sole plate of iron (cleaning)

Katykat

It wont come off with a knife & the reason I'm miffed is that for years I've only bought cheap irons & thrown them away when they broke. but I paid £30 for this one and I had to admit it made ironing easier because i have arthritis in my hands. I have stopped ironing most things but OH's shirts still need doing. Well, apart from the one thats now in the bin.

Pink.

Hi Katykat,

This existing thread has some ideas that may help:

sole plate of iron (cleaning)

I'll add your thread to it later to keep the suggestions together.

Pink

WeegieWumman

Did you try putting salt on a damp cloth and rubbing onto a WARM iron?

Owain_Moneysaver

Iron cleaning stick from John Lewis etc. Only a couple of quid.

BitterAndTwisted

I'd heat the iron up to its hottest setting and then press it onto some newspaper to get the worst off. Then, switch it off and give it a good scrub with a Brillo pad while it's still quite warm. I've never met an iron that I've burned and not been able to clean. And that's a few.

zeegoman

In my experience there is no way to clean a ceramic sole plate without using some form of abrasive which inevitably starts the deterioration of the surface. Even plastic pot scrubbers damage them. Toothpaste, alcohol, hob cleaner, etc don't cut it. Instead buy a steel sole-plate that can be scrubbed.

Flibsey

if it's something really tough, I use Astonish paste. £1 for a pot that lasts an AAAGE. I often get heat-dissolve embroidery stabiliser on mine, and astonish is the only thing i have found that works. i cool the iron and scrub, rinse with boiled water, check all the pittle holes and then can use again.

astonish also works well on glass cooker tops, bathtubs, sinks (ceramic and stainless) and most wierdly, UPVC window surrounds

(I'm talking about my cheap argos iron i've had for about 8 years lol)

sb88_2

just went to iron OH shirt and found that the metal plate of the iron is FILTHY!! For some reason it's got dark marks all over it, and I have no idea what from, it's almost like a sticky glue type resin.

Any ideas how i can remove this ?

jools27_2

Usually scrub mine with the dish scourer and fairy liquid

MaxSusie

I do the same. It works better if you use it on a warm sole plate in my experience. If it doesn't work with washing up liquid maybe try a bit of cream cleanser? hth.