How to Clean Your Steam Iron

by Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger

25 Nov 2007 06:18 AM

You can easily clean your steam iron inside and out with this little trick.

I don't know about you, but I am constantly using my iron. It is one of those small appliances in my household that gets a lot of use. Growing up with just a regular non-steam iron, I got into the habit of using a spray bottle to wet down the clothing before ironing it. I continued to use this method, because I didn't want the hassle of cleaning out the deposits from the iron. Well, over the weekend, the spray bottle broke. The nozzle snapped off to be exact. I still had a load of ironing to do, so I thought I would try the steam setting. I unscrewed the the spray bottle, and used it to fill the iron. It worked nicely, because of the narrow neck of the bottle.

While I am still not sold on the steam method, since it isn't what I am used to, I will be using it for a while, until the next time I break down and pick up a new spray bottle. By that time, who knows, I may be hooked on using steam instead.

I still want to make sure that the iron can be cleaned, so I did a little research. The following method seemed to come up over and over again. it comes highly recommended from friends, relatives and household hint books. So I will definitely be trying this.

To clean the steam iron, fill the water reservoir with white vinegar. Then heat the iron to the hottest setting. Set the steam setting. Your iron will steam the vinegar, and the vinegar steam will clean out all of the deposits. I have been warned that this vinegar steam will create quite a strong odor, but that the odor will dissipate. When the iron stops steaming, refill the iron with water and allow it to steam again until it is empty. Repeat this method if necessary.

Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, technology in the Computing Blog, and creating a home in the Home Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here.

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How to Clean Tough Deposits

Save Money When You Iron

Iron in Bulk to Save Money

Learn more about Mary Ann Romans

Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat.

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