Unlock the Power: Practical Uses and Surprising Benefits of Wood Stove Ashes!
Ash removal from a wood stove isn’t just dirty, precise work. There are many practical uses and surprising benefits of wood stove ashes. Unlocking the power of wood ash means you can save money and greatly enhance your life by putting those ashes to use. It’s easy once you realize that wood ashes have many dirty secrets! You’ll prize your wood stove more than ever if you use some or all of the tips below to reap the benefits of wood stove ashes.
Dirty Job #1
Cleaning ashes out of your wood stove, pellet stove, or fireplace is not a job to be done haphazardly. Many devastating fires have resulted from the mishandling of ashes. Once you’ve acquired proper supplies for handling wood ash, it’s as easy as following the steps below.
Supplies for ash removal:
Metal shovel
Metal bucket with a tight lid
Gloves
Ash vacuum dedicated to cleaning stoves and fireplaces (optional)
How to safely remove wood stove and fireplace ashes:
Don’t begin until at least 12 hours after the last fire has gone out.
Wear gloves for protection from the toxic, sooty materials.
Carefully examine the ash pile, looking for live embers. Extinguish hot embers or separate them from ashes, which should be completely cool.
Using the shovel, place the ashes in the metal bucket. (Alternately, use your dedicated ash vacuum.)
When finished, close the lid securely on the bucket.
Place the ash bucket or vacuumed materials outside on a non-combustible surface and be sure nothing flammable is nearby.
Benefits of Wood Stove Ashes
A lot can be said about the power of ashes! There are more details to be found on each of the benefits of wood stove ashes listed below. We’re just glad to point you in the right direction.
In winter, put a container of wood stove or fireplace ashes in the trunk of your vehicle. The ashes are useful for providing traction on icy patches and, in the right conditions, wood ashes can melt snow.
The solution for acidic soil, wood stove ashes can raise the pH of your garden bed soil.
Wood ash can help control algae growth in a pond by sprinkling it into the water.
Remove oil stains on your concrete or asphalt driveway with wood ash.
Force ants to relocate by sprinkling a layer of wood ash on any ant hills in your yard.
If your pet has a smelly skunk encounter, rub on wood ashes, which absorb the odor.
Sprinkle wood ash in your outdoor compost pile.
Form a paste with water and wood ashes, strap on some gloves, and then do some cleaning! The wood ash mixture cleans dirty glass, removes sticky residue and adhesives, buffs tarnished metals such as silver, cleans jewelry, and more.
Find step-by-step instructions online for making soap with wood ash.
Use wood ash as a tick repellent.
Put out campfires by submerging them in wood ash.
Contact A-1 Chimney for Wood Stove Installation
Does knowing the practical uses and surprising benefits of wood stove ashes tempt you to schedule a wood stove installation? Give the chimney sweep experts at A-1 Chimney Specialist a call. They can lead you to the sizes and types of wood stoves that would be the best fit for your home. We also provide the full gamut of chimney services, from chimney inspections and chimney cleaning to full masonry rebuilds, chimney cap installation, fixes for leaky chimneys, and much more.
