How To Clean Fireplace or Wood Heater Glass

There is nothing like a warm-glowing fireplace to warm your bones in the chill of winter.  Our wood heater fills our home with such a wonderful ambiance during the winter months, it really feels like the heart of our home.  Now, a fire-place is not the cleanest nor the neatest part of the house, but you soon forget about this, when you are curled up beside it on a cold winter's night.

We got this great tip many years ago from a wonderful Canadian friend of ours...  She came to visit one wild and wooly winter night and showed us how to give our wood-heater fireplace a face lift!  I guess growing up in Canada, every household has a fireplace and hence the know-how that we were obviously lacking.  We have been so thankful for her sharing this tip with us,  so I thought I would share the secret with you, so that your fireplace can look like this too:

Ok, this is the 'before' photo - yuk!  Ash, soot and dirt all built up on the glass of the wood heater is something that just happens.

Step 1 - Make a ball of newspaper, and spray it with water.

Step 2 - Dip the newspaper in ash from inside the fireplace (yes - the ash!)

Step 3 - Rub the 'ashed' newspaper over the glass, just as if cleaning a window.

Step 4 - Spray the glass with water and use a new ball of newspaper to wipe it clean.

 
It really works!

Magic!  Easy!  And now we can enjoy our fireplace and the beautiful 'view' :)

(PS - The photos are 'action' shots as Mick was not willing to pose for the blog!)