Video Highlights:
0:14 Hearth Country Ash Vacuum
0:28 What not to do with your ash vacuum
1:03 Separating the large debris from the fine ash
2:08 How to sift through the ash with a shovel
4:07 Using the ash vacuum to suck up the fine ash
Hi, I am Melissa from Northline Express here to walk you through how using an ash vacuum can be a great tool to clean up a fireplace. But there are a few tips and tricks that you need to use in order to properly use an ash vacuum safely and most effectively without damaging your ash vacuum.
There are many different brands and types of ash vacuums on the market; the one that we will be using is the Hearth Country Ash Vacuum. This is a great tool and a powerful product featuring a HEPA filter. Like all of the other ash vacuums on the market there are a few things that you will not want to do. Just because it is a vacuum that is designed to suck up fireplace ash does not mean that you should use it to clean out your wood burning appliance of all debris and embers as well. There are a few things you should do before using an ash vacuum.
Firstly, you need to make sure that all of the ash and embers are cooled. You cannot suck up hot embers. To ensure that all embers are cool enough place your hand closely over the ash bed, if you can hold it there for a count of 4 without your hand getting too hot then the ashes are cool enough for use of the vacuum without damaging the filter. Most ash vacuums do have a metal guard around the paper filter to help protect it in the event that a hot spark or ember does get sucked up into the vacuum however it is still in your best interest to make sure that the bed of ash is free of any hot embers.
The second thing you will want to do before cleaning with an ash vacuum is to separate the large debris from the fine ash. This is to make sure that you do not clog or damage the hose of the ash vacuum. You can do this by sifting through the ash bed with either a shovel or an ash sifter. The easiest tool to use for this is going to be the sifting tool as it will allow the fine particles to fall through the holes while catching the large debris in the sifter, much like cleaning a cat’s litter box, and then you will just dump the debris in an ash bucket to dispose of. However if you choose to use a shovel you will push the ash bed to one side of the fire box then scoop up a portion, lightly shake out the fine ash and make a pile of the large debris or dump the debris into an ash bucket to be disposed of. Make sure that any glowing embers are removed as well, if the embers are glowing they are definitely too hot to be sucked up by the ash vacuum.
Once you have ensured that the ash bed is cool enough and that you have removed the large debris it is now time to use the ash vacuum to finish cleaning out the firebox. If you have a large bed of fine ash you can use the vacuum without an attachment to get the majority of the ash cleaned out quickly and then use it with the crevice tool to get into the joints and corners of the firebox. These areas are where the fine ash will fall into and collect making it very difficult to be cleaned out with a broom and shovel. So using an ash vacuum for cleaning up the joints and corners is going to be the fastest and easiest method. The nice thing about ash vacuums too is that they will keep it virtually dust free where if you have used a broom and shovel before they tend to kick up a cloud of dust that can get on your hearth and make a larger mess to be cleaned.
So if you are looking for a dust free way to clean out your fireplace definitely consider an ash vacuum. I hope you have found this information helpful. It is more great information from NorthlineExpress.com, home of the “Buy and Try” satisfaction guarantee and do not forget that we are also your one stop shop for all of your fireplace cleaning needs.