2uandtrilogy.com

I have a nasty little secret, a secret that I keep well hidden in my laundry room.

It's something I don't use often… so it doesn't cause me too much trouble.

But recently, I had to face the facts ...

If I never use it, how did this stuff get so dirty ?!

This dirty thing is my iron. His condition is purely and simply deplorable!

It will be a little over 5 years since we bought it and I only use it once a month, at the most.

The only times I take it out of its hiding place is to iron my husband's costumes and for my homemade decoration projects, like this bag that turns into a beach towel ...

Really, I don't understand how the sole of my iron got so dirty.

It must be this iron-on fabric that I use for my sewing projects that's spoiling it.

The problem was, the other day I needed to use my iron to iron a large tablecloth… and of course, that tablecloth was white.

Impossible to iron my beautiful white tablecloth with a dirty iron!

It was then that I remembered the trick to cleaning irons with salt.

I tried this technique, but to clean an iron as dirty as mine was not enough.

Besides, it is so dirty that even its dirt is clogged ... I'll let you judge for yourself! Yuck!

It was then that I remembered a trick that had worked really well for cleaning my silver jewelry: white vinegar and baking soda.

So I said to myself: why not try these 2 miracle products on the iron?

How to do

1. To begin with, I only soaked a paper towel with white vinegar and rubbed the sole of the iron well.

And, surprise surprise, the grime started to come off! I'm sure the white vinegar method would have been good enough if my iron wasn't in such terrible shape.

So, if you want to clean an iron that is only "half dirty", rubbing the soleplate with a little white vinegar should do the trick! :-)

… But if your iron is in the same condition as mine, you will have to take it to the next level.

2. Soak a paper towel with white vinegar then place the sole of the iron on the paper. Leave to rest for a good 5 min.

3. Repeat rubbing the sole with the vinegar-soaked paper towel. You will see that more dirt will come off.

But… if your iron is as dirty as mine, you'll need a little extra to clean it thoroughly: baking soda!

4. Sprinkle a generous amount of baking soda on the vinegar-soaked paper towel.

Place and rub the soleplate on the paper towel, as if you were ironing it - but WITHOUT plugging in your iron, of course.

All deposits and dirt will come off the sole. It's really amazing ... and a bit disgusting too :-)

It works because bicarbonate is a mild abrasive who has the power to scrub even the most stubborn dirt.

5. After having completely cleaned the soleplate, plug in your iron and put it in the steam position.

You will find that the steam will evacuate all the baking soda that is blocking the vapor holes in the soleplate.

Wipe off the excess baking soda with a rag, then switch on the iron device again to send steam continuously.

Wipe the soleplate again and continue to steam, until there is no more baking soda in the steam holes.

6. For tougher steam holes, use a toothpick to scrub the holes and remove bicarbonate deposits.

Results

There you go, my iron is like new :-)

If your iron is as bad as mine is, you can skip the white vinegar steps and go straight to step # 4 for a baking soda clean.

For info, this deep cleaning took me only 5 min.

I never thought that baking soda and white vinegar could help me make my poor, dirty iron like new! Awesome :-)

Once again, I am amazed at the effectiveness of white vinegar which can clean just about ANY thing imaginable - even my ugly iron!

Your turn...

Have you tried this trick for cleaning your iron? Tell us in the comments if it worked for you. We can't wait to hear from you!

Do you like this trick ? Share it with your friends on Facebook.

Also to discover:

My Tip for Iron Burns on Clothes.

The trick to ironing a shirt collar WITHOUT an iron.