Kibkom North Cyprus Forum

Please excuse me if I have posted a similar post.

Two years ago we bought a new log burner which until recently we have been very pleased with. We started with fires late December no problem at all.

A week ago we started with a problem. We lit the fire using the same wood we have had for the past two years, we light the fire using the same method we have for the last few months.

This is the problem, after only 15 /20 minutes the glass in the door goes Black, really Black, even worse in the morning we can hardly get the glass clean, we have to use brillo pads to work on it.

1. We have changed the wood we use, the flue has been swept, we changed the way we start the fire, it still persists, we even put the cowling back on which we took off a long time ago.

If there is anyone who has had a similar problem I would like to know how you solved it, thank you.

Mollie the cat, I googled this …….. Why does my wood fireplace glass get black?
If the glass doors on your wood-burning fireplace have turned black, there are two likely culprits: improper air flow (draft), and unseasoned (wet) wood. When there is a hinderance of air in the firebox, logs burn weakly and produce excess smoke and soot.

How to keep log burner glass clear?
To keep wood stove glass clean, use a glass cleaner specifically designed for stoves or a mixture of water and vinegar. Clean the glass when it's cool, and use a soft cloth or sponge to avoid scratching. Regular cleaning helps maintain efficiency and visibility.

How do I keep my fireplace glass from turning black?
To stop your stove or insert from sooting up, you should ensure you are burning your fire hot enough to activate the secondary burns. Also, it is recommended to burn your fire hot (with a wide-open air damper) for at least 20 minutes during your reloading period and before dampering down the air to the desired level.

Different quotes, but hopefully give you an idea.

Don't use Brillo pads on the glass in your door - it will scratch the glass - when the glass is scratched it allows the soot to attach to the glass much faster which means a black glass fast for you. Get some stove glass cleaner and use that, it will save you money in the long run as the replacement glass can be very expensive.

When you use your wood make sure that you load your fire so that the grain in the wood is not pointed towards the glass! I.E. if you use branch wood then lay it so it is longways onto the glass and not with the ends pointing at the glass.

Make sure your fire door seals are good as extra draft from gaps in the seals make your glass collect black smoke residue - I have had my door glass changed before this burning season and when it was fitted they left a gap of around half an inch in the top left hand corner - now I always have a dirty streak going up the whole left hand side of the glass.

Use a chimney thermometer as well. To cold a burn will allow creosote to build up on the glass as well. A roaring wood stove is a happy wood stove but don't let it burn too hot!!!

Best I can do for you and hope it helps.

Thank you for taking the trouble to research this subject. I also googled it, in fact I have googled it to death. The logs are well seasoned at least two years old, I have fail safe way of cleaning the glass, the dampner is open. Its so frustrating that since December its been perfect, this problem has only risen in the last 10 days. Oh well, more trial and error.

Hi Molly
It is definitely an air flow problem. Have you actually seen a very good smoke return coming out of the chimney when you first light the log burner?
I had the same problem as you last year after many years of no troubles at all. I checked outside for a smoke return and it was very poor. Both my airflows on the burner were fully open. On further investigation I found a bird had fallen down the chimney and had brought some soot with it these 2 things together were causing a blockage. I remover the blockage And hey presto back to a lovely warm smoke free log burner.
If you solve this problem you will also solve the glass problem. Good luck Tanky

A cheap but effective way to clean wood burner glass is to use a ceramic hob cleaner, available at Ileli. It's very mildly abrasive so won't scratch the glass but has enough strength to get rid of stubborn soot streaks.

Dampen a bit of newspaper and dip it in some fire ash. That will clean the glass at no cost

It sure whether ifs general but our wood burner has two controls, one at the bottom and one at the top. If the top one on ours is closed this causes the fire to burn slower and the glass to blacken a lot more.

Thanks everyone for your tips and advise, very much appreciated. Its quite odd that after I posted this we had the best fire ever last night, the glass took some cleaning again though this morning, I have set the fire up differently this morning lets see what happens later?