Cleaning your cast iron stove is a dirty business. Wood chips, ash, and dust whirl around the hearth. This stuff creeps into nooks and crannies, rust begins to appear, and soon shiny wood burning stoves doesn't look so shiny anymore.
And...any ash and soot build up inside could affect the efficiency of your stove and even the safety of your chimney and house.
However, follow these "fireplace blacking" steps and your stove will shine!
Area Prep
Depending on how fastidious you are, you might want to do some covering to protect your fire-side belongings. For example, if you have elegant hardwood floors and fine furniture, consider putting down drop cloths or tarps to keep off the dust and ash from the immediate areas. In addition, shut the doors to other areas of the house to contain the mess!
Empty the Ashes
Using an ash bucket and a shovel, remove as many ashes from the wood stove as you can. (Use a metal ash bucket plastic buckets just in case an hot embers are hiding in there!).
I don't too carried away with getting every last speck of dust...I'm not doing any fine dining in there...just get out the bulk of them. A little leftover ash inside isn't going to make much of a difference.
Check the Inside of the Stove
Look to make sure there aren't any chunks of ash around your dampeners. Also, if you have a catalytic stove, check the catalytic converter to see if it looks "flaky" or even broken up. If it's been several years, it might be time for a new one!
Checking the Flue and Connector Pipe
While you're in there, check our flue and connector pipe for any creosote build-up. Wood burning stoves need good air flow to burn properly, so get into the habit of checking this on a regular basis. If you can see up the chimney, check to see if you need your chimney cleaned. (Check out my chimney cleaning post!)
If you can't see up the chimney, this would be a good time to get up in the roof, take off that chimney cap and make sure that you don't have larger issues to deal with.
Cleaning the outside of a cast iron wood burner
While it's okay to leave some ash dust on the inside of the stove, a thorough cleaning of the outside surface requires a bit more attention to detail.
Use a shop vacuum with a fine filter to suck up all that dust. If you are worried that the drop cloths aren't enough, consider buying a few extra lengths of shop vac hose. In reality, a lot of that find ash dust will blow right through the filter and into your house.
Connect the lengths of the hose to the output of the vacuum and run them out the window or door to exhaust the dust to the lawn rather than to your couch.
Once the excess ash has been removed, use a wire brush to scour away any rust spots. from the cast iron wood stove.
Then give it another vacuum.
Clean a wood burning stove glass?
I remember that the Masonry Heater guy discouraged us from getting glass doors. He said that they weren't as durable. But...there's something comforting and almost hypnotic about watching that fire dance through the glass. And I'm glad we chose the see-through-door.
But it does get dirty. The ashes and soot leave a residue on the glass that's not always easy to remove.
For stuff not too baked on, a simple glass cleaner in a spray bottle can polish up those fire windows! I've found that a wipe with old newspaper crumpled up works better than cloth.
For the more stubborn residue, products like Quick n Brite or Meeco's Red Devil can make the process easier. Be prepared, though..the glass cleaning solution in these products often contain harsh chemicals that are not good for the environment or you!
As a homemade remedy, take an empty spray bottle and make a vinegar cleaning mixture with two parts water to one part vinegar. This vinegar solution might not work quite as well, but will be significantly less noxious!
Apply the stove black
(Note...as you will see, you will want to do this in spring or early fall when the temperatures are mild!)
What is Stove Black?
Stove black or (stove blackening) is a polish made from carbon and graphite. Sometimes it will contain a wax to make it into a paste. The wax serves kind of like ammonia in some paints...it "carries" the black pigments to the exterior of the stove. When the stove heat burns off the small amount of wax, you're left with just the polish.
How Do I Apply Stove Black?
In order to make your stoves shiny and new, you might want to put some "stove black" on it. Like you would with a shoe polish, wipe it on the outer surface with a cloth, newspaper, or even a toothbrush. After it has air dried, rub it down with a clean cloth.
Many kinds of stove black require a "curing" process where you use heat to burn off the excess. Since this can be a bit of a smoky affair, it's best to do this in the spring when you can open up all the windows to ventilate the room.
Light a small fire and cure the stove black slowly. This will reduce the odds of filling your house with smoke and setting off all the fire alarms! It's often better to use several small fires to heat the stove. Each fire will give off less smoke until the polish is full cured.
High Temperature Paint
If you decide that the stove polish route might not be for you then you could consider a high temperature paint. In some ways, paint is easier than stove blacking because you don't have to cure it. However, you have do be more careful with prep.
With stove black polish, if there's a bit of dust, it won't matter much. However, with paint, you want the surface as clean as possible to help with adhesion.
With most paint processes, (or welding for that matter!) taking time for surface prep pays off in the long run.
Surface Prep
Use that wire brush to get off as much rust as possible! If you don't, the rust will flake off and take paint with it. After you've demolished all the rust with the brush, vacuum up the dust.
Next, degrease the stove by wiping it down with a solvent. Acetone or brake cleaner would work if you have it lying around...but some high temperature paints like Stove Bright offer cleaners designed to go with their paints.
And since paint (and I suppose the prep!) can make a mess, decide whether or not you want to move the stove to the garage for paint, or paint it in place. If you decide not to wrangle a heavy stove to the exterior, place drop cloths on the floor around the hearth for masking.
Applying High Temperature Paint
Follow the manufacturer's instructions! For the most part, though, these paints should be applied with room temperatures between 65-85 degrees. Make sure you have good ventilation, and wear a respirator. Shake the can for two minutes, then spray light coats keeping the can 12-18 inches away from the stove. (There are also stove paints that you can apply with a brush.)
You can better avoid drips and runs with two light coats rather than one heavy one!
After the paint has dried, let the painted stove dry for 48 hours before lighting a fire.
Conclusion
Your wood burning stove is like furniture...it can add both beauty and functionality to your home. Often, just cleaning you wood burning stove on a regular basis using a wire brush, a vacuum, and a cloth will keep the ashes and rust away. Other times, a carbon based stove polish or a freshly painted surface can make the stove pop and become the centerpiece of the room!
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People Also Ask
Q. What do you use to blacken a fireplace?
A. You can use a stove polish or a high temperature paint
Q. How do I stop my fireplace going black?
A. You won't keep it from turning a bit black. But you can reduce smoke emissions by burning wood with moisture content between 15-20%
Q. Why is my wood burning black?
A. From burning wood with moisture levels above 20%
Q. What does stove black do?
A. Stove black polish restores your cast iron stove to a shiny black color
Q. What is stove black made from?
A. Mostly carbon and graphite. Some have waxes mixed in to form the polish into a paste.
Q. Is stove black toxic?
It can be. Some versions contain Sodium Tetraborate Pentahydrate. Don't eat it, breathe in the fumes and avoid contact with skin and eyes.