Wood stoves manufactured for the last several decades have been painted with high-temperature stove paint. If your stove is rusted, faded and dingy looking then a new coat of high heat stove paint is just what you need to restore it to its former glory. Here are both the tips on how to do a good job AND the products to do the job right.

(Hint: use the same methods to spruce up your stove pipe and fireplace accessories, too, such as grates, andirons & tool sets. This is how we restore antique fireplace parts, too)

You'll need to have on hand:

-Drop cloth or plastic tarp
-Goggles & dust mask to protect eyes & lungs
-Wire Brush
-Drill with wire wheel brush
-White vinegar
-Dust rags

Ideally, take the stove outdoors because you're going to make a mess. Set the stove on a drop cloth or plastic tarp so you don't damage your deck, patio or lawn.

Begin with a wire brush to start scraping off bigger rust chunks. Next, switch to a wire wheel brush attachment on your drill as this will give you a smoother finish.

Wipe down the stove to see how well you've done so far. We use white vinegar as this helps impede the rust from coming back, and the acid helps get off some of the gook that won't come off with water.

Let the metal dry completely. Review how the stove looks, repeat above steps until you're satisfied that the metal is as clean as possible. Cracks and seams in cast iron can be filled with furnace cement - just let it dry and sand it down before painting.

Rub stove down with dust rag to remove all dust and debris

You'lll get a better job if you use a coat of high-temp paint primer (see product listing at right)
Here's the trick to spray painting: shake the can very thoroughly until you don't hear the ball rolling around in the can. TEST THE PAINT ON A PIECE OF CARDBOARD OR NEWSPAPER FIRST; there's a chemical in the paint that often makes a clear stain or a paint blob when you first spray it.

After you've test-fired the paint can and make sure the nozzle isn't clogged, begin painting. Spray paint works best if you begin at one edge and spray with one continuous motion to the other end. Release the nozzle, then spray another row. DON'T HOLD DOWN THE NOZZLE AND SPRAY CONTINUOUSLY as it will splatter, and you'll use much more paint, plus it will be harder to dry and have a blobby finish. Repeat til you've finished all sides and the top.

Allow the stove to dry for an hour. Check your paint job to see if you'll need a second coat. If so, touch up or apply a second coat and let IT dry for an hour.

This is a good time to replace door and glass gaskets if needed so you'll have your stove all ready to both look good and burn at its best.

You probably don't remember when your stove was new, but you had a break-in procedure to cure the paint. Each time the stove gets hotter, the paint becomes sticky and smells bad, and produces smoke. Since you've already got your stove outside,  why not cure the paint now? Fire your stove slowly over the course of an hour of so and get a nice hot fire going. Once the paint has stopped smoking and is no longer putting off paint fumes then let the fire die down. Once it's completely cool then clean the ashes and any wood chunks out of it, tote the stove inside and reconnect it.

ANTIQUE STOVES were usually polished with stove black, a rub-on paste similar to shoe polish. If you're going to completely refurbish the stove then we recommend you use the steps above, using stove paint.

If you're just touching up the finish and know stove polish has been used before, don't try and paint over it. Stove polish has waxes in the mixture that prevent paint from adhering properly so use stove polish. If stove polish has never been used on the stove before, DON'T USE IT. Stove polish rubs off on you when you touch it and isn't the product of choice; it's the product of last resort.