When you feel that your iron doesn’t glide smoothly, it’s a sign that you need to clean it immediately. The stains that stick on it are the main cause of this issue and you can’t use a dirty iron to prep your favorite garments.
Below, we have compiled some easy steps on how to clean your iron that you can get done all by yourself by using simple home supplies.
How to Clean Your Iron
Grab these supplies:
- Baking soda
- Distilled white vinegar
- Distilled water
- Clean washcloths
- Cotton swabs
- Old rag
Follow the steps below:
Apply the baking soda paste
Yes, baking soda can even work to clean your dirty iron. You can simply make a baking soda paste by mixing two parts of it with one part of the water in a small bowl.
- Apply the baking soda paste to a cooled-down iron by using a clean cloth.
- Make sure that you spread the paste over the surface of the soleplate and steam holes.
- Leave the baking soda paste for around 5 to 10 minutes.
- Remove the paste from the soleplate with a damp clean cloth.
Deeper cleaning, if necessary
The cleaning step above may not really handle the difficult stains, but no worries, you can execute deeper cleaning steps.
- Grab a pot and add two parts of white vinegar and one part of salt.
- Heat it up until the salt dissolves completely but the vinegar doesn’t reach the boiling point.
- Leave the mixture to cool down.
- Dip a clean cloth into the mixture and scrub it to the stained spots of your iron.
Clean up the reservoir
Before starting this step, make sure that it’s safe to use vinegar to clean your specific iron’s reservoir by referring to the manufacturer’s instructions. If so, then follow the steps below:
- Mix one part of the all-purpose cleaner, one part of distilled white vinegar, and three parts of distilled water in a bowl.
- Fill one-third of the reservoir with the cleaning mixture.
- Turn the iron on and set it to the highest mode.
- Iron an old rag and you will see that it will get dirty as you iron it, Do this step for around 5 to 10 minutes and turn the iron off.
- Once the appliance is completely cool, use some cotton swabs to clean the steam holes.
- Empty the reservoir and refill it with some fresh distilled water.
If it’s not allowed for you to use white vinegar, you can just use distilled water to get this step done.
(You may also like: How to Remove Tea Stains from Cups and Mugs Effectively)
How to take care of an iron?
Wipe the soleplate of your iron every week, especially if you use it on a daily basis. If you find some small smudges, use a magic eraser to deal with them.
To make sure that it works great over time, never use tap water. You also have to empty the reservoir after each ironing and refill it with fresh distilled water before your next ironing schedule.
