To remove burned on starch from the iron place a towel dampened with vinegar on the ironing board and sprinkle generously with table salt. Set iron on warm dry setting and run over a towel until the stain is removed.
Clean gunk off the surface of an iron by polishing gently with 0000 grade steel wool. Don't try this with a non-stick iron. If iron surface is dull, polish with Pearl Drops or other toothpaste.
To clean mineral deposits from a steam iron, fill it with a mixture of equal parts water and white vinegar. Allow it to steam for several minutes, disconnect, and let stand for an hour. Empty the reservoir, rinse well, and repeat if necessary.
By Ron from Cortez, CO
This page contains the following solutions.
In the 40's, mom rubbed aluminum foil on the iron to clean it.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
Good afternoon. I iron and starch my clothes every day. Recently, I got burnt starch on my iron, and I cannot use it. Does anyone know how to get that burnt starch of the iron? Please Help. Thank you.
www.drycleanonwheels.com/
I found this website that might help you!
Their soultion is: Try heating equal parts of vinegar and salt in a small pan. Rub the solution on a cool iron, and wipe dry.
While my iron was cold I used an sos pad to clean it then I buffed it up, looks brand new.
Dip a wet cloth in baking soda and clean your iron then rinse it off with clean water.
the sos pad worked great..iron good as new. Thanks Joyce
at kitchen.robbiehaf.com/
Heat the iron to a nonsteam, medium heat before cleaning. Sprinkle a generous layer of table salt over a brown grocery bag (use one that has no writing on the top surface).
DON'T use sodium hypochlorite, undiluted, and ammomium hydrochloride.
Does anyone know how to remove a stain from clothing from iron residue? It is a white collar.
A Mr Clean Magic Eraser did the job for me!
To get spray starch or sizing off of an iron, set the iron for dry ironing (no steam) and maximum temperature. When good and hot, rub it firmly on a wet terry cloth towel. The gunk will steam off the iron and transfer to the towel.
My Black & Decker iron is spitting white stuff. I can't find the booklet that tells me how to fix this problem. Help.
By betes51
Sounds like mineral deposit build up in the reservoir from using tap water. Usually steam iron owners alternate between tap and distilled water to prevent build up.
You can mix some vinegar with distilled water (half and half ratio) and run that through your iron two or three times or until the white spitting stops, then run plain distilled water a few more times to rinse the vinegar smell from the reservoir.
Going forward remember to alternate tap and distilled water when using the steam feature.
You can download your user manual here (US, use the 'global' tab if not in the US), use the search function to find the one for your model:
www.blackanddecker.com/
I agree with the previous poster - mineral deposit. You can also get a special solution (just another sort of acid, like vinegar) to run through your iron. I'd go with the vinegar, as suggested, although I might use a stronger solution - 1/2 and 1/2?
I think the diagnosis was correct, and the first aid for the iron is simply distilled vinegar rinse, maybe a couple times. But irons come with instructions to not use tap water but distilled all the time. I pick up a gallon at the grocery and just put iron only on it. Many times 'those' preparing worm beds, etc want to grab what I use for the iron, so by labeling it "Iron Only", they can't be sure!
Where can I find more Rowenta paste to clean my iron? Or can I mix up my own paste? What are the ingredients?
By Angela Land
I use Bon Ami powder from the grocery store and have had good results.
Clean the Soleplate with Baking Soda
You can clean your iron without the cleaning kit. Combine a tablespoon of baking soda, a teaspoon of salt and enough white vinegar to make a paste. Apply it to a cool iron. Place an old bath towel over the ironing board. Turn the iron on the highest setting and rub it over the towel so the baking soda scrubs the soleplate of the iron as it heats up.
HI. I just use plain white toothpaste (not the gel or speciality brands). Heat up you iron. Squeeze about some toothpaste onto an old terry cloth towel (not a smooth one) and "iron". Use the steam function of the iron so the vents get cleaned. Hope this helps. W
The steam button of my steam iron is rather sticky and does not come up when I press it unless I pull it up myself.
How do I clean it?
John from Athens, Greece
Maybe a little alcohol on a Q-tip?
What is"Q-tip"?
Editor's Note Q-Tip is a brand name for a cotton swab. A cardboard stick with cotton on the ends.
I dropped my iron on the carpet which consisted of man made materials and the iron immediately melted the carpeting to the bottom of my iron. I took a paper towel with a generous amount of everyday rubbing alcohol and wiped the bottom and it peeled right off. The rest of the cleaning needed a bit of elbow grease but it cleaned beautifully. My iron was still warm to the touch so do not know if that was a plus factor or not. Don't be skimpy with the alcohol.
How can I clean spray on starch from the bottom of my ionic coated base plate - Lumina brand iron? The base is neither Teflon, nor stainless steel, but a cream colour.
By Judy B from Brighton Q
I have a film of junk on the bottom of my iron from an unknown source. Is there anyway to remove it or do I have to throw out my iron?
By Linda
I'm guessing that the 'junk' on the sole plate is either spray starch or sizing, while the iron is warm, spray the plate with same, then use a non-scratching scrubber to remove the 'junk' residue. If that doesn't work, try Vinegar or Goop Off, but I'm pretty sure that the first method will work. (What else could it be?)
