My poor iron

callansdad

My man finally decides to help me with the ironing :eek: and the iron takes the huff.

I have a Tefal Steam Generator. Always use it with tap water and wipe it down before i use it with just water (which is what my man says he did, although he did fill up the tank a bit with cold water from the kettle, which he got an ear bashing for). After heating up he pressed the steam button and started to iron something, horrible brown water started coming out the sole plate.
I do rinse out the tank now and then, admittedly not as often as i should. I downloaded the instructions for it and at the problems and solutions bit it tells me that my problem is caused by using either chemical descaler products or additives in the water used for ironing. I have never used these, what has caused this?

It said the solution was basically to not use this type of product which doesn't really help as i don't use them as it is

How do i solve this??

Mrscallansdad

Gingernutmeg

It could be just limescale from the tap water. I live in a hard water area and if I use tap water I seem to get sort of crusty brown 'flakes' coming out of the steam holes. My solution has been to use the ironing water (Tesco's isn't bad, only 56p and it's an excuse to do less ironing lol) and it seems to be ok. If I've had a problem, I've sorted it by putting the iron on steam and ironing an old tea towel while pressing the steam button. Eventually the steam will come clear.

I did ruin an iron by following a tip which said that you could make a cheap ironing water by using a very dilute solution of fabric conditioner. Suffice to say it didn't work and I just couldn't stop the iron producing the brown flaky stuff. That sadly meant a new iron ...

callansdad

I live in a soft water area.
My man has informed me that our main water pipe coming into the house is a lead pipe (we will be getting this changed at somepoint in the future when we renovate)
could this be the cause of the problem, if so what can i do as the instructions say to use tap water

Gingernutmeg

It *could* be the problem - I suppose you could try letting the water stand in a jug for a while before you use it. Tbh though, if the iron says use tap water then I'm sure it's designed to cope with most things ... Could it be rust?

If there's a help-line it might be better to ring that, sometimes they're aware of issues/problems before they get round to putting them in the booklets so they might be able to advise you.

tru

I've got a Tefal as well and mine spits out brown water sometimes, you're supposed to empty the tank when you've finished ironing but it's too much hassle

My solution is to press the steam button while the iron is being held in the air then wipe off any brown water - it doesn't shoot out with the steam, it dribbles out of the holes - then iron as normal

If I'm really really bored, I might empty it and rinse it out, I think I've done this three or four times :think: and I've had the iron at least 2 years

callansdad

Thanks, i'm letting it cool down just now, will give it a rinse out then try again. I've had it nearly 2 years, typical that it plays up when OH decides to iron :rolleyes:

Rallya

This post just reminded me that I bought an iron in January 2005, which is still in its box and has never been used...

Do you think thats a record for never ironing? :rotfl:

Debt_Free_Chick

Do you completely empty all remaining water out when you've finished? If not, then the brown water could be from rust inside somewhere, which is caused by water remaining in the tank (and just a co-incidence, not "man's" fault).

I empty the water, turn the iron up to full heat and then place it face down on the ironing board grill (the bit where you rest the iron), so all remaining water turns to steam. And I pump the spray button several times to discharge that too.

If it is rust, then unfortunately, you're stuck with brown water - so let's hope it's something else, with a remedy.