Ironing Water

culpepper

hmm ours is years old and still going strong but..
It was originally for using with either tap water or distilled.
Our previous iron had no probs with the fridge water and that one couldn't use tap water. I believe the water sold for topping up car batteries is also suitable for irons,maybe it is sold in larger quantities so might be cheaper?

thriftlady_2

I've always used tap water in my irons.I'm on my second or third iron (I'm 40),have I just been lucky or (more likely) does everyone do a lot more ironing than me:o ?

misty

I use tap water - I'm on god knows what number iron but that's because I drop them on a semi regular basis (not on purpose just cause I'm a clumsy idiot)

wigginsmum

I'm on my second iron in 13 years and just use tap water.

K9cuddles

Surely it depends on where you live! If you have soft water (north) then your irons will last.. if you have hard water (south) your kill them quicker (so to speak!). I must admit I had never used ironing water until I saw a by 3 for £2 and it lovely stuff.. I recommend Comfort Sunshine Fabric Conditioner too.. infact I might even water that down and use it as ironing water.

ollyk

K9cuddles wrote:

Surely it depends on where you live! If you have soft water (north) then your irons will last.. if you have hard water (south) your kill them quicker (so to speak!). I must admit I had never used ironing water until I saw a by 3 for £2 and it lovely stuff.. I recommend Comfort Sunshine Fabric Conditioner too.. infact I might even water that down and use it as ironing water.

Exactly, it's all about lime scale. Boiling water doesn't do anything and wastes electricity, britta filters only remove about a third of the impurities - to the person who says the ironing instructions suggested this made things worse - I doubt it, they just want you to keep buying irons on a regular basis!
I personally see nothing wrong in using freezer water but then again we have been using soft tap water and have no real issues!

sundin13

Can I just add to the discussion the fact that buying ironing water just means more plastic bottles going in the bin. Its my pet hate...well, fabric conditioner in its vast plastic bottles is, but ironing water isn't too dissimilar.

I'll have to try some of the e.o. tips though....I do like the smell of ironing water ironed clothes.

S13

ollyk

Oh I should add halfords seel 5 litre tubs of ionised water for batteries cost about £5 - I use this as an emergency backup for my carnivorous plants that die when using anything other than rain water (they don't like impurities OR minerals more so than irons LOL) this should be absolutely fine and I bet it costs a hell of a lot less too!

thriftlady_2

K9cuddles wrote:

Surely it depends on where you live! If you have soft water (north) then your irons will last.. if you have hard water (south) your kill them quicker (so to speak!).

That must be it,I lived in B'ham for a long time and they get lovely soft Welsh water.This must be why my Mum never saw the need to pass on the ironing water 'knowledge'.Worcester water is pretty soft I think.

Thriftylady

This is off the topic of ironing, but onto the topic of air freshener, which I think the original poster had mentioned too.

I don't like shop bought air fresheners, but I do sometimes use one of those essential oil ring burner things - you pour a few drops of your chosen oil into it, then set it on the lightbulb on a lamp. When the lamp is on, the heat makes the smell diffuse out round the room. Its quite a subtle smell and nice and natural.

The other thing I do is put a drop or two of essential oil on the filter in my vacuum cleaner, then as you are vacuuming you are also releasing a nice fresh smell.

And obviously nothing beats throwing all the windows open! (except I live in a village in the country and when the farmers are spreading slurry, its best to keep them closed, but thats another story!)