Wood heat, love and hate

[Marianne]

I hear ya on the dust! But I love our woodburners. Cats and dogs add to the never ending layer of dust around here. What has helped is taking really diluted fabric softener (5 parts water to 1 part softener), spraying a cloth then dusting furniture. The furniture doesn't attract the dust nearly as much.
I use cut up t-shirts, stick them to my swiffer do-dad and hit the floors. I have been using 4 drops vegetable oil in a spray bottle filled w/ water for dust mop treatment. Shake and a couple sprays on the cloth and it grabs hair and crud like crazy.
I'm wondering now how the diluted fabric softener would work....hmmmmm.
Anyway, I love the stove! We also use a wood burning furnace for part of the house, but for some reason, I like to keep looking at the flames and hot coals in the stove.
Now I have to go haul more wood into the house! Yay, lawn tractor with cart!!

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

No vege oils or fabric softeners in our house though I can see why they help.
And I do love our stove, regardless of the mess. Those two emotions are intertwined for woodstove owners

 

[Marianne]

The fabric softener I have is what my son left here after an extended visit. I just use vinegar instead of softener in the laundry, but I like to use stuff that I have for other uses. That jug of softener will still be on the shelf after I kick the bucket at the rate I'm using it.
AND I got to thinking after I posted it.. I bet it's more like 7-10 parts water, 1 part softener. I tend not to measure stuff like this...Anyway, it really does help keep flying ash dust off the furniture. I can't think of another alternative at the moment.

You can use any kind of oil - olive, lemon, whatever you have. Just takes 4 drops in a spray bottle of water..sure not much, but it really does do a good job when you're dusting floors. Better than a regular dust mop.

 

[savingdogs]

So what do you use to clean the woodstove itself Marianne? You seem to have my style of cleaning products. I try to use mostly vinegar, baking soda, borax, dawn dishwashing detergent, Washing powder, pine sol, ammonia, fels naptha soap or bleach. I buy Windex and dryer sheets and those are my my only "prepared" products.

Are any of these good for cleaning the woodstove?

 

[Beekissed]

Murphy's Oil Soap....

 

[big brown horse]

And to clean the glass, I use a magic eraser. It is a microfiber sponge. Get it wet, squeeze it out and it takes off the soot with one swipe.

 

[savingdogs]

Excellent! I have both of those things here already!