Ash hoover - please help solve our domestic!

General Discussion
1

Mr H and I are currently locked into combat over this one so I thought I'd ask the group...


He maintains that a vacuum cleaner for the fire is an unnecessary expensive extra gadget.


I maintain that it is me who cleans the flipping thing out and me who coughs and splutters when the dust rises into the air.


So who has one? Are they any good? Did getting one change your life for ever? Should we get one? Is it worth arguing about? Or should I just buy one anyway and hide it from him?


If I got a small one I could probably keep it in the washing machine when not in use and he would NEVER find it.....

2

We got one for about 15 euros from Brico Depôt and it works quite well although you have to watch that the filter doesn't clog. It mosy certainly reduces dust but is more faff than a brush and dustpan!

3

Tim, try cleaning the glass with scrunched up newspaper moistened slightly then dipped in ash. Works like magic.

4

15€ for that price I'm heading over to Lidl!

Yes it is moi who does it. That bit I don't mind, it is cleaning the glass on our insert that's the nasty job.

5

I can't speak for your circumstance but every time we open the doors of our Deville Chambord the dust goes everywhere and that's just topping it up. As for cleaning out, we wouldn't be without our hot ash hoover. 35€ purchased from eBay uk and sent by mail at a cost of just 9€.

I would say beware that some hot ash hoovers are only happy with hot ash. Beware smouldering embers.

6

xxxx

7

Sadly I'm not married to your wife & nor is Catharine ;-)

8

And free! And, as my wife says, somehow rather symbiotic as the detrius created by the fire is used to clean the detrius from the glass!

9

I used to use special cleaning fluid, and it was a nightmare. Very caustic, horrible to use.

Now, it's newspaper dampened and dipped in ash, like David. Works a treat, no nasty chemicals, no mess of caustic stuff dripping everywhere.

10

Hi David, my wife uses a bottle of stuff that she buys from Carrefour and it lasts us all winter.

11

I'll bet you find something cheap at Emaus.

12

I deal with the ash from our fire in the office the same way that David does. However, I use our Dyson to hoover the ash from the pellet stove in the lounge. All ash, plus used tea leaves are put in an old wheel barrow and end up on the flower bed.

13

How does she clean it Mike? My wife uses scrunched up newspaper dampened with water and dipped in the ashes from the ash box - brilliant results and much quicker than anything else "we've" previously tried.

14

Then again Jill, my wife does the job cleanly and efficiently in less than 5, usually less than 3 - it's just down to me to take the ash box out and empty it. :)

15

:-)

16

We have a very good wood stove and we only need to empty the ash pan once a week, I gently break the cake at the bottom of the fire and use tongues to lift out some of the larger pieces, we always leave a lot of ash and cake in the bottom of the stove as this allows the fire to be kept going overnight. Whilst we are doing this the fire is always still kept going and it takes all of 3-4 mins. When we do a total shut down which is approx every 2 months, we sweep out and then I use the normal hoover to get into all the places that a brush cannot. When I have hoovered my wife cleans the glass and then within 5 mins we have a fresh raging fire again. Love our stove, easy to use and very low maintenance :-)

17

Maureen has mentioned the added benefit of putting the ashes on the garden - just don't do it on a windy day!

18

I'd get a new husband if I were you.

19

Yes Yes Yes - does the job cleanly and efficiently in less then 10 mins - no dust no fuss - Lidl often sell them for about 29 euros - Had mine 2 years now and never looked back!

20

We thought about it and decided unnecessary gadget we have an Esse cooker it has a pull out tray 5 min to empty, by the time i have walked down stairs to get it, gone back up plugged it in then taken it back again i could have done the job twice over, friend rushed out and bought two from Lidle 38€, one for her friend, both of them have gas central heating also a log burner which they light once a year at Christmas for effect to much trouble any other time classic example of buying for buying sake