Ask Penny Halgren

If you use your iron for quilting, you have probably  had an experience in which sticky stuff from the iron found its way onto your  quilt work.  Ugh – nothing is more  frustrating.

Some people simply replace their iron when it develops build  up from fusible products or mineral grunge. That is fine if that is what you  choose to do. It isn’t necessary though. Your iron just  needs a good cleaning.

There are two parts of your steam iron that need occasional  cleaning: the sole plate and the water reservoir.

The sole plate is the bottom part of the iron – the part  that comes in contact with whatever you are ironing. Whether your iron’s sole  plate is coated with Teflon or another non-stick surface  is important.

You must  choose a cleaning method that will not scratch  the surface if it does have a non-stick coating. After time, spray starch and  fabric softeners can build up on that surface. And if you have ever used a heat  fusible product and gotten a small amount of it on your iron, you know what a  big mess a little piece of that will cause.

Before beginning to  clean the sole plate, unplug your iron and let it cool down completely. Try  sprinkling some table salt onto a damp cloth, then rub the bottom of the plate.  The salt acts as a mild abrasive, so don’t try this with a Teflon coated  iron.  For Teflon coated ones, try using  soapy water and a wash cloth.

You can also make a  paste of baking soda and water on coated and non-coated irons. Simply rub it on  with a damp cloth, then keep wiping the paste off with another damp cloth. Be  sure to keep turning the cloth to a clean section as you clean the paste off.

A soft cloth dampened with white vinegar is another good way to  clean your sole plate. The vinegar cuts through deposits left behind by spray  starch. If it doesn’t seem like the vinegar alone is quite enough, mix a half-and-half solution of white vinegar and salt, then heat to dissolve the salt.  Once it is cool enough to work with, dampen your cloth and rub the sole plate  clean.

Maybe the easiest way to clean your sole plate (if it is not  coated with a non-stick substance) is to iron over salt. It sounds funny, but  it works. You will need to turn your iron on for this method. Put some craft  paper over your ironing board. A brown paper sack will work, too. Sprinkle salt  on the paper while your iron heats.  Set  it to the hottest setting it has, but don’t use steam. When the iron has  heated, run over  the salted paper. The  salt is a good, natural abrasive and you probably have plenty of it in your  house right now.

You can damage articles during ironing if your steam vents  are clogged, too.  A dirty reservoir is  the cause of clogged vents. Over time, minerals from the water build up and can  cause rust-like stains to appear when ironing.

Cleaning the reservoir is not difficult. Simply fill the  reservoir  about one-quarter full with  distilled or purified water. Steam the iron until the reservoir is empty.  Repeat until all the mineral deposits in the vents are gone.

Some people use vinegar for the first rinse of the reservoir.  Sometimes, though, vinegar has been known to create a brown gooey substance  from the steam vents.

To keep the vents from getting clogged again, only use  distilled or purified water  in the iron. If you continue to use tap water,  simply empty the reservoir after ironing. If you empty it while the iron is  still hot, the reservoir will dry better.