# need info about stove black & stove polish



## eernest4 (Mar 1, 2008)

Any one here know what stove black is & how to go about useing it & just what it does to/for the stove.

Same goes for stove polish, what it is ,how to go about using it & what it does  to/for the stove.

Two different people have asked me about it & i am embarased to have had to say I can't help them
because I have never seen it or used it.


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## downeast (Mar 1, 2008)

Stay away from "stove polish" or "stove black". They're an old method of covering up cast or steel stoves. It is a surface coating that quickly burns off, smoking your place to hell.
If you need to finish a stove use one of the high temperature spray paints such as Thermalox--lots of info online. Wire brush the surface, wipe clean with a solvent ( not when hot silly), dry, spray in a inside "booth" or outdoors. The best stove finishes are baked on porcelain or enamel by the manufacturer such as Vermont Castings ( beautiful reds that go from a bright cherry to a dark burgendy when hot), or Jotul's blue/black procelain. Those coatings are easy to clean, will chip, but easily repaired.
Our older flat black, natural VC or Morso stoves had to be cleaned, brushed, and spray painted outside once a year as normal maintenance. A real PITA ordered by the boss.


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## NHFarmer (Mar 1, 2008)

We have an antique 1909 crawford cook stove and have always used the stove polish. It has worked quite well for us. Yes it is a bit of a pain, but not a big deal. We don't have to do it very often, probably once a year. I use a tooth brush and a soft rag to apply the stove polish, it is similar to shoe polish for your stove. We wipe the stove top down with a crumpled up news paper and it looks great when it is done. The stove polish we are using at the moment is called Rutland Stove Polish and should be available at any stove shop. One note, if your stove is currently painted then I would stick to paint it is not a good idea to put polish over the paint.


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## elleninpa (Mar 5, 2008)

NHFarmer, did you have the problem with smoking when the stove was running hot?


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## eernest4 (Mar 5, 2008)

THANK YOU ALL, VERY MUCH, FOR YOUR RESPONSES. Be assured , that I will consider carefully, everything that each of you has to say.


Since I posted this thread , I did A WHOLE, whole, LOT OF RESEARCH on stove black, as well as high temp stove paint & while there is a 20 minute burn off or curing period that does smoke up your room, it can be mitigated by doing it in the spring with all the doors & windows open & a ventalation fan in stragic locations.

Which is also the best time & way to do the painting too. (in the spring ,with doors & windows & fan.) If you spray paint, use the mfg recommended paint resparator, not just a while paper mask, which don't do the job of protecting your lungs properly.

Put another way, while the $1.oo white paper mask is better than nothing, it is not much better than nothing. So , spend the 30.oo to 50.oo for the proper resparator.

If I paint, I will use the brush on & not need a resparator, as the stove's location is not good for spray painting & 12 cubic foot firebox stove is way too heavy to move. 600 lbs +

(sorry,I break continuity of post with poor editing ,but you can figure it out).

On the other hand, the slow cook off method can be used, where in you only put 3 or 4 small splits in the stove for a low temp over time cook off. This way,instead of getting all the smoke in 20 min,you get less smoke for a longer time while the stove black cures more slowly.

at any rate, sooner or later,you will have to run the stove at 500 deg to finish the cook off process.

My stove was painted at on point in time, but less than 5% paint remains.
(under 1 sq ft of paint left.)

I am not going to move that 600 lb monster 1 inch, 3 guys couldn't move it 1 inch. It took 4 guys straining like crazy, just to get it in & that was without fire bricks or door.

So either it gets stove black or brush painted, but not spray painted as it is an immovable object.

i have no problem with a smoke off or with brush painting.

Other posters here that did the stove black said that once the burn off was done, the finish remained on the stove.

Stove black consists of a wax that you brush on & polish like shoe polish , after letting it air dry for 15 min & black pigments that remain on the stove, up to a yr. as NH farmer reported in his post on this thread.

Stove black will not penetrate paint, according to www.rutland.com downloaded .pdf 
instructions. 

rutland also has williams stove polish that contains only carbon and graphite but that gives a  GRAPHITE GRAY finish & maybe somewhat less smoke off. Carbon is the pigment & graphite the smoke off replacing the wax carrier for the pigments in rutland stove black, which gives a black finish.

I am undecided as to brush paint or stove black, but I do know that high temp paint can last longer that one year & comes in colors to doll up the stove.

Maybe the idea of a two or 3 tone accented highlights brush on paint  job would appeal
more to my artistic side while my lazy side wants to use the stove black & get it over with,
at least for a year.

Well, at least I have until arpil to decide. And I have 4 stoves in rust so I can use the stove black on at least one of them. 1 is opperating & 1 awaiting the final section of stack to be installed (not a priority, at this time) & 2 in storage.
The opperating is the 12 cu ft converted to secondary burn. I have another 12 cu ft in storage.
a 2.4 cu ft awaiting the stove pipe,pre epa 30:1 & a 1920 cook top with baking oven in storage
in a white enamal finish with authentic old time 20 yr old rust .

Both the cook top oven & the 12 cu ft pre epa I be willing to sell, as well as a baby pot belly
set up for wood or coal. but these stoves are in conn. & I cant move them to ship, so it would have to be cust.pick up & move.


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## NHFarmer (Mar 5, 2008)

It did smoke some but it wasn't really a problem.No big deal


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## elleninpa (Mar 6, 2008)

There's a good story in Laura Ingalls books about stove blacking...seems mom and dad left for a week and Laura the younger sister got stuck doing the stove blacking and then 'dropped' the blacking onto the puncheon floor...a mess to clean up...but they did it by the time mom and dad got back...I think the dropped part was actually Laura throwing the blacking rag at her older sister?


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