the first yr when I had unseasoned wood.

I guess I forgot to add the Rutland cleaners to the list of cleaners that I have already tried. I have some of that. It doesn't get
this stuff off, but it does work pretty well for regular soot, etc. And it does leave a silicone coating that makes future cleaning a
little bit easier, you're right.
 
DexterDay said:
What were you using to clean it before? (Any ammonia products? Windex?)

No, no ammonia. Although, I'm pretty sure Ammonia will not hurt this ceramic glass material.

When I first got the stove, for about the first 6 months or so, I was able to keep the glass perfectly
clean with Sprayway, at first (perfume grade alcohol, no ammonia), which is very mild. Great product for windows, by the way...
Then later, I used the Rutland (blueish cream stuff), and after about 6 months or so, I started using SpeedyWhite.
The guy at my stove store recommended it... It worked better than all the other products I had tried, so I statyed with it.

I still use SpeedyWhite, but it doesn't get this superfilm off.

The only thing that even came close to making a dent in it, is BarKeeper's friend. Which is a mild oxalic acid. But I have
to use very hot water and 0000 steel wool with it and scrub for about 15 minutes to make a dent in it...

So, my next thing to try, unless you folks can come with the answer, is to try a heavier concentration of oxalic acid;
which means mixing my own. I've got some wood bleach, which is 100%. So, I'll dilute some and we'll see how that goes...
 
corey21 said:
I use paper towel dipped in hot water then dipped in wood ash. Then i take clean damp paper towel and go over it after i finish.

I have a Scan 60 also and this method cleans the glass every time.
 
Burn some pine real hot with full air..don't put a lot in though.
If that don't work use a razor blade..a new one in one direction only..do not flip the blade..dip in water for lube.
It will work.
 
I use dampened newspaper dipped in fine ash and follow up with a dampened paper towel to clean up the muddy residue.

If I still have a haze, vinegar on a paper towel seems to cut it pretty well.
 
FirewoodMan said:
If it is etched you really need to re-polish it. I've done this with cerium oxide powder (optical polish), water, and a felt bob on a drill.

Cool! Thanks very much for the tip. I'll see if I can find some of that. I just cleaned it today with Oxalic acid and it works pretty well, but the
glass (ceramic) is still kind of blurry and ruff too. It's kind of like a bathroom window... I'll try re-polishing. :)
 
REDTAIL said:
FirewoodMan said:
If it is etched you really need to re-polish it. I've done this with cerium oxide powder (optical polish), water, and a felt bob on a drill.

Cool! Thanks very much for the tip. I'll see if I can find some of that. I just cleaned it today with Oxalic acid and it works pretty well, but the
glass (ceramic) is still kind of blurry and ruff too. It's kind of like a bathroom window... I'll try re-polishing. :)

I'm wondering if the glass was installed backwards. If it is etched to some degree, it's going to catch everything if the rough surface faces the fire. Is this the only piece of glass it has?
 
Didn't crawl through the whole thread but I use a water wet paper towel once a month when the stove is cooled down before a morning reload.
 
billjustbill said:
REDTAIL said:
FirewoodMan said:
If it is etched you really need to re-polish it. I've done this with cerium oxide powder (optical polish), water, and a felt bob on a drill.

Cool! Thanks very much for the tip. I'll see if I can find some of that. I just cleaned it today with Oxalic acid and it works pretty well, but the
glass (ceramic) is still kind of blurry and ruff too. It's kind of like a bathroom window... I'll try re-polishing. :)

I'm wondering if the glass was installed backwards. If it is etched to some degree, it's going to catch everything if the rough surface faces the fire. Is this the only piece of glass it has?

Hi Bill,

Wow, I didn't know there was a front and a back to the glass. Yes, this is the only piece of glass in this stove. It's a fairly large
piece (14" x 17" approx.) in the front door (Scan 60 woodstove). Everything was totally assembled when I purchased the stove. The inside is kind of
blurry or frosty like a bathroom window and it is kind of rough, not smooth like it is on the outside (It was fine when new). So, I bought some glass polish that was recommended earlier and I have an angle-grinder tool that I used to use to polish my car. So, I'll use that and see if I can
bring it back. I wonder if I should flip it around? If there is a front/back to the glass, then it was probably put in backwards!
 

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Sounds like this glass needs more than a cleaning and is etched.

Also sounds like the OP has a plan. Redtail, let us know how you make out repolishing and how you do it.

My glass is etched on both sides for some reason. Top, bottom, and center are fine. Interested to hear how you make out or if you can bring it back.

Also, I changed the thread title so that it's more specific to your problem and searchable in the future.

pen
 
pen said:
Sounds like this glass needs more than a cleaning and is etched.

Also sounds like the OP has a plan. Redtail, let us know how you make out repolishing and how you do it.

My glass is etched on both sides for some reason. Top, bottom, and center are fine. Interested to hear how you make out or if you can bring it back.

Also, I changed the thread title so that it's more specific to your problem and searchable in the future.

pen

Okay, thanks Pen. It has turned into an "Etching" thread, you're right. :) Although, when I started out on this quest, I thought
all I needed was a good cleaner...

It'll be a week before I get the glass polish (I had to order it online), but I'll definitley let you folks know how it works.
 
pen said:
Sounds like this glass needs more than a cleaning and is etched.

Also sounds like the OP has a plan. Redtail, let us know how you make out repolishing and how you do it.

My glass is etched on both sides for some reason. Top, bottom, and center are fine. Interested to hear how you make out or if you can bring it back.

Also, I changed the thread title so that it's more specific to your problem and searchable in the future.

pen

Thanks Pen, I'll let you know how it comes out. :)

It'll be a week or so to get the glass polish (ordered online)... Sorry for the duplication. There's no delete!
 
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