How to Clean an Iron?

In this article, we will guide you as to how to clean an iron. It feels so pleasant and easier when the iron is clean and glides smoothly on your shirts, slacks, and dresses. But, it frustrates and irritates when you find soleplates of your iron getting sticky or oily due to fabric softeners, dust, or due to the melting of synthetic fibers onto the soleplate of your iron. If you are facing such problem, it is time to clean your iron. But the question arises – how to clean an iron?

For this, you can either look for the instruction in the owner’s manual that you got with your iron at the time of purchasing. However, if you can’t find it, we can help you clean an iron, that too fast and quite easily.

How to Clean an Iron

Steps to Clean an Iron:

Things You Need:

  • Baking soda
  • Dryer Sheets
  • Damp Cloth
  • White Vinegar
  • Toothpaste
  • Salt

1.) Damp Cloth to Clean an Iron

For general cleaning, you can simply clean your iron using a damp cloth

  • Take a piece of cloth and soak it in the plain water.
  • Squeeze out the excess water from it.
  • Now, wipe the iron’s soleplate using this wet rag when the iron is slightly hot.
  • This will help get rid of the gunk from the soleplate.
  • In case of some resistant stains, you can add a small amount of a mild detergent in water and rub it using a nylon mesh pad.

2.) Dryer Sheets to Clean an Iron

  • In this method, keep the setting of your iron on low mode.
  • Now, rub a few dryer sheets on the soleplate of your iron.
  • Keep rubbing it until you get rid of the accumulated dirt and grime.

3.) White Vinegar to Clean an Iron (Steam Iron)

  • For this method, you will need to clean the inside of a steam iron by pouring a sufficient amount of white vinegar.
  • You can also pour a combination of equal parts of vinegar and water.
  • Pour the combination until the reservoir get one-third full.
  • Now, turn your iron (keep it on medium to high heat setting).
  • Let the iron steam for about 5 to 10 minutes. This will evaporate all the vinegar solution.
  • In next step, you need to fill the chamber using plain water.
  • Turn the iron once again to get rid of the remaining mineral deposits and traces of white vinegar.
  • Finally, wipe the bottom area and the steam vents using a paper towel.
  • This will also help get rid of rust accumulated in the steam vents.

4.) Cotton Swab to Clean an Iron

  • Another method to clean an iron is to create a homemade cleaning solution by mixing same amount of white vinegar and water.
  • Soak a piece of cloth in it and wipe the soleplate.
  • Also, clean the steam vents which might be blocked with starch accumulation using a cotton swab dipped in the prepared solution.

5.) Baking Soda to Clean an Iron

In case of stubborn stains and rust on the soleplate of your iron, you can rub a combination of two teaspoons of baking soda and a little water on the concerned area.

  • For best results, apply the paste on a soft cloth first, and then rub it on the soleplate.
  • Later wipe it out using a damp cloth.
  • Apart from water, you can also mix baking soda with sufficient amount of white vinegar.

6.) Toothpaste to Clean an Iron

Toothpaste can also be quite effective ingredient to clean an iron. Here is the method to use it.

  • Using a little white toothpaste (no gel), scrape the gunk out from the soleplate of the iron.
  • After scrubbing, wipe it off using a damp cloth and remove the buildup of grime and mineral deposits from the plate.

7.) Salt to Clean an Iron

In order to clean dirt from the soleplate of your iron, salt can be another effective ingredient. Here is the method to use it.

  • Take some salt and put it on a cotton towel or a paper towel.
  • Now, keeping it on the highest setting with steam turned off, run the iron over it.
  • You will notice that the dirt is getting stick to the salt, thereby making your iron sparkling clean.
  • If there is some molten plastic stuck on the iron’s plate, you can clean it by sprinkling some salt on a piece of aluminum foil and ironing it.
  • This will loosen the plastic from the bottom of the iron.
  • If your iron has something waxy which you need to remove, then simply set the iron to the highest mode and run it over a clean newspaper.
  • If you want to remove some oily substances, you can clean it using ammonia.
  • Just soak a small amount of ammonia on a clean cloth.
  • Wipe the iron’s plate with it.
  • After that, wipe down the iron using a damp cloth.

Apart from above methods, you can also go for some commercial iron cleaners. However, the ones we mentioned above are natural, inexpensive, easy and safe to use.