Use dry cleaning methods only. Some people vacuum their stoves, if you have suitable attachment and the stove and ash are both cold. If you need to re-touch your paint follow the guidance below
To clean the painted surface, let the stove cool down and either wipe it with a dry soft lint free cloth or brush it with a soft brush such as a dustpan brush or clean dry paintbrush.
Use dry cleaning methods only. Some people vacuum their stoves, if you have suitable attachment and the stove and ash are both cold. If you need to re-touch your paint follow the guidance below
It is possible to paint your vitreous flue to match the stove colour. However we don’t recommend painting single walled flue in the polar bear belly colour. It is the least temperature tolerant of our colours, added to the thermal nature of flue, which will expand and contract, some customers have been disappointed with the results. So we now recommend either black vitreous or stainless steel flue for polar stoves, where a single walled length is being used. For all other colours or for touching up an area of your stove there are 3 steps.
The most critical step is surface preparation. The paint will adhere to the surface coat, if there is rust, it will fail. If the stove/flue has a coating that is peeling, blistering or chalking in any way, the topcoat will release in the same way. If there is oil/grease/contaminant the paint will not adhere.
Trouble shooting
Paint coming off in patches indicates a problem with surface preparation. The remedy is to remove the paint, prepare the surface and start again.
(vapour and propellant are flammable, avoid all naked flames and sparks)
Trouble shooting
If paint peels/looks like shattered glass/comes off in thin strips, too much paint was applied. If the surface is gritty the spray was applied too far from the surface. The remedy is to remove as much paint as possible, prepare the surface and repaint.
Wait for a minimum of 4 hours after new paint is applied to allow it to air dry, (if you are unboxing a new stove, drying time had already been achieved prior to boxing). This applies to stoves and flues.
Then we recommend the Goldilocks and the 3 bears method: small fire, medium fire and big fire.
Small: Light a small kindling fire, keep burning for 10-15 minutes
Medium: Add fuel gradually to build a medium fire. Building a hot fire immediately will “shock” the paint and cause it to release from the surface. Keep it burning like this for approx. 1 hour (bringing the stove surface temperature to 450°F/230°C).
Big: For the final stage of curing, add fuel to make a very hot fire. Keep it at this level for about 1 hour (achieving stove surface temperatures above 600°F/315°C).
Warning
Don’t touch the surface with anything during the curing process. There is usually a strong smell when the paint is curing, ventilate the room well, open windows/doors as necessary. Take extra care if anyone in the house has breathing difficulties. There will be a very slight colour change as the paint cures, more obvious with the lighter colours. The hottest areas will cure the soonest. Some of the areas furthest from the heat of the fire may take a number of fires to fully cure.