Cleaning a Pot Belly Stove

[Boots]

Does anyone know how to go about this?

I am unsure if there is a special thing to buy, or do I just use soapy water?

It is only used for a month or two each year, and is looking quite worse for wear. Lots of surface rust... Not sure if I should be using water on it, but figure anything else would probably smoke when it was used again?

Any tips from those a little more adept at winter business?

[Muddypause]

Presumably cast iron?

Two thoughts come to mind:-

1) The old cast iron kitchen range would be regularly 'black-leaded' to keep it looking good (actually graphite; nothing to do with Pb lead). This was, apparently, a filthy job that needed doing often.

2) Cast iron cookware is 'seasoned' with oil, which gives it a black, rust resistant surface. The oil is applied, and then the pan heated up to a fairly high temperature for a while, with more oil being applied as necessary. Google will take you to loads of pages about it.

The relatively high carbon content of cast iron means it tends not to rust in the same way as steel; it is much slower to oxidise, forming a patina on the surface, rather than holes though the thing, so rusting cast iron need not be as terminal as rusting steel. None the less, I would suggest a good scrub with a wire brush before you do anything else may be a good idea. Rinsing down with water is OK as long as you can dry it off straight away.

[puheen]

i have an old castiron stove and about once every 6 or 8 weeks i dust it down as best i can and give it a good coat of oil
i use baby oil and on occasion have used olive oil
have used grate polish a couple of times it is messey but helps to restore some of the black colour

[Boots]

Does it then smoke inside the house when you use it again?

[puheen]

if it does i have never really noticed
the oil appears to have either dried or been absorbed by the cast iron after a day or so

[Boots]

OK, will give it a whirl. Our cold snap has been and gone, as quick as it came, I think. So it will have heaps of time to soak in now.

[Boots]

Am so impressed with this...

Took me a while, but I finally got around to oiling it and it looks Mickey Mouse! I swear some bugger snuck in here and swapped it with a new one.

One of the dogs keeps stopping at it for a bit of a lick as it walks by. I saw this old painting once of a dog licking an old stove. The picture had me puzzled and I kept wondering what it was doing, and why the artist would draw it... I think I have just worked it out. I guess it was a common sight once.

Anyways - thanks heaps for the info. Will let you know if it catches on fire next time I light it...

[Shirley]

Hurrah!! That's worth knowing.. we are going to be getting a woodburning stove this week

[Welsh Girls Allotment]

I am going to try this, my stove has a rusty mark where my beloved staggered home from the pub and left his vodka and coke on top of the stove so I will try this - maybe you could put essential oils in the mix to make it smell nice when it is relit as my little stove is going full pelt at the moment.