What the heck, stove glass cleaner smells like ammonia??

[Woody Stover]

Today, I picked up some Meeco's Red Devil Woodstove Glass Cleaner. It smells like ammonia (NH3.) The label says "Contains Sodium Hydroxide," which is lye (NaOH.) I though it wasn't recommended to use ammonia on ceramic glass. Seems to me that if it smells like ammonia, it's ammonia. But I'm not a rocket scientist or a chemist, so what do I know? I'm confused...

 

[Shari]

I just use damp newspaper to clean my glass. If there is a stubborn spot I just dip the damp newspaper into some of the ash. Cheap cure. Works great.

 

[Woody Stover]

I tried the snowleopard vinegar treatment on the black glass I got from the break-in fires I recently burned, and it worked pretty well. I could see the vinegar getting underneath the soot and breaking it loose.

 

[Fsappo]

I just smelled some Meeco, didnt smell like anything to me. But the newspaper in the ashes thing does work 90% of the time. I just use the meeco stuff when I get the heavy black buildup. Then I'll soak it in the meeco soup

 

[Woody Stover]

I just smelled some Meeco, didnt smell like anything to me.

This is the stuff I got. They also had another Meeco's in the same spray bottle, but with a blue label. I didn't look closely, but I assume it's the same stuff and they just changed the label. I saw online that they also have a product in a cream formula, maybe that's different. Which one did you sniff, Franks?

 

[Alan68]

The ashes from the stove on a damp newspaper work great, except for some really stubborn cases. That's when I would use the cleaner made specifically for woodstove glass. The reason the ashes work is they used to be used to be boiled together with water to make lye.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

When you guys get real daring, try using a razor blade to scrape the glass.

Matt

 

[HotCoals]

When you guys get real daring, try using a razor blade to scrape the glass.

Matt

That's what I do..works great,takes just a minute or two.
Scrape in one direction and it helps to dip it in water.
Glass man on here told me that.

 

[laynes69]

I know in the old days they needed lye to make soap. So they would run water through wood ash to make lye. I think that's why a damp rag with ash works so well. Seems to cut it everytime.

 

[Wood Heat Stoves]

When you guys get real daring, try using a razor blade to scrape the glass.

Matt

That's what I do..works great,takes just a minute or two.
Scrape in one direction and it helps to dip it in water.
Glass man on here told me that.

I wouldn't recommended razor blade. It can etch the glass if you're not careful and that can cause it to crack along the line.

 

[HotCoals]

When you guys get real daring, try using a razor blade to scrape the glass.

Matt

That's what I do..works great,takes just a minute or two.
Scrape in one direction and it helps to dip it in water.
Glass man on here told me that.

I wouldn't recommended razor blade. It can etch the glass if you're not careful and that can cause it to crack along the line.

I dunno..it works good for me and was told by a glass guy on here..forget who it was now that it would not hurt anything if you don't go nuts.
No probs so far.

 

[nate379]

That is what I use as well.

 

[gyrfalcon]

I just use damp newspaper to clean my glass. If there is a stubborn spot I just dip the damp newspaper into some of the ash. Cheap cure. Works great.

Regular old paper towels work just as well and easier to handle. With darker spots, just use a little of what my late mother called "elbow grease."

The stove glass cleaners are a deliberate rip-off targeted at people who reflexively buy special "cleaners" for everything. It's completely unnecessary.

 

[DanCorcoran]

My owner's manual specifically says not to use a razor blade or any other sharp object to clean the "glass", so I don't.

 

[Steamer]

I have been using ammonia to clean the glass on my Nashua since 1985 and the glass looks same as the day I bought the stove.

 

[adrpga498]

I use DRY wood, so I guess I'm missiing sumptin.

 

[Milton Findley]

I use DRY wood, so I guess I'm missiing sumptin.

So if I use dry wood I won't get any soot at all? Even with the fire damped down? And cool air coming in towards the end of the burn a much reduced stove temperature?

I know the difference between a sea story and a fairy tale, and I suppose a wood stove story could start out with, "This ain't no soot..."

 

[leeave96]

My Dad used ammonia on his VC Encore - he was to cheap to buy anything with a brand name on it if he could help it.....

 

[woodchip]

I know in the old days they needed lye to make soap. So they would run water through wood ash to make lye. I think that's why a damp rag with ash works so well. Seems to cut it everytime.

I use wood ash and newspaper, never used anything else.

Before the Industrial Revolution, virtually everybody used wood for heating and cooking. Wood ash was used for all sorts of cleaning purposes, being mildly caustic, and soaps being made from lye from the ash.
After the Industrial Revolution, the population increased, and most people switched to coal for heating as it was cheaper, and supplies of wood were not enough for everbody. That is when you started getting expensive and complex alternative soaps and detergents coming along, as the simple basic cleaners were not around so much.

Nice to see some of the old ideas still around or making a comeback, our ancestors would be proud of us........ possibly!

 

[guy01]

When you guys get real daring, try using a razor blade to scrape the glass.

Matt

That is what I do it works for me
Guy

 

[Danno77]

i burn it real hot for a few minutes and it's gone. If I want to clean it I get a damp rag and dip it into the ash bucket or there are usually some ashes on the tray to wipe up anyway. works well if there is a little soot on the window, too. If you are damping it down enough that you are getting a LOT of this on your window, then imagine how much is building up in the rest of the stove.

 

[ControlFreak]

I use DRY wood, so I guess I'm missiing sumptin.

So if I use dry wood I won't get any soot at all? Even with the fire damped down? And cool air coming in towards the end of the burn a much reduced stove temperature?

I know the difference between a sea story and a fairy tale, and I suppose a wood stove story could start out with, "This ain't no soot..."

I don't get all this discussion about cleaning creosote off the door glass.

If your stove is not a cat or everburn, then you shouldn't have any creosote on your glass. You're either damping down too much, or your wood is wet, or you have draft problems. The point is that a proper running secondary-burn stove shouldn't be gunking up the glass, and if something happens and you do get some creosote, it should burn off with the next fire.

 

[laynes69]

Our glass gets a slight haze to it, never black. With the glass taking almost the whole front of the furnace, I don't expect it to stay 100% clean. Sometimes I will see ash on the glass, which I find odd.

 

[Nate Finch]

Hmm... the point about never getting black on the glass is an interesting one. We definitely get it after a couple weeks of solid burning. I can't keep the fire at the perfect temperature all the time, and occasionally the wood I've brought in has had some snowmelt on it and is a bit wet..... plus, I do shut it down a lot at night.... only way I can fill it with enough wood to keep it burning at night without burning the house down.

As for what to use to clean the door... I tried newspaper and paper towels and all that... best thing I found is just a normal scrubby sponge from the kitchen with plain water. Works like a charm.

 

[kettensäge]

X5 on the razor scraper, usually around reload time, as needed.