Simple Ways to Clean Your Iron, Inside and Out
Get Rid of Sticky Residue and Mineral Build-up!
Whether you quilt or not, eventually your iron is likely to accumulate a brown buildup on the soleplate, and even more so if you use starch. That’s especially true for quilters who work with fusible adhesives and interfacing as well as starch.
Unfortunately, that brown residue can can transfer to whatever you may be ironing. Lucky for us, there are several home remedies for removing it.
Our favorite may be the clever method used by Crafty Gemini. She rubs a hot iron across a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser for easy cleaning without scorching her fingers. Learn more about her method in the following article.
Another popular method is to use dryer sheets. You’ll find instructions for that and several other methods in an excellent article by Beth Galvin.
A paste of vinegar and baking soda also works well. Vinegar dissolves certain residues while the baking soda does a nice job of scrubbing without harming the soleplate (provided it’s uncoated – see the next article for instructions for non-stick soleplates).
Once the outside of your iron is clean, what about the inside? Does your iron sputter when you use steam or show white or rusty residue around the steam holes? Or, do you see a bit of mold in the water reservoir?
An easy solution is to dissolve accumulated residue and flush out impurities with white vinegar. Just be sure to flush well with water before using the iron again. And, prevent future issues by exclusively using distilled water – if that is recommended for your iron (some irons don’t work well with distilled water – read the instructions).
Learn more about this and get other iron-cleaning tips in the following article from The Spruce. It’s especially helpful for determining whether or not the iron is self-cleaning, how to deal with non-stick soleplates, and for removing melted plastic.
Keeping your iron in tip-top condition is simple with these easy remedies. Plus, none of them require harsh chemicals. If you iron frequently, make it a point to check your iron over and clean it, if necessary every few months, and sooner if you’re using fusibles.
I’ve tried most of the methods on the web to clean the inside on an iron. Equal parts vinegar and water and straight vinegar etc. After doing this several times the iron was still spitting out black stuff (probably iron). Thought I was going to have to buy a new one. Then I had a brainstorm – try using a water pik, which many people already have. I let the iron cool after doing the straight vinegar, then I filled the reservoir of the water pik with distilled water, turned it on the strongest setting and placed the pik in each one of the holes on the bottom. I held the iron over the sink and went down one side and then did the other. Couldn’t believe how much more gunk I got out. I did it twice to be sure. I couldn’t find anyone else on the web that’s tried this. Hope it works for you as well as it did for me.
What a great idea! Thanks for sharing it with us.