The Hidden Uses For Fire Pit Ash

Wood ash is a dark, sooty substance. What use is fire pit ash? I recently spoke with a friend who said I could use wood ash to help grow my garden and plants like roses. This intrigued me so much that I began to investigate and do some research, so I thought I’d share this post with some resourceful ways to use wood ash safely.

Is fire pit ash good for anything? The answer is yes! Considered a byproduct of the firewood and charcoal production process, these ashes are actually quite useful in many ways around your house, such as in the garden around plants as mulch or adding extra nutrients to compost—wood ash create soap or even toothpaste. Fireplace ash has multiple cleaning purposes.

Ash is an All-rounder in the Garden

Wood ash has multiple positives for the garden, such a reducing the soil’s acidity for some plants to grow and helping maintain a healthy pH balance.

If you have alkaline soil, ash can be used in moderation as it may help raise the pH levels by adding more calcium into your garden.

The only issue is if there are already high concentrations of sodium or potassium in the garden area, you wish to spread the ashes. This could lead to complications such as plant burn when combined with these minerals, which require higher amounts than what’s available from wood ash alone.

The Lawn

You could use wood ash on the lawn, and you’ll see improved growth because it provides important nutrients like potassium – something that the garden needs to keep the grass green and lush!

Slugs and Snails

As for those pests like slugs and snails, scatter a layer of wood ash from your ash container around your plants, and you’ll see them disappear.

As long as you don’t use too much, this can be an effective way to keep garden pests away!

If you’re needing a quick and easy solution to keep unwanted plant-eaters out of your garden but want something organic, fire pit ashes are perfect for the job!

Compost

Ash in the compost is also a great way to add the necessary nutrients to the soil’s growth.

It’s easy to mix in with compost and other natural ingredients, or you can even bury them directly into your soil, depending on what kind of plants are already growing there!

Add ash from the fireplace as an extra boost for acid-loving plants like rhododendrons and azaleas.

Just sprinkle around any young plantings before they grow too large so that they can take advantage of calcium and wonderful beneficial qualities.

Mulch

Using wood ash as an alternative mulch around your home planter boxes helps maintain moisture levels; it keeps everything looking neat and tidy too!

Ash the Natural Fertilizer for your Garden

It is excellent to recycle your fireplace ashes into natural fertilizer for your garden by using them as a soil conditioner.

The one drawback you need to be aware of when recycling this way is that if any metal objects are left in the mix, they could rust over time, releasing toxic chemicals with an unpleasant odour, so make sure you get rid of it all debris.

Examples of plants that ash can help are listed below

• Roses
• Lavender
• Sage
• Thyme
• Marigolds

Acid-loving plants and wood ash make a good pairing. But ash is not good for plants that require a lot of potassium like beans, tomatoes and potatoes.

Potassium can be found in the ashes, but you need to have enough ash on hand because it burns away up quickly.

Ashes to Repel Insects, i.e. Mosquitoes and Ants

Use wood ash to your advantage in fighting the bugs a little of the ash rubbed on your skin or clothes will help deter insects from biting you and make sure to kill any ants before they start a colony in your house. here are some bugs that don’t like ash listed below and why they don’t like it

Mosquitoes- because the ash makes them uncomfortable, and they avoid this feeling by flying away from these areas

Ants-because ants are sensitive to chemicals, particularly sodium chloride, so when they come into contact with ashes and see a lot of salt on their bodies, they will fly or walk away as soon as possible.

Other insects that don’t like fire pit black ash are roaches, spiders and mosquitoes!

Wood Ash to make soap

Wood ash will help exfoliate and remove dirt, oils, and dead skin cells from the skin’s surface will help reduce the appearance of blemishes and acne. Make soap with this natural ingredient to get a whole new experience in your shower or bath.

It is important to make sure that you only use ash from clean fires because, as I mentioned earlier, it can have harmful chemicals like lead if not properly taken care of!

If you are using fireplace ashes, then know they will be covered in soot – so wash them first before trying any of these ideas. It may take some trial and error, but ash contains many benefits for skin health!

Process

Start by pouring water into an empty container (such as a jar) until there’s about one inch at the top. Leave enough space for mixing a spoonful of ashes. Add a bit of water at first and mix with the spoon. Then add more ashes into the jar until you have about an inch left at the top.

Hints

You don’t need much ash – just enough to create a paste-like texture (this won’t take long). Pour mixture onto your skin or face, let it sit for 15 minutes if possible before washing off! This is also great for bug bites because it will help relieve itching as well.

Benefits

Burnt wood ash contains potassium which can be good for people who suffer from dry skin problems like eczema or dermatitis. It’s also used by some beauty routine experts that recommend adding powdered charcoal on top of make-up to absorb oil so that this ash can do the same!

