Cleaning the chimney disc: 5 means against sooty stove discs

• Ash - free and well-tried
• Black tea - against soot
• Essigessenz - the universal cleaner
• Soda - for stubborn dirt
• Coffee grounds - gentle scouring agent

A crackling fire in the stove spreads pleasant warmth and a pleasant atmosphere. The look into the fire lets the thoughts wander off and relaxes. But only as long as the view is not clouded by a sooty chimney. If the disc is sooty, many resort to the expensive special washers for oven discs. How to clean the chimney with simple home remedies can be found in this guide.

The causes of soot burning in the hearth can be damp wood or too much wood in the hearth. Once the disc is sooty, only cleaning helps. However, to free the stove disc from soot, you need no expensive special cleaner with many chemical ingredients. With natural and inexpensive home remedies, the glass oven door can be cleaned just as quickly. Two things are important here too: To protect your hands from soot and cleaner, always wear rubber gloves when cleaning. And, so that the cleaning effort is limited, it is advisable to cover the area under the disc generously with 2 to 3 layers of newsprint.

Tip: Fireplace and chimney should be completely cooled before cleaning. On a warm glass of the cleaning agents dry too quickly and the effect fizzles.

Ash - free and well-tried

The ashes of burned wood have been used for more than 4, 000 years for various cleaning purposes. Until the middle of the last century, an effective wash liquor was also produced in this country with ash and water to clean the laundry. Ash includes calcium oxide, potassium oxide, sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate. These ingredients act on the one hand as very gentle scouring agents, on the other hand, they form dissolved in water, a lye. The cleaning effect of the ashes is as it were on two legs.

You need this:

• fresh ash from the oven
• Newsprint or kitchen towels from the roll
• warm water
• rubber gloves
• a clean cleaning cloth to wipe

Tip: Bright ash cleans an oven door better than dark ash. Make sure that there are no more embers in the ashes.

How to do it:
Fold one sheet of newspaper or one or two kitchen towels and moisten on one corner. Pick up some ash from the hearth with the damp area and wipe it horizontally or vertically over the chimney pan with light pressure. Repeat the process several times until the glass is clean. Then wipe the window with a damp cleaning cloth to remove dirt. Finally, rub the disc dry.

Cost & time:
Cleaning a sooty glass with ash is the cheapest method. Ash and newspaper are available free of charge. Only with the use of kitchen towels from paper a few cents are due for the cloths.

The time required for this cleaning method is comparatively low. Since no major preparations are required, the windscreen cleaning with a little practice in 5 to 10 minutes done.

Black tea - against soot

Black tea with lemon is a long-established home remedy for cleaning and caring for wood and for streak-free cleaning of windows. It is important to combine the tannins from the tea with the acid of the lemon. Black tea alone does not have much effect on soiling. Only in conjunction with the acid, the tannins unfold their full cleaning potential.

You need this:

• 3 to 4 bags of black tea
• 1 liter of water
• a lemon
• 1 plastic bottle
• rubber gloves
• cleaning cloths

How to do it:
Boil well one liter of water in a saucepan and let the tea soak in it for about 10 minutes. When the tea has cooled, add the juice of a lemon.

The solution is easier to dose when you transfer them to a clean plastic bottle (rinsing or cleaning agent bottle). In the bottle, the solution can also be stored in the refrigerator for several weeks.

For cleaning, a suitable cleaning cloth, such as a sponge cloth or a few sheets of kitchen paper, with the tea-lemon mixture moistened well and wiped with light pressure on the window of the oven door. If the disc is free of soot, wipe with clear water and then rub the disc dry.

Cost & time:
For cleaning, the cheapest tea from the discount store. The proportion of tea is then 10 to 15 cents per 1 liter of detergent. In addition, there is the price for a lemon with around 25 cents. Once again, the cleaner becomes cheaper if, instead of the juice of a fresh lemon, you use a tablespoon of lemon juice concentrate from the small yellow plastic bottles to one liter of tea. The time required for window cleaning (without tea preparation) is about 10 minutes.

