Tuesday, August 6, 2013

How to clean an iron with vinegar and baking soda

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how to clean an iron
I have a dirty little secret that lives in my laundry room. It's a secret that I hardly use...so I never really cared. But then I realized, if I hardly use it, why oh why is it such a nasty dirty little secret?? It's my iron. And boy is it horrible. We have had it for a little over 5 years now. Maybe use it once a month, if that. The only time I usually pull it out is for decorating projects like sewing curtains or something so I don't know why it's so dirty. I guess all the iron on hem tape has had it's way with it :)

Well the other day I actually needed it for it's intended purpose, to steam and iron a backdrop I have....a white backdrop. And well, it just sent shivies down my spine thinking of ironing it with something so dirty. So, I remember someone once saying that salt cleaned irons. And then just in case, I went on pinterest and saw a few pins about it, so I figure. Hey why not try?? Well....that didn't clean nothin'. Maybe my iron had too much gunked on crud...actually, I know my iron had too much gunked on crud.
how to clean an iron
this is what I started with...iikkk.
Then I remembered cleaning my silverware with vinegar and how awesome that worked. So I figured why not give it a shot. I just dabbed some vinegar onto a paper towel and started rubbing...and lo and behold it was coming off! Now I know this would have worked all the way had it not be sooooo dirty. So if you want to clean a semi dirty iron, vinegar and rubbing is all you need! :) ....and well, if your iron is like mine, you'll need to take it to the next step.
how to clean an iron
Drench a paper towel in vinegar and lay the iron on it for a good five minutes, then start rubbing again and more and more crud will come off.
how to clean an iron
how to clean an iron
almost clean..not quite yet though.

But....if your iron is even worse like mine...you'll need a little more power. Baking soda! Now place the baking soda on the drenched paper towel, place the iron on top of it and start 'ironing' (with the iron off of course). That stuff will come right off. It's amazing...and well, disgusting. :) The baking soda acts like an abrasive and scrubs the stubborn stuff right off.
how to clean an iron

Once it's all clean, put your iron on the steam setting and you'll notice the baking soda that got stuck in the holes will start to come out. Clean it up, steam again, clean it up...etc until all the baking soda is out.

how to clean an iron
For the stubborn holes, you may need to get a tooth pick and force the built up baking soda out. And voila!
how to clean an iron

If your iron is as gross as mine, you can probably skip the middle step of soaking it in the vinegar towel and go straight to the baking soda. If you do it like this, I bet you can have your iron cleaned in about 5 or so minutes.

I had no idea that my iron could look like new again! Awesomesauce :) Once again I am amazed by the power of vinegar and it's ability to clean practically anything, even my nasty iron :)