i'm not very good on maintenance. i was wondering if anybody had any good advice on how to keep your iron clean, and how to clean off the gook and residue that has already caked up on the iron.

Not being much of an ironer, I hope someone else will come forward...

Is the gunk calcification or lime deposits from hard water in your steam vents? If so, you could try wiping the plate with one of those hard water deposit removers like Lime Away. There used to be commercial iron cleaners on the supermarket shelves that would clean the reservoir, too. And while you are looking for that, try looking for something to filter the water that goes into the iron. You could use distilled water, too.

If the gunk is starch and melted fabric and stuff like that, try warming the iron and then ironing a rough wet towel or rag to scrub them off. If that seems to work a bit, fold the rag over to a new area and iron again. Keep it damp and keep it moving.

If it is a steel iron plate, you have more latitude with scraping it clean with a wooden spatula or a nylon one. A warm iron, not hot, is best here.

If it's teflon coated, that's a little trickier.

My mother always used a press cloth, or a muslin or percale rag between whatever she was ironing and the iron.

She also used a cake of paraffin occasionally but I'm not sure what that was supposed to do. It could have filled the tiny little holes in the steel so it wouldn't rust, but shouldn't be necessary for a newer iron. Anyhow, she would swipe it over the warm iron, and then press the hell out of a paper bag until there wasn't any meltable wax left.

Beth

you can run a solution of white vinegar and water (half and half) through your iron, by steam-ironing an old towel or fabric scrap until all the solution has gone through. that takes care of hard-water deposits pretty well. as far as the burned-on iron residue, there must be a cleanser or remover or something, but i just iron a damp towel, pressing down hard, to wipe it off.

stella

hey, i know this is a little late, but i just read a good iron-cleaning tip in an old Threads magazine. put a handful of table salt on a piece of newspaper, and iron until the salt scrapes all the goo off.

stella