soot on mica?

I posted this comment in another thread but thought I would get a better response here. The stove petered out the other night (wife was in charge...lol). Good timing, the weather warmed up a bit, decided to give it a good cleaning. I switched to wood today just to take the chill out. Weather is supposed to stay warm the next 2 days so looks like I'll be burning wood. I've been getting a nasty soot buildup on my mica when burning wood. I spoke with Larry T about this issue and he told me the wood is probably green. Hard to believe, it's been sitting well over a year? Another member suggested using ash to clean the soot off the glass. The ash trick works wonders, but it tends to ruin the mica. It can't take much abuse. I was wondering if anyone ran into this problem? I was thinking about getting a custom piece of glass made for my Chubby hoping it would hold up better than the mica, probably big bucks! I suppose my options are burn the wood and get the soot. Burn the coal and sweat. Or let the oil burner kick on in warmer temps. What to do, what to do? I may just keep a spare set of mica for when I burn wood.

Did you try newspaper? I wipe my glass off with newspaper, cleans it rather well. Sometimes I burn the paper but the I have to reclean the glass.

Do you use the newspaper wet or dry? I assume you are using it on glass? I am dealing with mica, a bit fragile. Thanks for the advice...

The mica is very brittle I would try something soft like a damp paper towel and gently see what you get. I just replaced the mica in my stove and will be watching to find out what works for you, good luck.

echos67 wrote:The mica is very brittle I would try something soft like a damp paper towel and gently see what you get. I just replaced the mica in my stove and will be watching to find out what works for you, good luck.

Thanks echos67, I've tried just a damp towel. It does get most of the soot off but I have to clean it often. If I let it go for several hours then it gets baked on the mica and nearly imposible to get off, thats where the ash comes in. It works, but destroys the mica.

tcalo wrote:

echos67 wrote:The mica is very brittle I would try something soft like a damp paper towel and gently see what you get. I just replaced the mica in my stove and will be watching to find out what works for you, good luck.

Thanks echos67, I've tried just a damp towel. It does get most of the soot off but I have to clean it often. If I let it go for several hours then it gets baked on the mica and nearly imposible to get off, thats where the ash comes in. It works, but destroys the mica.

Cover the mica on the inside with foil for the wood burning and remove when going back to coal, just a thought to maybe keep it clean ?

I like that idea. Might have to give it a try. Thanks!

Anytime you use wood to start your fires, your windows are going to get all covered with crud. Even dry wood will still cause it. You should use charcoal to start your fires with. It will be much cleaner and the windows will be much easier to clean. If I use wood, I cover the loading door on the inside with aluminum foil.
This is how I clean my windows. Get a soft rag that you will dedicate to this purpose, then get some Windex. Warm soapy water works just fine as well. Wet the cloth and gently rub it on the window. The dirt will come off. You can do this even when the stove is going. The best time is when the fire is cool obviously. Mica is very easy to clean, but; delicate as well. It is also very cheap to replace and you should have a few extra panes on hand just in case.

Here is how I clean the mica on the stoves I have owned (soot or just fly ash that sticks to it). I take one piece of paper towel fold it a couple of times and roll it (so its like a cigar). soak one end of the "cigar" with alcohol and begin scrubbing/wiping. If there is alot of soot it will loosen the but kinda smeer it so then use the other end of the cigar soaked with fresh alcohol which should make it crystal clear. I do this as william said when the stove is kinda cooler as to not thermal shock the mica. I like the alcohol as it breaks down the gunk and it evaporates quick.
(Disclaimer,Disclaimer I have had no issues but remember you have alcohol around an open flame, Disclaimer,Disclaimer)

I take one paper towel and brace the mica on the outside while using another paper towel with Rutland glass cleaner on the inside. The Rutland cleaner works very well for wood soot.

One thing that helps when starting a fire with wood is to let the front door/s opened a little to allow an air curtain flow betwen the mica and the fume so the fume goes to the flue as fast as possible.
When needing to clean the mica, I open the door and if the stove is burning, I place a foil on the opening, wait a few minutes to let the mica and the mica's support get cool then take a wet paper towel to clean the mica and have a dry one to finish the job.
Mica is fragile and it's better to use a soft paper/towel...to clean them.
Be shure to use CLEAN water to clean your mica

A soft cloth works better than paper towels. Paper towels will slowly scratch the mica over time. Soap, water or some Windex and a cloth. That's all you need.

well the best way so far i have found for cleaning the mica is to NEVER do it while the mica is HOT....when I start my wood fire I cover the load door (mica windows) with a aluminum foil doubled until I establish a good coal fire then remove the foil if ya do this the coal fire will take a long time to dirty the panes but when it is time I use NOVUS plastic polish and a terry cloth towel to clean of the crud and shine them back up.....if you open up the draft and let the load door open for a few minutes to let the panes cool down and with a gentle touch the NOVUS works awesome!...i found this one because i was tryin to find something that wouldnt make my mica delaminate like other products i tried have and my boys had a bottle of NOVUS settin on the shelf...they use it on there 4-Wheeler plastics and figured what the heck...well it works great..the solvents have not hurt the mica at all and my panes are nice and clear.