The neighbor told how to make the chimney “self-cleaning” when the stove is fired up. All his life he stokes with wood, knows what he is talking about
Nowadays, many people heat their homes with gas or electricity. But there are many homes that continue to use stoves and fireplaces. For some it is a special kind of pleasure, for others it is a forced necessity.
Everyone who uses stoves and fireplaces knows about the need to clean the chimney. It so happened that a few years ago we became the owners of a wonderful country house with a fireplace. And yes, we do not use it so often, but nevertheless, we decided to study the rules of use, prevention and cleaning right away.
Professionals recommend cleaning the chimney every six months. The new chimney can be cleaned after a year, and then stably and according to plan - every 6 months. If these terms do not suit you, you should focus on the thickness of the soot on the walls. If it exceeds 3 mm, it is worth starting cleaning.
Many people neglect the rule of timely cleaning of the chimney. And in vain! After all, this is how they increase the consumption of firewood. Due to the large amount of soot, it becomes more difficult and longer to melt the stove and heat the house with it. Therefore, I highly recommend - clean the chimney regularly if you don't want to waste money on firewood.
Stores sell various products to clean chimneys. But it turns out that you can easily do without them. An elderly neighbor shared with me his method of cleaning the chimney. He uses it regularly. Thanks to this, he did not have to call in specialists or resort to the use of chemistry. He uses a different method, by the way, proven by more than a dozen years. If you heat a stove or fireplace in a bathhouse or house with wood, then you definitely need to know this method!
Soot constantly accumulates on the walls of the chimney. It builds up and can clog the chimney. This must not be allowed. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out preventive cleaning of the chimney. My neighbor uses potato peels for this. I am now doing exactly the same on his advice! And I never regretted that I listened.
Fresh or dried potato peels must be added to the wood in the stove or fireplace when lighting. Starch, which is very abundant in potatoes, reacts with soot, softens and removes it. As a result, if you just throw potatoes or potato peels every time you light up the stove or fireplace, you won't have to clean the chimney at all. It will self-clean thanks to the potatoes, or rather the starch it contains.
Here is such a trick of a neighbor-stove-maker, which can make life very much easier for all those who heat the stove with wood!