Wood Ash and the wife, I am so in the dog house.....

[avalancher]

Anyone got some tips, I am all ears. Every time I shovel the ash out of our woodstove, some of it kinda wanders out and eventually ends up settling on nearby furniture.Not a lot mind you, but you know how fine some of that stuff is.

The wife has been hospitalized the past week, and came home yesterday.In my haste to keep up with work, chores, and running to the hospital and staying till near midnight almost every night, I guess I really hurried through several ash cleanings and the house has a fine coat over all the furniture.Being a guy I never noticed,but since she normally dusts anything not moving every other day, she did.Needless to say, she was pretty cranky about the whole deal.And here I thought I did a bang up job keeping the house clean while she is gone.

Anyone have any tips or tricks for containing the ash dust that drifts out when cleaning ash?

 

[John R]

Only way I know of to keep ash out of the house, is not burn wood in the house.

 

[jags]

Do you clean ash from a cold stove or hot? Believe it or not, I find that cleaning a few shovels out while the stove is still quite hot allows for most of the fines to be drawn up the stack. Keep the bucket very close to the open door while doing this. You will notice the fly ash getting sucked back into the stove.

 

[Mike PA]

You're not the first to have a cranky dusty wife... Hope she is doing well, BTW.

Not that I have done this, but if you are going to be really concerned about the dust, keep a spray bottle of water handy to spray on the ashes and knock down the dust.

I have an ash pan that I can remove. I usually slide the pan into a can, put the lid over it, and slowly pull the pan out. I still get dust, but not too bad.

You could try running a shop vac near you when you empty the ashes, may suck in some of the dust. Of coarse, if you have a bad filter, any dust you suck in may get accerated to other parts of the house.

 

[sunfish]

That is a bummer!

My wife appreciates a warm house, with no heating bills and doesn't mind a bit of ash dust

 

[atlarge54]

It's called living. My woodburner is outdoors and we still grow dust and cobwebs on everything.

Tell your wife she's lucky to have you to keep the house warm.

 

[mga]

my old lady works and i don't....so, i get to clean out the fire and dust the house.

problem solved.

i think.

 

[showrguy]

"one who runs with beer" , thats funny..

i'd open all the doors and windows, then run through the whole house with your leaf blower........
tell her you don't wanna hear her squalking about dust anymore so your taking care of it...
problem solved..

 

[hoosier daddy]

I'd take a piece of rubber hose about 3' long into the house and tell her that if she doesn't quit her complaining that I was going to work her over...Then I'd run like ____ and hope she didn't catch me again...

Last time it took a week for the welts to go down...at least I learned not to use an old fan belt though...

 

[Iska3]

I always kept a little fire going in the stove so the draft would suck up some of the ashes. If that don't work try a lot of Hugs, KIsses and some nice roses.

Hope the wife is doing better.

I'd send you a rep for the black eye but I need to pass more around first. :beat-up:

 

[Dieselbreath]

I've never been able to entirely eliminate all the dust but here's how I do it:

Tip the ash can as close to the firebox opening as you can.
Scoop up the ashes, wait for the dust to settle before you move the scoop to the ash can.
Gently insert the scoop into the ashes in the bottom of the can & slowly withdraw the scoop.
Repeat.
Slowness is the operative word here.

P.S. If you have a damper, open it up and some of the dust might be drawn up.

 

[jimbojango]

All my ash goes in a 12 quart pail. I just set it in front of the stove and take the little shovel and shovel it out. Whatever falls on my hearth (which has edges) i use the stupid little broom and clean up. Wife vacuums once a year.. maybe.. house is always a mess.. 2 year old daughter makes it that way. We're just happy to clean it up enough every night it looks presentable if someone comes over, to hell with worrying about ash we both have things to do!

 

[darkbyrd]

And here I thought I did a bang up job keeping the house clean while she is gone.

That's what I always think, but it's always found lacking:dont-know:

 

[woodbooga]

Every time I shovel the ash out of our woodstove, some of it kinda wanders out and eventually ends up settling on nearby furniture

Wipe off the furniture with a rag. If the only nearby furniture is upholstered, you might not have necessary clearance. Good earlier advice about 'hot cleanings' to draw fly ash upwards and outwards.

Hope your wife is well and that her hospitalization hasn't been too tough on the girls.

 

[leadarrows]

I might add cracking open a window at the far end of the house from the stove to increase the draw.

 

[angelo c]

I've found hiring very young and attractive "maids" helps my wife forget about the need to have a clean house...:bulgy-eyes:

 

[Snowchief]

Do a search on something called an "ash trap" shovel. If you can transport the ash outside before dumping it in a can then you might be home free.

Alternatively, maybe use a tiny shovel and coffee can and do all of the work completely inside of the stove? Then you could dump the coffee can into a more suitable container outside.

 

[Chip_365]

I've wondered if this type of thing might work. Price is a bit high especially with shipping.

Ash Scoop Shovel Fireplace Wood Stove No Vacuum Bucket on eBay.ca (item 300487995462 end time 29-Jan-11 19:56:16 EST)

Here is a less expensive one. The handle makes me wonder?

ASH SHOVEL ALL METAL on eBay.ca (item 320600876869 end time 05-Feb-11 07:17:14 EST)

 

[o8f150]

i leave my shop vac handy. when i get ready to clean out the stove i turn the vac on and put the nozzle near the shovel and it will suck most all the dust out of the air

 

[turnkey4099]

Ash pan under grate, open door pull pan being careful not to bump it - out door and spread on lawn. Only do it with a hot fire and the draft keeps the flyash mostly up the chimney.

Vacuum cleaner and ashes!!!??? That is an instant fire bomb if there are any hot coals/sparks.

Harry K