How do you clean the glass on stove insert?

[Boozie]

I tried vinegar and water. Also tried some stuff I got at the Fireplace store. I can't get all the "gunk" off. Help.
Babs

 

[Renovation]

I tried vinegar and water. Also tried some stuff I got at the Fireplace store. I can't get all the "gunk" off. Help.
Babs

Welcome Babs. Try a bit of stove ash on dampened newspaper or cloth. Folks say it works a charm.

 

[Stump_Branch]

I use a tad of ash on a wet paper towel. Works like a charm. I think the ash acts as a mild abrasive, hence why it works. Of corse I dont wait until its covered either. maybe once every two weeks. Oh and do it with the stove cold...Ive tried warm and besides the heat it didnt seem to work as well. Then again maybe thats because I was burning my fingers

 

[Cate68]

Try a glass cleaner. I picked up a cheap bottle at the dollar store and it works like a charm. It has a bit of ammonia in it and it cuts right through the "gunk". I rarely have to use the ashes.

 

[blujacket]

Once you go ash, you'll never go back.

 

[firefighterjake]

Short term solution: Wet newspaper with ash . . . you can also try burning it off by bringing the insert up to temp and starting the secondary burn.

Long term solution: While I suspect most woodstoves will get some haze or fly ash on them or even a bit of black from time to time when a split rolls up against the glass, when you have glass that has a lot of hard to remove black it may be indicative that you are a) not getting the stove hot enough for a clean and efficient burn, b) your wood is not seasoned or c) you are creating a smoldering fire by improper airway management . . . or a combination of the aforementioned items.

 

[Fsappo]

Some folks say that a glass cleaner with ammonia will damage the glass. For the really tough stuff that the ash wont work on, I use the fireplace glass cleaner, similar to what all us FP shops sell. I take the door off and lay it on a horizontal surface, soak it with the cleaner and let it sit for a few hours. Then rewet with the cleaner and wipe. As mentioned, with a decent stove, decent draft, good wood, proper maintenance and not waiting too long between cleanings, you should not need to do this too often.

I love football

 

[Cate68]

Some folks say that a glass cleaner with ammonia will damage the glass. For the really tough stuff that the ash wont work on, I use the fireplace glass cleaner, similar to what all us FP shops sell. I take the door off and lay it on a horizontal surface, soak it with the cleaner and let it sit for a few hours. Then rewet with the cleaner and wipe. As mentioned, with a decent stove, decent draft, good wood, proper maintenance and not waiting too long between cleanings, you should not need to do this too often.

I love football

You're right... ammonia=bad for glass. I'll look for ammonia-less cleaners asap.

 

[tcassavaugh]

i use stuff called "Heat Safe" Stove Glass Cleaner...which reminds me i need to get some more. Works great! has the words "stove, glass, and cleaner" vertically stacked above another on a white spray bottle and has a graphic of a stove glass door with gold trim around it on the bottle. comes in a 16 oz bottle. I've tried others but this semms to work the best for me. I think i picked it up at "True Value Hardware" or possibly "Ace" in their wood burning/pipe section. I don't think i got it at a stove shop.

cass.

 

[citationdriver]

hey all just use STOVE TOP CLEANER, it works fantastic and a bottle lasts forever. Just wipe it on and paper towel it off no scrubbing. Crystal clear glass with no scratchs!

 

[Dakotas Dad]

i use stuff called "Heat Safe" Stove Glass Cleaner...which reminds me i need to get some more. Works great! has the words "stove, glass, and cleaner" vertically stacked above another on a white spray bottle and has a graphic of a stove glass door with gold trim around it on the bottle. comes in a 16 oz bottle. I've tried others but this semms to work the best for me. I think i picked it up at "True Value Hardware" or possibly "Ace" in their wood burning/pipe section. I don't think i got it at a stove shop.

cass.

I don't use it, but it looks like this..

http://www.homebuilderwholesale.com/HEAT-SAFE-GLCL.html

Have never needed more than a slightly damp paper towel.

