Just to remind those of you who have already got a stove, that Spring is now well established and if you are planning not to use your stove for a few weeks then please remember to empty the ash out.
At the end of the heating season, it is appropriate to remove the ashes from your stove because the ashes actually have the potential to draw moisture that can cause rusting of metal components. The acidic nature of the ash combined with moisture can be very destructive to the metal components.
I'm always fascinated in learning new things about stoves and I thought I'd share this with you...... WOOD ASH SOAP Wood Ash mixed with water produces lye, which can then be mixed with animal fat to make soap. You simply have to add boiling soft water to your ash, allow it to sit for a few days, and drain the lye out of the mixture. You know that it’s alkaline enough to go forward with the soap-making process when an egg will float in it. Once you’ve extracted the lye, it’s just a matter of cooking it down with rendered animal fat. Softwood ash produces a soft soap and hardwood ash produces a firmer soap. Add salt to make it even...
