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Cleaning your stove: Advice and Tips

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If you are lucky enough to have a wood-burning or multi-fuel stove, you will want to keep it well maintained. That's because cleaning and maintaining your stove can be absolutely vital to the continual optimum performance of your stove, and its longevity. In this article, we nail down the reasons why it is important to clean your wood-burning stove, how you should clean it, and the tools you will need. Read on!

Why should I clean my wood-burning stove?

Quite simply, if you do not periodically clean your wood-burning stove, you are not giving it the best conditions to perform to the best of its ability. Cleaning your wood-burning stove in the manner which we recommend in this article prepares it for use, and ensures that it will function more efficiently for longer. We advise cleaning your wood-burning stove in the spring or summer months, meaning it will be ready for action when the temperatures begin to drop.

Stove DIY: How to clean a wood-burning stove

There are several elements of stove cleaning, which we will outline below:

Empty ash drawer

You should ensure that you empty the ash drawer all through the year, before it becomes full. However, at the bottom of the stove be sure to leave a layer of ash, as this provides insulation which can make fire lighting easier.

Clean glass

Soot stains can easily occur when the wood which you burn is too moist. But fear not - they are also easy to remove. Use a damp cloth dipped in cold ash and get to work on the sooty glass. Specific cleaning agents which do the job are also available.

Replace gaskets when necessary

You should replace your gaskets when they show signs of wear, as this is necessary to avoid wild combustion. Keep an eye on the condition of the gaskets in the ashpan and door of your stove.

Change the linings in the combustion chamber

It is only natural that the linings in the combustion chamber of your wood-burning stove will wear out over time. When the cracks become more than 1 cm wide, it is time to replace these tiles with new ones of the same size.

Outside and inside

Because the surface of a wood-burning stove is typically treated with wood-burning paint, it only requires a dusting with a cloth or vacuum, rather than the application of strong cleaning solutions. When it comes to internal elements such as the upper fireproof tile and flue pipe, this should be done fairly regularly, depending on how much the stove is used. You should always wait until the stove is completely cold before starting to clean.