 

[MetMan]

Wet paper towel here too, followed by a dry towel. I've found that any gunk I get from a log too near the glass burns up if I'm burning the stove hot enough.

 

[michwolf]

Some folks say that a glass cleaner with ammonia will damage the glass. For the really tough stuff that the ash wont work on, I use the fireplace glass cleaner, similar to what all us FP shops sell. I take the door off and lay it on a horizontal surface, soak it with the cleaner and let it sit for a few hours. Then rewet with the cleaner and wipe. As mentioned, with a decent stove, decent draft, good wood, proper maintenance and not waiting too long between cleanings, you should not need to do this too often.

I love football

You're right... ammonia=bad for glass. I'll look for ammonia-less cleaners asap.

Actually,ammonia works wonders on most pure glass surfaces including wood stoves/fireplace glass.My grandma used to use it on many hard to clean stained surfaces including her coal fired stove viewing glass,ceramic figurines,her kitchen stove and floor tiles,etc..She'd add a teaspoon of 70% isopropyl alcohol to every 1 cup of ammonia and 1 cup of tap water to have a terrific cleaning agent combined.This dilution is somewhat strong but has worked for me many times over on the hard jobs,through the years.
No need to take things apart and its safe and effective.

http://www.demingheadlight.com/ci_16878189?source=most_viewed

 

[Treacherous]

Have you tried a really hot fire below over-fire temps?

This works well as well.

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

 

[pyro68]

oven cleaner will work as well, be careful with the ash, if you have anything but the powder you can scratch the glass, will not come out & makes it harder to clean for the next time. Bottom line though, if you have "gunk" on the glass that is hard to clean off, you have too much moisture in your wood and / or the stove isn't getting hot enough.

 

[73blazer]

I use magic erasers. They work great. Minimal effort, soak it, wipe a few times, dry with a paper towel,2 minutes at the most, or less. No mess.
Only thing is if you soak it too much, as your wiping some nasty black stuff may drip and fall on the hearth, I usually just hold the drying paper towel under the area I'm wiping just to make sure it catches anything that may drip, if you don't over soak it, it won't drip anyway.
One eraser will last me the whole season usually, cleaning the glass once a week or so.

Website

They also work great for getting greasy finger prints off walls/doors without leaving wipe marks. My wife tells me I have an issue leaving such marks...
Available most any K-mart/wal-mart/grocery store....etc

 

[pyro68]

They also work great for getting greasy finger prints off walls/doors without leaving wipe marks. My wife tells me I have an issue leaving such marks...
Available most any K-mart/wal-mart/grocery store....etc[/quote]

lol, sounds just like my wife!! maybe that's just a factory defect with wives. . . :lol:

 

[Buck74]

DRY wood and a decently hot fire will clean a dirty glass and keep it clean. If you are having to clean your glass you are not burning properly dried wood or not burning dry wood properly. I have never cleaned my glass...it is perfectly clear. The edges are brownish since they don't get full heat and airflow, but 80% of my glass is clear as a bell.

I came upon some 20% green wood and immediately browned out my glass. one hot, dry-wood fire later it was clean like magic.

Again...If you are having to clean your glass you are not burning properly dried wood or not burning dry wood properly.

 

[westkywood]

DRY wood and a decently hot fire will clean a dirty glass and keep it clean. If you are having to clean your glass you are not burning properly dried wood or not burning dry wood properly. I have never cleaned my glass...it is perfectly clear. The edges are brownish since they don't get full heat and airflow, but 80% of my glass is clear as a bell.

I came upon some 20% green wood and immediately browned out my glass. one hot, dry-wood fire later it was clean like magic.

Again...If you are having to clean your glass you are not burning properly dried wood or not burning dry wood properly.

I've got to disagree. I burn well seasoned wood. I never get black or brown gunk on my glass but it does get hazy looking about half way up the glass after a couple weeks.