Once you clean the iron, heat it up to Warm and iron over a sheet of waxed paper. It will make the iron iron smoother. After the waxed paper, iron it on a paper towel to remove excess wax.
I was temporarily ironing on the floor using an improvised DIY ironing board I made using a wooden chopping board with a tea-towel on it, which was absolutely fine. Then oops, the iron accidently decided to jump onto the carpet (as they do) and I had to rescue the iron and also the carpet from excess attachment issues as they started to melt into each other. 
The burn to the carpet fortunately wasn't that bad and I managed to trim it with nail scissors and brush it a bit and it's not that noticable. However my iron now has plastic residue from the burnt and melted bits of carpet which I have no idea how to clean off. I've checked all of the advice for cleaning irons I've found online so far all centres around cleaning it from either rust or calcium deposits, but doesn't have anything to do with melted plastic carpet residues.
Alternatively looking up people burning their carpet with an iron, everyone discusses how to deal with the carpet but never with the iron. Any advice out there how to clean my iron from the bits of melted plastic carpet on it now? Many thanks in advance.
I used one of the nylon pan cleaners the little scratch Pad cleaners for pots and pans. Not the copper or silver one.
I was ironing my uniform, when I adjusted the heat capacity of the iron. I set it on level 2, but the clothes had no reaction to its heat so I adjusted it again to level 4 and unfortunately it burned a part of the uniform. My concern is not the burned uniform, but the mess it got to the surface of the iron. It looks like plastic got burned into it, but it was actually cloth. How can I clean the surface of the iron without damaging it? Help me please.
By carms
Its almost the same as plastic if your uniform was a synthetic. Heat the iron back up on a hard surface can take the heat that you don't care if it gets damaged. When it is hot, take a metal spatula and scrape it back off. When its off, let it cool. As long as it is not teflin coated, you can even use a bit of fine grain sandpaper or steel wool to get any residue off.
Recently I have been getting bad rust, or whatever, deposits on the bottom of my iron. I've used distilled water all of my ironing career and never had this problem. It ruined my last iron and I bought another one.
The very first time I used the new iron, the deposits returned. I was able to clean most of it off this time. This should not happen with a brand new iron.
I am beginning to believe that the cause of this problem is not a water/dirt issue, but rather something in the Tide detergent, or Downy fabric softener I use. I know they will not want to hear this, but if I'm right, they have a problem. I am doing some tests by using other detergent brands to see what happens.
Thanks.
By Brenda
Downy and tide does leave behind residue which will deposit on the iron, however if your new iron get deposits so fast, you must be using too much detergent and downy. Good to ruse them sparingly.
I accidentally ironed the sticky side of some fabric interfacing with my iron. It melted to the iron and left a mess. I have cleaned with salt, vinegar, steel wool, and Barkeepers Friend. Each of these removed the spot, the bottom was shiny and smooth. However, when I heat up the iron, then the sticky brown spot reappears. Is my iron ruined?
By Sarah
Have you ironed anything since this happened? You might try getting an old towel and getting it damp, have your iron on the highest setting and keep running the iron over the towel. I have done that myself and after tearing up a few irons, using steel wool and other cleaners, have found this trick to be most useful. It could be the spot your seeing is from the cleaners removing the protective coating on the iron. It might still be ok to use if it doesn't damage clothing. You could also put a sheet or rag sized sheet on top of the area you want to iron so it doesn't damage the clothing and if there is any sticky stuff it will be left on the sheet and not on your item.
My iron has stopped steaming. Any suggestions to clean it?
By Sheila from Ontario
Pure white vinegar and let it set or buy coffee pot cleaner from store. The vinegar must set in the iron to dissolve the deposits.
To clean a sticky or dirty iron, try running it over a dryer sheet and then onto a paper towel. Continue this process with your iron on high until the sole plate is clean. This is a page about how to clean your iron with a dryer sheet.
Using tap water in your steam iron can result in hard water deposits on your steam iron. Vinegar is a good product to use for this cleaning job. You can also try the paraffin method. This is a page about cleaning a steam iron of calcium deposits.
This page is about removing rust from steam iron. Having rust in or on your iron can stain your clothing.
ThriftyFun is one of the longest running frugal living communities on the Internet. These are archives of older discussions.
I have used a glass container that had a little clear fizzy liquid (Coke) to add water to the iron. Now when I use the iron it sputters a sticky substance. I need to clean it. Can someone tell me how?
My son tried numerous times to iron, but would always let the clothes burn. Now the iron has black stuff on it. How can I get it off? Thanks.
How can I get dried sticky stuff off the bottom of my iron?
How do I remove the brownish, icky build up from the bottom of my iron?
How do I clean the brown burnt on stuff on the plate of my steam iron?
How do get my brand new iron clean? It already has that gunky dark-brown build-up that makes it impossible to iron some nicer fabrics.
To clean the bottom of an iron, use A dry or damp (non soap) SOS or steel wool pad. Scrub the bottom until it is clean.
