Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Tuesday Tutorial: Clean Your Iron

There are two kinds of quilters in the world: Those who buy expensive irons and those who buy cheap irons.

I've gone both ways. I've bought an expensive iron, carefully used only distilled water and emptied it after every use. And it started to leak after less than one year of daily use.

And I've bought cheap irons, and tossed them when they start to leak.

When my current iron started to leave dark marks on my quilts, I decided it was time for an "iron cleaning party." Here are the irons I haven't tossed:


Seven! That's ridiculous! If I could rescue just a few of these, I would have more than a hundred dollars to spend on fabric! (Or maybe a new ironing board cover?)


I found this "Steam Iron Cleaner" at Hancock Fabrics. It cost less than $2, and as I said, if I rescued only two or three of my seven irons, it would be more than worth it! The instructions call for 2 oz. of the Steam Iron Cleaner in 1 cup of boiling water. Pour the hot liquid in a cold iron and let it sit for 15 minutes.  Shake the iron a few times to loosen any "scale" that might have collected inside.


Then empty the iron and refill with warm (not boiling) water. Empty that water to rinse -- I repeated this twice. If the iron had a "clean" setting, I heated it and used that. Some of the irons spit bits of dust,, rust, and scale. I repeated rinsing until there were no more "icky bits."

Next, two of the irons had "gunk" on the soleplate. Here is my "take to class" iron with dark marks on the soleplate.


I've used soleplate cleaner before, with good results. 


Squirt a ribbon of iron-off about 1-2" long onto a clean cloth. Then rub it onto the soleplate of a hot (no steam!) iron. 


Rub the iron on a clean part of the cloth until no residue remains. My "take to class" iron still has a small rusty spot that I can't seem to get off.


Don't try to scrape it off using a knife!


And don't put the hot iron on the plastic dish drainer to drain!


So far, I've tested four of the newly cleaned irons. None leak or spit steam! Samosa is pretty sure I put all those irons on the ironing board for him to sniff.


Sadly, the one iron that still leaks is the most expensive -- the Reliable Velocity, that I bought at full retail for $149! This cheap Sunbeam I bought at the base exchange for less than $20, and it remains my favorite! Not too heavy, good steam, 30 minute auto off.


Oh! And when you're cleaning your irons -- don't let the cords dangle to tempt  the kitten! I'm trying to train him that electrical cords spray water. Every time he starts to play with one, I spray him with my water bottle!


Do you have a favorite iron? Have you had problems with leaks or spots?


From the desk of your auntmartisignature

19 comments:

  1. Good information. Hope Sam learns quick...

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  2. Thanks for this. I'm in the market for s new iron but I just might try to breathe new life into the one I have. I need to adapt the spray bottle in training my pups ; )

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    1. Sammy went for the iron cord this morning, but when I sprayed the water near (not on) him, he immediately jumped away!

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  3. A very timely post as you've reminded me I need to clean my iron. I'm sticking with the cheaper irons as my husband has a tendency to accidentally knock them off the ironing board. I love my current iron as it is just the perfect weight.

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  4. I've had both expensive and cheap irons. I've also had problems with both. I decided I would only use a dry iron and a bottle of water to spray on my fabric when I needed to get out some wrinkles. I only use distilled water in one of my irons. So many times I need a dry iron and emptying out an iron still doesn't get all the moisture out of it, so I decided to only use one iron with water, and have the other one dry all the time. I have a couple of smaller travel size irons too for taking with me to my groups. I see irons all the time at the thrift stores and I've picked up a couple of cheap ones at garage sales for a buck. I gave one to my daughter.

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  5. Wow, I don't think I've owned seven irons in my life (and I'm 52 so I've been around a little while.) Can you tell I don't like ironing and avoid it like the plague, unless there's quilting/fabric involved and I can't whip that ironing board up fast enough. I do need to clean the baseplate of my iron though and you've reminded me to buy some cleaner this week. One thing I've found useful for getting fusible web oopses off my iron is to heat it up and use a wooden spoon to scrape it off however I don't think its going to shift your rusty spot!

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  6. I go with the cheaper models. I keep one for dry ironing and a separate one for steam.

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  7. У меня обычный утюг, но если я забываю его выключить , он отключается сам. И это - для меня самый важный критерий . Потому что я использую ТЕФЛОНОВУЮ НАСАДКУ НА УТЮГ. И уже в течении, наверное 7 лет, к моему утюгу никогда и ничего не прилипало, не пригорало и его никогда не надо чистить специальными средствами . Нужно иногда споласкивать утюг и насадку водой . А в ближайшее время я обдумываю покупку парогенератора .

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    1. Wow, wherever you bought your iron, I want one! I've never had one last 7 years! Thanks for commenting, and for reminding me to put a "translate" button on the blog.

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  8. Like some of the others, I never put water in my irons, preferring to use a spray bottle. I have 1 full size iron and 1 travel iron for applique.
    Interestingly, the only iron that left marks was one that had water inside it before I switched method and it was dropping "smuts" randomly on the fabric. When it deposited a dark grey mark on the white fabric of a birthday cushion I had just finished and pressed, that was time to say goodbye!

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  9. Thanks for the inspiration to clean my irons-- good post! And cute kitty!

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    1. Thanks, Mary -- let me know how cleaning the irons works out for you!

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  10. a good reminder...I have 2 irons - one for the clothes and one mainly for patchwork..living in my sewing space. I use ordinary tap water and they rarely spit out junk. My sewin one came from a "cheap" shop - we call then $2 shops - though it cost me $10 -and its light and easy to use & refill. The clothes one is great for big pressing jobs. And to get creases out - I LOVE Mary Ellens Best Press...esp the Lavender one.
    I hope Samosa didn't burn his nose! (like your dish drainer!)

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  11. Great post! My iron has recently started leaving little marks on my fabric, and I am so glad to hear about the Steam Iron Cleaner. I haven't used water in my 25 year old iron for at least a decade, but it is now spitting out what might be rust. I'll definately try the cleaner before I toss the iron. As for the Iron Off...I love it! I keep a tube at the house, and one in my travel bag...just in case I use a hotel iron. I even put a tube in the stockings of my sewing family members for Christmas! I'm trying to clean one unexpected thing each day this year, and I never thought about putting my iron on the list until this post. Thanks!!!

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  12. I'm glad you were able to rescue some of the irons. I have heard that the Mr. Clean erasers work great for the soleplates.

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  13. Thanks so much for the reminder! I have a cheap-o Sunbeam right now. I went through 2 Rowenta's in 3 yrs. I really like my cheap-o.

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  14. I tried a friend's tip when I got interfacing glue on the base. Ordinary white vinegar cleaned it up a treat! Surprisingly, the clothes did not smell like fish and chips afterwards.

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  15. I have a cheap Sunbeam (it's a lovely pink color) that started leaking and spitting, so I resurrected my old reliable Black and Decker steam iron. It's doing fine so far, but now with your tutelage, I will be refurbishing my pretty pink iron!! Thanks for your tips!

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  16. I hope the pink one revives! I loved my B&D steam iron, but it was so heavy I had to give it up.

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