How do I clean the glass door of my woods stove?

[Joey Jones]

I am very ignorant here with regard to wood stove burning. After 2 preliminary fires in my englander 13 I find much brown film on the inside of my door. How do I clean such film off?
Joey J ...thankyou

 

[Byron]

I use glass stovetop cleaner. I think there are some who use windex.

 

[jeffman3]

If the door is hot, use a wadded up piece of news paper, if the door is not hot, use a "damp", not wet, paper towel and dip it in the fine ash from the stove. Wipe the brown gunk off, and follow with a clean damp paper towel. Just like new.

 

[bluefrier]

I also have an englander 13 and using #0000 grade steel wool is the best way to clean the glass.
Just rub it dry while the glass is hot or cold. If you are finding "much" brown film on your glass after
two fires then you need to make sure your wood is properly seasoned.

 

[Corey]

It has been discussed a few times...


Glass cleaner
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/22806/

glass cleaner
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/16328/

Cleaning glass window on door of woodstove
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/16008/

Any tips on how to keep glass clean?
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/15583/

Breckwell BigE/Cleaning glass
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/10069/

Insert or stove glass cleaner
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/12865/

Stove Glass Cleaner
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/9287/

Cleaning hot door glass
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/6767/

Need Recipe for door glass cleaner
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/6231/

Door Glass Cleaning: Anyone Thought of…
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/3943/

Clean that Glass…
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/3816/

Glass cleaning Techniques
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/2933/

Glass Cleaning Periodicity
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/726/

Cleaning Glass – while it’s hot?
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/509/

Cleaning Hot Glass?
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/154/

 

[Joey Jones]

Thanks Corey. I appreciate all the links you posted.

 

[Corey]

Yep. These forums are a wealth of info. Welcome to 'the club'!

 

[johnnywarm]

I love it here :coolsmile: I might retire here instead of Florida.

John

 

[Joey Jones]

I just started to look this forum over and now realize a lot of questions can be answered by using the search engine... Thanks for the welcome

 

[Jags]

JoeyJ - If your glass is that messy with only 2 fires, I would re-evaluate your fuel supply and burning techniques. Something ain't quite right there. I go 2 weeks without any type of buildup that I need to clean off.

Maybe this is just from a couple of shoulder season "low fires"? I dunno. But something to look into.

Oh, and welcome to the forum.

 

[Joey Jones]

I also have an englander 13 and using #0000 grade steel wool is the best way to clean the glass.
Just rub it dry while the glass is hot or cold. If you are finding "much" brown film on your glass after
two fires then you need to make sure your wood is properly seasoned.

Hey Bluefrier, You have to keep in mind that I am a first year newbie...and seasoned wood is hard to come by at such a late start date...All I can do is burn hot as I can and be especially vigilant of my chimney's condition...I do have the neccessary cleaning rods and brushes and it is a relatively short, straight run of 14 feet.

 

[Joey Jones]

Jags you got to remember the manual of this stove says have 3 low temp fires before letting the stove go up to full burn...Could this be my problem? I do have dvl stove pipe and a probe therm and have let my first 2 fires go up to 500-600F, but remember this is flue gas temp.

 

[Jags]

Jags you got to remember the manual of this stove says have 3 low temp fires before letting the stove go up to full burn...Could this be my problem? I do have dvl stove pipe and a probe therm and have let my first 2 fires go up to 500-600F, but remember this is flue gas temp.

Yep, that splains it. Your doing break in fires. Good on ya for sticking to the manual. If this were happening during "normal" temp fires, then I would say you have a prob. But looks like you are doing it right.

Edit: it is possible to build break in fires that don't smog up your windows, but that is pretty much a mute point at this time.

 

[Joey Jones]

Here is another method for removing those tough creo stains from your glass door. I just got it from the Englander phone hotline. Use that citrus cleaner Go-Jo first with a paper towel. and then go with windex and more papertowels...I was even told by Eric at Englander that 0000 steel wool was an acceptable method if need be, but used as a last resort. Go with GO-JO

 

[Ozarknana]

Vinegar, and wood ash...takes that gunk right off (with a bit of elbow grease thrown in).....

Ozark and Mr. Nana

 

[Howard M Emerson]

I use a single edge razor blade in a retractable handle and just 'shovel' it right off the glass while it's cold. If it is especially heavy it comes off like a wide shaving off a block plane.

I've used liquids before, but it usually made more of a mess than I had to start with.

Regards,
Howard

 

[Joey Jones]

I did try the Gojo recommended by Eric at Englander Stoves and found it did clean off 2 weeks ressidue in seconds and followed by a windex treatment ...Good as new

 

[Hogwildz]

I did try the Gojo recommended by Eric at Englander Stoves and found it did clean off 2 weeks ressidue in seconds and followed by a windex treatment ...Good as new

Don't use the GOJO with pumice!

 

[mranum]

My glass was pretty bad to after my break in fires. My dealer told me to use the wet paper towel & ash treatment and it worked like a charm. I was afraid it would be like cleaning my folk's glass doors on their old fireplace which was a pain using razors, steel wool, etc. but not the case.

 

[RedRanger]

Burn hot and clean, let the secondaries kick in for at least a half hour and burn nice dry seasoned wood and if you do that you will never ask this question again.

But ya, ash dipped into a wet paper towel will do wonders.

 

[Joey Jones]

I have tried every method mentioned in this thread to clean stove glass and I can honestly say that a new single edge razor blade works best ...

 

[Bubbavh]

damp Newspaper and ash. I'm too cheap to use a paper towel.
I only get a little build up in the corners of the glass but I like to keep my stove nice and hot.
Every once in a while you really got to let one rip to clean er out <-----waiting on the coments

 

[ChipTam]

I'm pretty new to wood burning, myself, so I haven't tried many of the techniques suggested above. However, I've used a wood stove glass cleaner made by Imperial in Canada and it worked well without much elbow grease. Not sure if Imperial wood stove products are available in the States.
Chip Tam

 

[drizler]

I use a single edge razor blade in a retractable handle and just 'shovel' it right off the glass while it's cold. If it is especially heavy it comes off like a wide shaving off a block plane.

I've used liquids before, but it usually made more of a mess than I had to start with.

Regards,
Howard

The best part of the razor blade method is that it tends to come off more or less in big long sheets. This will keep it from turning into fallout all over the floor. Using one of those long handle blade holders for scraping of inspection stickers from cars and the like makes it easier. They fold in half so the blade is out of harms way. Another type is shorter and the blade just slides out the end. Using either one makes it easier to get the right angle so it's just like shaving. I only use it on the thick stuff that won't wipe off. As a word of warning I wouldn't just get in there and hack away with a blade in a reckless fashion. I haven't experienced it but am willing to bet you can scratch that glass if you really "dig in".