Tip: Instead of the lemon juice, you can also use 1 tablespoon of vinegar essence or 2 to 3 tablespoons of white wine vinegar per liter of tea.

Essigessenz - the universal cleaner

Vinegar cleaners are a universal cleaning agent and can be found in almost every household. However, one does not have to resort to an industrially produced vinegar cleaner, if you want to clean a stove disc quickly and thoroughly. You can easily make a highly effective vinegar cleaner yourself with vinegar essence and water in the blink of an eye.

You need this:

• 100 ml of vinegar essence
• 400 ml of water
• sponge cloth
• rubber gloves
• Plastic bowl
• warm water for wiping

How to do it:
Mix 400 ml of water with 100 ml of vinegar essence in a bowl. At a 1: 4 ratio of vinegar to water, the cleaner is usually strong enough. If necessary, the effect can be enhanced by the addition of more vinegar essence. Also, a few drops of detergent can help remove any fingerprints and other greasy soiling on the chimney.

To clean the oven disk, dip a sponge cloth into the vinegar solution and squeeze it out until it is only wet and no longer dripping. With the damp cloth, clean the pane of the oven door, starting from the top. In between rinse the cloth briefly in clear water. Finally, wipe the glass with pure water and rub dry.

Cost & time:
100 ml of vinegar essence for half a liter of vinegar cleaner cost, depending on the manufacturer, about 20 - 30 cents. For the cleaner, take the cheapest product with 25% acid that you can find. The time required for window cleaning is about 10 - 15 minutes.

Tip: Remaining vinegar solution is perfect for cleaning the toilet or removing limescale around washbasin taps

Soda - for stubborn dirt

With the advent of modern, chemical cleaning agents, the cleaning effect of soda has been more and more forgotten. Soda, however, is still one of the most effective home remedies for dirt. The chemical name for soda is sodium carbonate. Sodium carbonate is also part of wood ash. When dissolved in water, soda produces a more or less strong lye, which, like wood ash, is ideal for cleaning sooty oven panes.

When dealing with soda, however, a certain caution is required. Soda is a fine powder and dust very easily. When inhaled, soda irritates the respiratory tract. Also the eyes and the skin are irritated by soda. When preparing and using the cleaner you should therefore wear rubber gloves and avoid the formation of dust. Like any cleaner, soda must be kept out of the reach of children.

You need this:

• 0.5 to 1 tablespoon of soda
• 1 liter of lukewarm water
• rubber gloves
• cleaning cloths
• Plastic bowl

How to do it:
Mix 1 liter of lukewarm water with a maximum of 1 tablespoon of soda in a bowl until the soda has completely dissolved. The easiest way to clean the glass with a sponge cloth is to moisten the solution. With the damp cloth, you can then easily wipe the chimney piece by piece. To avoid streaks and streaks, rinse the cloth in clear water over and over again. Finally, wash the oven disc with clear water and dry thoroughly.

Tip: Aluminum parts and painted surfaces should not come into contact with the soda solution. Both can be attacked by soda and damaged.

Cost & time:
500 g of washing soda cost about 1 Euro. The package s are enough for about 50 to 100 cleaning solutions. Thus, one liter of soda solution costs about 1 to 2 cents. Washing soda is available in every drugstore. The time required for window cleaning is about 10 - 15 minutes.

Coffee grounds - gentle scouring agent

Coffee grounds are available fresh in almost every household daily. The finely ground, moist coffee powder is a gentle scouring agent, with which even thicker soot layers can be easily removed.

You need this:

• coffee grounds
• dish soap
• paper towels
• Warm water
• rubber gloves
• clean cleaning cloth for wiping

How to do it:
Place one teaspoon on two or three folded and moistened paper towels. A drop of detergent also removes greasy soiling. Rub the coffee grounds with the cloths over the glass surface of the oven door with light pressure. Depending on the degree of soiling, you will need to take new cloths with coffee grounds a few times. Then the disc is washed off with clear water and dried.

Cost & time:
The coffee grounds are free. Only for the paper towels and the detergent are a few cents to calculate. The time required for cleaning windows with coffee grounds is about 15 minutes.