Wood Ash for your teeth

The ashes from burning wood can be used in many ways, but one of the most useful is to use it as toothpaste.

Though not all people think that this idea is so great, there are some benefits to using burnt wood on your teeth. Ingredient in toothpaste, ashes will whiten teeth by removing stains on the enamel’s surface layer.

If you’re thinking about trying out an alternative way of brushing those pearly whites, consider adding this ingredient into your next tube of toothpaste! What do you have to lose?

While making toothpaste with burned wood ashes is a relatively new idea, it’s not too hard to make.

First, you will need the following:

Use a metal bowl to combine one part of water into every four parts of ash powder until you’ve reached the desired consistency.

Make certain all ingredients are fully mixed, and then you can apply them to your toothbrush. When you’re done brushing, rinse with water and then spit it out into the fire pit!

Wood Ash to Polish Stainless Steel & Chrome

Wood ashes can also be used to clean and polish stainless steel, chrome or other metals. So how do you do it?

Mix one part of water into every four parts of ash powder until desired consistency.

Apply to a sterilized, non-scratch cloth, rub the metal surface in a circular motion for several minutes, and then rinse with fresh water & dry. You can also sprinkle some wood ashes on the wet solution and create an abrasive paste that’ll help polish away rust spots or tarnish build-up. (source)

Awesome Glass cleaner

Wood ash is also an excellent natural glass cleaner (mix with water, and you’ll be amazed at how beautifully this works!). to clean glass with ash, start by boiling a pot of water on the stove and adding about one cup of ash. Mix until it becomes thin like honey, then pour over the glass you want to clean. After about 15 minutes, use a dry lint-free cloth and wipe the ash off of your windows or mirrors. (source)

Never use wood ash on aluminium, as this can cause it to corrode.

Laundry Fireplace Ashes

Fire Pit Ash Is Good For More Than Just Scrubbing Your Teeth: – why not use wood ash as laundry detergent if you use too much bleach or fabric softener by accident!

It’s great at getting out stubborn stains like coffee grounds and cocoa

Salt or Wood Ashes

If you’re feeling courageous, you may attempt using ashes in place of salt when cooking eggs! It’ll add a nice flavour while keeping them moist on the inside too!

Wood Ashes Eliminate Dangerous Ice on the Driveway

If not, read on. I have a few tips for using the wood ashes that are left after your fires die down. You can sprinkle ashes around driveways and walkways to help keep ice from forming or accumulating during winter months, as well as absorb moisture in lawns and flower beds before it has time to settle into the ground below.

Wood ash for the Feet

Wood ashes are also good for cleaning your feet if you’ve been at a mud-fest all day! What about all of those beautiful embers! They make great natural heaters, an old-fashioned way to warm up your feet when sitting by a campfire or outside on chilly days (or nights!).

Limestone and wood ashes?

Wood ashes can also be used to help neutralize acidic soil. All it takes is a little sprinkle of ash and some lime, which will react with the ash to create calcium oxide. By adding this mixture on top of your garden or lawn, you’ll prevent any possible damage from acid rain (or other sources).

Quick test cheek if wood ashes are good?

Put the ashes in an ice water bucket! If they’re still giving off the heat after 15 minutes, then the chances are that they won’t release toxic fumes when heated up either.

This one’s easy – make sure you wear gloves before handling hot embers. If you’re using your fire pit to heat an area, make sure it’s contained – so don’t put the ashes on a surface that could melt or turn toxic if exposed!

Tips Using Wood Ash

Keep in mind what will be impacted by wood ash as well: anything combustible is likely going to get blackened when sprinkling hot ashes over it, for example. And while we’re talking about this. A word of caution about gloves, they should always be acid-resistant because wood ash contains acids.

How to Store Wood Ash

You can Leave the ashes where they are and put a heavy object on them to keep them in place. Or you could use it when potting soil or compost to cover up your ash within a metal container if this is for outdoor use.

Pottery and Glass

While ash is alkaline, that’s not necessarily a bad thing! Potters and glassmakers know this. Ashes contain traction, which helps pottery clay adhere to the kiln wall, so it doesn’t sag when dried. When added in small quantities of up to 50%, for example, ashes can also increase the durability and appearance of glass wear.

Conclusion

So as you can see using wood ash can very useful and is yet another great reason for owning a fire pit although wood smoke can be quite hazardous to our environment at least we can take the wastage and put it to good use in the garden.

Thank you for visiting this blog post, and kindly let us know in the comments if you have any suggestions on what else can be done with fire pit ash.