Using the Atmosfire wood stove dry wipe glass cleaner.
The Atmosfire, dry wipe glass cleaner.
The first week with our new wood burning stove was a bittersweet time, I loved the fire but I hated the sooty glass each morning. I tried the web and found all sorts of solutions, from rubbing with damp newspaper and wood ash to using expensive, messy chemicals. Plus I seem to have to scrub hard to get it sparkling again.
Then I found a dry wipe called ‘Atmosfire’ and my troubles were over. A few seconds each morning literally wipes off any soot in seconds. Followed by a couple of quick taps of the sponge on the firebox walls to ’empty’ the collected soot and all is ready for firing up again.
I clean the stove glass every day because it’s so easy and only takes a few seconds. This ensures that thicker deposits don’t get a chance to build up, plus it means you don’t miss any of the gorgeous flames! If you’re getting soot that doesn’t easily wipe away with the Atmosfire, then you might need to look at the way that you are building your fires. Cold or damp wood or not letting the fire get established enough before closing the door would be my first guess. A healthy fire using clean, dry wood and getting plenty of air should burn hot and bright, incinerating all the smoke that would otherwise soot up your glass.
I got mine from amazon.co.uk, just click stove or fireplace glass cleaner to take a look, or just ask for a ‘dry wipe’ at your local stove store (if they don’t stock the Atmosfire brand).
Wipe using this side only and the soot just lifts away.
The business side of the oven glass cleaner, is a pad tough enough to dislodge and lift off the soot on the glass door but not scratch it. It’s special shape means that corners are easily cleaned too. Simply take the dry wipe out of the box and wipe all around your glass applying a very light pressure. You can linger over any stubborn bits which usually yield after a few extra passes; remember it’s not abrasive enough to damage your glass.
The founders of the specialized glass industry Schott, worked closely with wire wool experts from Oscar Weil to perfect this, the worlds first dry wipe glass cleaner. Mostly to counter customers complaints that “stove glass is too difficult to keep clean”.
This dry wipe glass cleaner is cheaper than chemical cleaners, plus there’s no danger of damaging your oven door seals or making a mess on the hearth. Once you’ve tried an Atmosfire glass cleaner, you’ll never go back to any other way of keeping your stove’s glass sparkling clean. All the better to see those wonderfully relaxing and warming flames. Now where’s my pipe and slippers….
p.s. UPDATE Below…
Made a video today to try out a new camera…. see what you think…
Stay well
by Ian Anderson
p.p.s. A lot of the soot I experienced that first week or two was because I had not mastered the art of firemaking! Once I realised that the fire needed MUCH more air for the first 10 mins or so (don’t close the door fully) and to not close down the air damper until the fire was really going. Use the colour of the flames as a guide, too orange and the fires not getting enough air. Aim for yellow and all is good in the world….
Atmosfire Top Tip
After getting a lot of questions on the site about the Atmosfire dry wipe I just wanted to add this. If your stove has a really dirty glass don’t use your brand new Atmosfire to clean it. Why? Because you’ll half destroy is scrubbing away years of black build up. This is not what the dry wipe is for. Dry wipes are for glass maintenance. It’s best to clear off the years of build up using a chemical cleaner and newspaper etc. Once the glass is clean the dry wipe will keep it that way forever. Easily.
Getting More From Your Atmosfire Dry Wipe
With a little maintenance
My Atmosfire glass cleaner is getting on for 3 years old now and is used twice daily for about 5 months of the year. Unsurprisingly, after all that use, it’s starting to show a little wear around the edges. This is not a huge problem but it’s a little tricky to get right up the edge of the glass. Then I had the idea to trim the pad back a little, exposing a new, flat area of the cleaning pad. The job was simplicity itself. A large pair of sturdy scissors made short work cutting away a tiny part of the front and rear edges of the pad. a quick trim up of the foam backing and the pad was as good as new.
Cut away any worn edges with a sturdy pair of scissors.
