What ever wood (soft/hard, all well seasoned) we burn the glass front always has a deposit of brown tar left on it. This happens after each fire. We light it in the evenning and have to clean it every morning. News paper scrunched up, moisenned with water and dipped in the ash is used to clean the glass. Is this normal, and is this the best method of cleaning? Any advise would be appreciated.

It’s how I clean mine.

dont close the fire in at night when you go to bed if your burning wood

keeps mine clean by burning at a good temperature.

What kind of stove do you have?

Most come with a ‘air wash’ system which simply directs an airflow to pass down the front of the glass. It’s usually a vent at the top of the door or fire.

Basically keep the vent fully open and it’ll keep your glass more or less clean.

Depends on the specific burner but sounds like the wood could be slightly damp.

Some burners don’t clear as well as others, even those of the same brand.

If it works then fine – have you tried opening the top vent a bit more, assuming you have one that is…

dont close the fire in at night when you go to bed if your burning wood

I do. You just have to run it hot for a hour or so in the morning to clear the crap from the chimney and glass.

Do you predominantly run the stove with the vents closed/nearly closed? Or are you burning wet wood?

edit – beaten by everyone else.

oh…and another cleaning tip is to use wire wool…does away with chemicals / wet rags etc. The glass is super hardened anyway and shouldnt scratch.

Hobrite ceramic kitchen hob cleaner works a treat.

As the OP but don’t even moisten the newspaper – just rub it in ash then on the glass. Then it gets used to start the next fire.

About once a year I might use some Fairy Power Spray on it to get it really clean.

wire wool is fine for baked on on. Dampish wood will not help also leaks at door or glass can cause build ups in certain areas. Keep vent open when off the bed. if you fully damp down for stove to stay in overnight you will always get a build up.

Most come with a ‘air wash’ system which simply directs an airflow to pass down the front of the glass. It’s usually a vent at the top of the door or fire.

Mine has that (Stovax Riva 66) but it seems to make no difference, always get the brown tar like OP. I just use oven cleaner. Scared to use wire wool 😳

The model is a Saey with an air wash system and vent. We do close down the vent to control the burn, tonight we will try keeping open, however this does seem to require lot more wood and a much higher temprature than needed. Thanks for all your advise

Top vent, as everyone’s said, and Stovax cleaner when I can be bothered, with paper towel that helps start the next fire.

you dont need to keep it open all the time.

but rather than rubbing it clean just open the vent and let it do its thing, mines burns off the crap if ive locked it down when i go out for a few hours on a weekend.

Trust me…wire wool will work a treat…the glass is heat proofed and therefore it’s VERY hard. Try it on a small corner bit first if youre scared about scratching it.

oh…and another cleaning tip is to use wire wool…does away with chemicals / wet rags etc. The glass is super hardened anyway and shouldnt scratch but don’t blame me if it does.

😯 Really?! Anyway FTFY

If the muck is baked on hard you could use halogen hob cleaner – I use a bit of kitchen roll sprinkled with vinegar every three weeks and it is very good indeed, but our doors generally stay very clean

If the glass gets dirty every night and your stove is getting up to temperature then the airwash system just might not be very good – they are not all equal.

I just use a brillo.

“If the glass gets dirty every night and your stove is getting up to temperature then the airwash system just might not be very good – they are not all equal. “

problem is – if you lock it down for going to bed with anything more than embers in (ie loading it up then going to bed) then your going to make the glass mank for the next night regardless of your temperature during the course of the night. its only as good as its last burn.

best thing you could do is fit a flue thermometer – there are other good reasons for a good hot clean burn than just clean glass , its better for your chimney and liner as well.

OP: we had the same issue when we kept the top vent open but fixed it by installing a simple butterfly valve on the flue pipe. It basically restricts the draw from the chinmey but still pulls air in through the top vent thus keeping your glass clean. There’s always a happy medium…we can shut our top vent down by about 2 thirds and it still keeps the glass clean.

