The iron is certainly not among the small appliances most loved by the new generations. Increasingly, ironing of clothes is avoided, and there is a tendency to use the iron-limited to some items for which it is inevitable, such as shirts and work uniforms.
Whether you use it very little, or if you use it almost daily, it is good to know that good maintenance is essential for the instrument’s correct functioning; it is important to clean the iron plate, that part that comes into contact with our clothes during ironing. So let’s see how to clean the iron and why it is important to do it regularly.
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Why clean the iron?
Good routine maintenance is the basis for the correct functioning of almost all the appliances we use with a certain frequency. The iron, the tank, and the metal plate, physically,” irons” must clean our fabrics with some consistency. Regardless of the model of iron, you are using.
The soleplate is – of all the iron components – which most easily gets dirty and most often causes damage to the clothes that we are ironing due to a poor state of maintenance. Whether in steel, Teflon, ceramic, or aluminum, the plate should certainly not be overlooked.
Whenever we find ourselves ironing plastic inserts, glitter, or prints on our clothes, stains, burns, and sediments of sticky or burnt matter may accumulate on our iron. The use of hard, non-distilled water also increases the chances of our iron base being limestone or burnt.
The residues that remain under the iron can become extremely harmful. We can transfer all the dirt accumulated under an encrusted or burned iron back to the freshly washed fabric that we will iron with the heat. If the iron does not flow well on the fabric, or worse, it leaves streaks or streaks as it passes, it is necessary to proceed with cleaning the plate.
Fortunately, this is a fairly simple and quick procedure, for which there are numerous and inexpensive natural remedies. So how do you clean the iron? First, let’s see in a few steps. Then, what are the best-known methods for obtaining a perfect result?
Vinegar, a great ally for household cleaning
The qualities of white wine vinegar have been known since ancient times. Particularly when it comes to cleaning, in the kitchen as in the washing machine, used to remove incrustations and polish steel or metal surfaces, vinegar proves to be one of the most precious allies for house cleaning.
If the bottom of your iron is not in steel but Teflon or ceramic, the vinegar will still serve the purpose very well, as long as you don’t use tools to scratch the surfaces. So let’s see how to clean the iron using vinegar:
- Vinegar and salt solution: heat a little white wine vinegar in a saucepan, and once the fire is out, add some coarse salt. This will dissolve, creating an optimal solution for the elimination of burns. How to use the solution? Once lukewarm, pass it on the iron’s cold surface using a damp cloth, even rough.
- Cork: if you want to opt for a rapid solution, you can use pure vinegar. Just dip a cork in the vinegar and pass it on the surface to be treated, preferably hot. Not too effective on stubborn stains or a burnt or particularly encrusted surface, this technique is excellent for polishing and sanitizing the plate.
Whichever method you prefer to use, it is good never to forget a fundamental step. After treating the surface with the product we have chosen, we must turn on the iron, fill the tank with water or even vinegar if the limestone is resistant, and makes it ” vent ” on a scrap cloth.
In this way, the impurities left in the plate’s holes will be transferred to the cloth and thus eliminated. When cleaning the iron, the last step is to pass a dry cotton swab over all the holes to eliminate even the smallest residues.
Baking soda to eliminate odors too
Staying on the theme of grandma’s remedies, know that baking soda is also useful in cleaning the iron. So let’s see how to clean the iron using the expensive old baking soda, useful in practically any domestic occupation.
Baking soda: by combining water and baking soda in equal parts, a grainy solution is obtained, excellent for cleaning and descaling even the most stubborn burns. Prepare the pasta, and with a spatula (a teaspoon, a stick, a stick of the Chinese restaurant, etc.), sprinkle the plate’s surface, cold.
Leave the solution to act for a few minutes, and proceed with the removal: the usual soft dampened cloth will be fine. If you use baking soda, it is advisable not to skip the passage to clean each hole with the help of a wet cotton swab. The baking soda paste tends to clump, thus risking leaving residues near the holes for the steam to escape.
Bicarbonate and lemon: lemon juice is an excellent natural degreaser, which, combined with bicarbonate, also acquires a descaling power, excellent for the sanitation of metal surfaces. To clean the metal part of the iron, you can add a spoonful of baking soda to the lemon juice and use the solution to clean it, rubbing the surface with a rough sponge. It will then be sufficient to remove the residues with the use of a soft, damp cloth.
The great advantage of bicarbonate, in cleaning the refrigerator as in that of the metal part under the iron, is that it not only cleans stains and incrustations but also eliminates any bad smells produced by burns or too many limescale presents in the tank and with that in the steam with which we stretch.
Other natural methods of cleaning the iron plate
We have seen how to clean the iron plate with two of the best-known natural products in household chores, such as vinegar and baking soda. But there are solutions if we want more imaginative, as regards the maintenance of our iron.
- The candle wax seems to have proven to be an excellent solution for cleaning the lower part of the iron, particularly in the absence of tough stains and burns. Just pour hot wax from a lighted candle on the iron’s cold surface, wait for it to dry, and remove it with paper. Should not use spatulas, metallic or pointed objects, not risk scratching the surface that will contact our favorite clothes.
- Toothpaste is another commonly used product that can be used for the same purpose: the quantity of a coin rubbed with a cloth on the iron plate can eliminate even the most stubborn residues from the surface. But, again, pay attention to the steam outlet holes, which must then be thoroughly cleaned with a cotton swab and perform a particularly thorough rinse.
- Dishwashing soap also seems to be a good alternative to using more aggressive products such as detergents specific for irons, generally corrosive. It is important to use a much more dilute solution than the one we use to wash the dishes, or we risk being submerged by soap bubbles at the first opportunity! As for the procedures already described, it is sufficient to rub the solution with a rough sponge – as long as it is not metallic – on the parts to be cleaned and then proceed with rinsing using the usual soft, damp cloth.
- Instead, use the fine salt to make a kind of scrub treatment on the iron’s metal surfaces, useful in the case of burnt fabric residues: collect a little with the aid of a damp sponge and pass it dry on a surface. You won’t even need to rinse.
Last steps for top ironing
We have seen how to clean the iron plate with the help of products that each of us generally has at home: vinegar, baking soda, lemon, dish soaps are extremely inexpensive and easy to find remedies.
We have no more excuses: our iron must be kept in good condition and be subject to routine maintenance that should be repeated at least once a week, in the case of daily use of the appliance.
In addition to the plate, the iron tank should also be cleaned: insert some vinegar, or a solution of water and vinegar, instead of distilled water, and let all the steam vent. Will this push the residues inside the instrument out of the hot air jet. It is also good to remember that all cleaning operations should be carried out with the iron off and disconnected from the power outlet.
An important precaution to keep in mind is never to store it with the tank still full of water if you occasionally use the iron. Instead, let the remaining water come out when you are finished ironing, letting the steam out. Stagnant water risks creating further limestone!