There are few things I love more in this life than curling up with a cup of tea and a good book in front of a crackling fire. I’m pretty sure there are wood burning stoves in heaven {of course I won’t have to tend the fire there! It’ll just burn hot all on its own!}. If you are lucky enough to have a wood stove or a wood burning fireplace, chances are, you have some wood ash. Here are some great ways to put those ashes to good use:
Soak Up Oil Stains: If you have an ugly oil stain in your driveway, sprinkle a little wood ash and watch it soak up the oil. Then sweep it up and you’re good to go.
Clean Glass and Metal: A damp sponge or rag dipped in the ash helps make windows squeaky clean and scrubs away sooty residue.
Repel Slugs and More: If you spread evenly around your garden beds, the ash helps repel slugs and snails!
Shine Your Silver: Make a quick nontoxic paste for polishing metal by mixing ash and water and rubbing it on.
Keep Pond Algae in Check: All you need is a tiny 1 tablespoon per 1,000 gallons of water to add enough potassium to strengthen other aquatic plants that compete with algae, slowing its growth.
Melt ice or “Sand” Sidewalks: Wood ash adds traction and de-ices without hurting the soil or concrete beneath it.
Nourish Garden Soil or Compost Pile: Sprinkle around your garden to enrich the soil or add it to your compost pile for a little extra umph! The secret is just a sprinkle for some added calcium, adding too much ruins the mix.
De-skunk Your Pet: If Spot has a run in with a stinky skunk, rub some ash on his coat and it will help soak up the odor.
Make Soap: A frequent ingredient in homemade soap is lye. You can make lye by soaking ashes in water. Lye can be mixed with animal fat and then boiled to produce soap. The addition of salt makes it harden as it cools.
What do you do with your wood ash? Any other great uses I missed?
~Mavis
Jessica says
We gather the wood ash from our fire place and our fire pit and mix it in with top soil and use it in our chicken run for their dirt bathing! It helps keep bugs off them and keeps them cool! ( we cannot let them 100% free range due to predators! )
Alison says
We do this too!
Carrie says
Me too! My problem is they always tip the pan over. I use a large feeding pan (like for goats/horses) as a dust bath but they will tip it within hours spilling everything onto the ground.
Jennifer says
Perhaps, if it sits on dirt you could sink it into the ground a bit.
Larra says
Well , I have found that if your cleaning a wood stove or fireplace of ash, it’s helpful to sprinkle in used coffee grounds to reduce the amount of ash dust. I mix it with wood pellet from litter boxes ( I raise mini piglets, and use wood pellets for piglet boxes) and add it to my compost, or fill in holes in the pasture.
HollyG says
I use ash from the fireplace, mixed with a tiny bit of water to rub water rings from furniture. It works really well.
Karin Carson says
Since I started driving , I have always had a ice cream bucket of ashes in my winter tote I keep in my trunk, it helps give you traction or help get of icy patches , it is amazing how it works, we used in on the path ways to the barn, stallion pens and hen house. I also use it in a damp cloth to clean the glass in our pellet stove, makes the glass shine.
Tracy says
Wood ash is quite abrasive, so I would not recommend using it on either glass or sterling silver.
Cameron says
Mix with sand to create dust for chickens to reduce external parasites.