A quick look at the What Stoves web site shows that Saey stoves do not get the best review for the airwash system so it might just be a design ‘feature’.

Any advise would be appreciated.

To the OP. I’ve tried using most methods on mine & was recommended this stuff HG Stove Glass Cleaner

This stuff is brilliant. I’d been using the damp newspaper & ashes method. But like a lot of things there’s sometimes a better way. I guess at the rate I’m using the HG cleaner it’ll last a couple of years. It should be called “I can’t believe it’s not concentrated sulphuric acid” 😀

D.

We had this when we had a stove (stares wistfully into the distance) – it was only ever when we let logs touch the surface of the glass, they would leave scorch marks – maybe it’s this that’s happening?

“Brillo” that takes me back more years than I care to remember, camp fire, black pots and sore fingers. Lots of things to try, I’m sure they will all help the situation. We would not be without it even if it had a permanent black front! Really appreciate all your help.

Most come with a ‘air wash’ system

No they don’t. Some do. A lot don’t.

We have a Morso without and a Westfire with – the Westfire does stay a bit clearer than the Morso but overall I’d say theres little difference.

For cleaning them, scrunched up newspaper, not rubbed in ash or moistened seems to work with us, using mostly (good, A-grade) coal with a few logs chucked on per night as well. Never had to get biblical with bloody wire wool. Crikey…

As the dipping in ash but using vinegar instead of water.

fairy liquid and a nail brush

Quite a shopping list: Nail brush, Vinegar, Brillo, Halogen Hob Cleaner, HG Stove Cleaner, Kitchen towel, Wire wool, Flue thermometer, Butterfly valve, Fairy power spray, Fairy liquid, Stovax Cleaner and a larger Sunday News Paper. Did I mention the white carpet ! Many thanks for all your help.

[you’ve already got vinegar… try that]

Second the leaks around the glass causing this, check your sealent rope for gaps.

I use water with some household ammonia in it and a sponge. A quick spray and wipe and its gone.

HG Stove cleaner – ace.

This is a very confusing thread! I have a small aga wood burner and find that as long as the wood is well seasoned and the burner is running hot enough to achieve complete combustion it is effectively self cleaning.

That list sounds like a complete chore… 😯

This is a very confusing thread! I have a small aga wood burner and find that as long as the wood is well seasoned and the burner is running hot enough to achieve complete combustion it is effectively self cleaning.

That list sounds like a complete chore…

If you have never experienced this, it would seem a bit of a faff. My folks stove never needs cleaning but my little Esse (and the inset Esses of 3 other friends) blacks up badly irresprective of the wood you use. A good airwash system would be high on the list of essential crieria for my future stove purchases.

Having said that using the HG cleaner is no chore really – half a dozen squirts of the cleaner on the glass whist you lay the fire, leave for 30secs and wipe off with the lightests of strokes with a bit of kitchen paper. Job done.

doesnt care about what wood that much

if you throttle back the air and burn at low temp you will get blackening.

people are trying to use woodburners as our grandparents did with coal stoves – once coal stoves were up to temp you could shut them down and they would smoulder for hours – wood does not like that and will not burn clean and complete.

RTFM

My chimney sweep said to clean glass with oven cleaner. Cheap and easy. Apparently that expensive storax spray is just oven cleaner any way. As already mentioned you could just leave it burning hot at the end of an evening rather than shutting it right down.

or run it hot when you come to use it next.

Best results with your newspaper and ash method OP.

When I went to get a replacement can of glass cleaner from our installer he said not to bother and for burnt on tar use a fine paint scraper.

Mine has that (Stovax Riva 66) but it seems to make no difference, always get the brown tar like OP. I just use oven cleaner. Scared to use wire wool

Get the Stovax cleaner, seems to work but only need it once a week or so.

But tbh you need to make sure the wood is dry, less than 20% is recommended (ours is nearer 1-2%) – moisture meter from ebay for a tenner.