I have an origanal isinglass chimny for my 1927 Quick lite. Its in decent shape but its very sooty. Can you use any cleaners or is it best to settle with gently wiping off the soot and leaving it at that. Thanks Rick
Try woodstove glass cleaner, it's designed to remove soot etc but I would try it on a very small area first. Might be worth taking the glass to a woodstove shop and asking if you can test before buying. Most places will have an open bottle that they use on their demo stoves.
To clarify what I mean, and I apologize in advance for being a smart ass, Coleman chimneys are usually made of mica, a mineral. Old furnaces from my grandfather's day used isinglass, which was made from (correct me if I'm wrong) fish scale. It was thick and could be peeled layer by layer. Dan MacP
Actually issinglas and mica for this application are the same thing. Anyway, by far the best way to clean them is to do it by machine. Shove it in the dishwasher and it will sparkle. Probably best to slip it in when the wife is not looking though. Nearly all lamp globes can be washed like this. ::Neil::
Mica and isinglass became synonymous somewhere down the line to the layman. Brewers and others who still use isinglass know better. True isinglass is the air bladder of the fish. Mike
Hi all: Mike is spot on! Isinglass and mica are quite different and should be cleaned as such. Isinglass has morphed form fish bladder through the years into celluloid, acetate and other forms of crude plastic. Mica has not changed, it is a mineral and is made up of multiple layers which will tent to separate if exposed to high water pressure as in a dishwasher, this is more apt to happen if you have an original where the layers have become separated on the edges do to years of exposure to heat, also repeated removal from the lantern should be avoided as this too is hard on the mica. I use a mild solution of dish-washing soap and water applied with a microfiber cloth and carefully dried with same. Mike...
Well you learn something new every day. I've gone for all of my life thinking isinglass was made from mica. I had to Google it and found its actualy made from the air blader of certain fish. Clearly not the stuff my Colemans chimny is made from. I stand corected. How do I clean my mica chimny. Thank you Dan MacP. Rick
I stumbled onto cleaning Mica by Electrolysis of rust. Using washing soda as the electrolyte I removed the rust off the lens but at the same time the gentle action of electrolysis and the washing soda cleaned the mica to as new. Not a speck of dirt anywhere. Colin