 

[begreen]

Barb has some accumulations from what may be a loose door latch. Once the door is sealing tightly I think most of the brown stuff will burn off, but there will still be a haze. For this a dampened paper towel dipped in a little stove ash will work fine. So will the Rutland glass cleaner, or glass stove top cleaner. But first, the gasket issue needs to be addressed.

 

[Battenkiller]

They also work great for getting greasy finger prints off walls/doors without leaving wipe marks. My wife tells me I have an issue leaving such marks...
Available most any K-mart/wal-mart/grocery store....etc

lol, sounds just like my wife!! maybe that's just a factory defect with wives. . . :lol:

Holy cow, I got one just like it! What year was yours made? Mine was made on Aug 21, 1960. I was thinking that maybe it was just a bad year for wives. Glad to see others are having similar problems with theirs.

Seriously, after spending the entire day rotating her tires, checking her brakes, changing her oil, topping off the fluids in her car, etc., you'd think she'd be only too happy to greet me at the basement door with an open can of Goop and some paper towels. But no-o-oooooo........ She expects me to wash the dang thing and clean my hands that way.

FWIW if I actually had a stove that had glass in it, I would use a wet paper towel with ash on it. Supposed to work like a charm. %-P

 

[Boozie]

To clarify, I did have a lot of buildup on my window that never seemed to go away. Then when I had the service guys out for another matter I questioned them about the air controls. What the manual said and what the salesman had told me were confusing. The service guys cleared that up right away ..... the salesman was wrong. My airwash control was on the opposite side of where he had told me. So I was leaving my primary air open (thinking it was my airwash) and controlling the airwash as my primary air. I thought that it would immediately clear up then, but it didn't. So I thought it needed a "clean" start. I used a razor blade and Windex to get the window smacking clean. THEN, using the controls properly, I was now able to have a clean window ... and still do after several days.

What I've noticed now is a haze that appears in the lower left and lower right-hand side of the window. At the same time I noticed dark stains on the stove where the gasket and the stove met ..... in the same areas where I was getting the haze. I was concerned that it was not fully closing properly. It was suggested I do the "dollar bill" test ... and when my stove goes cold I will try that. I thought perhaps the door/gasket wasn't closing well in those areas as it was in the same area that I was getting the haze. My stove is new and some have said that perhaps the door might be warped. That in the meantime I should give more primary air to compensate for any air I may be losing (if that is the problem).

As to this dollar bill/notebook paper test ...... does it "absolutely" not come out when pulled on ..... or is it ok if you can pull it through, but takes a harder tug?

 

[begreen]

Good to hear that the dollar bill test came out ok. A stiff tug is ok. As long as there is some resistance, the gasket is contacting the stove. Looks like you just need to be building bigger fires and get the stove a little hotter. In the meantime, try the damp towel with wood ash. That accumulation is not very bad. it should come right off.

 

[Boozie]

Good to hear that the dollar bill test came out ok. A stiff tug is ok. As long as there is some resistance, the gasket is contacting the stove. Looks like you just need to be building bigger fires and get the stove a little hotter. In the meantime, try the damp towel with wood ash. That accumulation is not very bad. it should come right off.

Yes, you are right ..... that accumulation is not bad. I just got worried that it was leaking air in those areas and that there might be a problem with the gasket.

As for bigger fires .... right again. It is hard to "stack" in this firebox. It is only 10" high. It goes back 21" and the front goes across 28" and supposedly 4.4 cu ft of space. I can and do get a hot fire going, but not as often since I find it hard to load for such.

Thanks BeGreen. I appreciate your help.

 

[jghall]

A trick that my granddad taught me 35 years ago, and I have been using successfully ever since... If my glass gets real bad like when a log rolls against the glass after I go to bed and burns on the glass through the night. when I get up that morning and the stove has cooled down, I just scrape it away with a single edge razor blade held at about a 45 degree angle to the glass then wipe away the dust.... Works like a charm.... if not too bad, a good hot fire or newspaper and ash works every time...