How to Clean the Outside of a Wood Burning Stove
If you want to maintain a safe and functioning wood-burning stove, you need to clean it occasionally. Rust can threaten to eat through the metal of the wood stove without a regular cleaning. Wood stoves are also often a focal point in your home. Cleaning the outside of the wood stove helps maintain its classy appeal. When you finish cleaning the outside of your wood-burning stove, you may find yourself surprised at the amount of soot and grime you cleaned away. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
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Extinguish the fire in your wood stove. Leave the stove to cool off before you attempt to clean it. The fire can heat the surface of your wood stove to an uncomfortable level, so wait to clean the stove for your safety.
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Lay down spare sheets to protect your floor from falling debris (use old sheets you no longer use for your beds). This will help significantly cut down the time you take cleaning the area around the stove once you finish cleaning it.
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3
Dust the top and sides of the wood-burning stove with a dry cloth. This will remove the dust and some of the caked-on soot that dominate the surface of the stove.
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4
Fill a one-gallon bucket full of hot water (not too hot that you can't handle it, though). Add 1/2 cup of baking soda. The baking soda effectively strips grime and rust.
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Dip a cloth into the water. Swirl around the warm water and the baking soda with the cloth to ensure you catch some of the grains in your cloth.
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Ring out the cloth and wipe down the top of the wood-burning stove. Wash out your cloth in the bucket as needed.
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Scrub any areas that have a large buildup of grime with a stiff wire brush. The brush reaches deeper into the grime than the baking soda-covered cloth. Wash over these areas with the wet cloth to remove the flakes and dust left by the brush.
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Replace your water and baking soda if it becomes very dirty (for example, if it turns black). If your water is dirty, you will only be spreading around dirt instead of cleaning. Continue to wipe down the surface of the stove until your cloth comes away clean.
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Dry the surface of your stove with a dry, absorbent cloth. If you leave pools of moisture on the stove, it will lead to rust. Remove the old sheets around the base of the stove.
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Tips & Warnings
Apply a new layer of stove polish to the wood stove if you enjoy a shiny finish. Follow the instructions listed on the bottle of polish to apply it to the surface of the stove.
References
- Photo Credit Old Stove and Antique Chair image by bawinner from Fotolia.com
