Spring Cleaning Corn Stoves: Don’t Let Your Corn Mold or Your Stove Rust!

Winter heating is over and your corn stove needs a good spring cleaning before you let it set over the summer. This will keep your corn stove in great working order for the following burn season.

Clean out all corn from the hopper, firebox, ash pan and firepot areas. If you leave corn in stove, it can accumulate moisture. This leads to rust and mold. It can also lead to insects like moths to take up residence in your home.

On your last burn, you should run the unit on the higher settings for a day to help clean out the heat exchangers system, venting system and firebox area.

When you clean your firebox, clean the shaker grate. Newer models may not have this. Tap sides of firebox where heat exchangers are located. When you tap the sides, the loose fly ash will drop out of these holes.

Pull the auger out and make sure it is spotless and no moisture is on it. We vacuum as far into the auger hole as we can. Spring cleaning is a more intense cleaning than what you would normally do.

Lift lid to hopper and give it a thorough cleaning and vacuum it. Corn dust can cause rust and mold in there. Again, make sure all corn is removed it is a magnet for insects.

Vacuum the entire firebox and surrounding area. Since we are spring cleaning , put a light coat of cooking oil on the auger, auger tube, firepot area, fuel stirrer shaft and bearings and hopper area. This keeps the unit from rusting.

Remove your ash pan and dump all ash out of it. While it is out, you may want to wipe the corn stove out or vacuum it before replacing the ash pan.

Our corn stove vents through the wall. So we take the exhaust pipe off and give it a good inside cleaning in the spring. When we put the exhaust pipe back on we make sure to cover the end that is exposed to the outside. This prevents birds and insects from building their homes in it. Make sure to take the cap off before you start your next fire!

For spring cleaning, we also open up the sides of the corn stove and vacuum and wipe down everything. Then we take a damp, well rung out cloth and wipe the entire unit down. Followed by a dry cloth to remove any moisture.

Make sure to clean the glass if you have one. We use vinegar. There are products made for this job sold by corn stove dealers. Keep the corn stove dusted during the summer.

Spring cleaning your corn stove is a must for keeping your corn stove unit in good working shape.