Clean heavily soiled soleplate effectively
A heavily soiled iron soleplate from the steam iron can be cleaned very effectively and well with soda. However, the whole thing is a bit time consuming.
In the Italian apartment, the previous tenants had left the steam iron completely "dirty". There was an indefinable, sticky-blackish layer of fused synthetic fiber textiles on the stainless steel sole. What now? Buy a new iron, put on crumpled clothes or start cleaning activity? Decision: Try cleaning first!
Tips and tricks frequently published on the internet were unsuccessful: (Quite bad: rubbing with coffee grounds, does not remove the coating? Instead leads to soiled steam nozzles and later coffee stains on the ironed clothing.)
Soda is good for everything, so why not try soda on a trial basis? It can not go more wrong than that! After two applications and another trick, the iron floats like new on cotton shirts and linen dresses.
Take: Approx. 2 heaped tablespoons of soda and stir with lukewarm water to a paste. Take: Approx. 40 cm aluminum foil and use it to form a shell in the shape of the soleplate (edge: approx. 2 cm).
In the aluminum dish, the soda paste is evenly distributed. The bowl is placed on the cold stove (whether electric stove, gas stove or glass ceramic) and the steam iron filled with water? of course with the sole down? inside asked. Now the iron is first heated to medium temperature, when it begins to crackle, because the water content of the paste is almost evaporated, the iron is operated at the highest level with the highest steam output until the water tank is empty. Pull plug and allow to cool! Carefully remove the iron from the aluminum bowl when it is still lukewarm, remove the caustic soda (with parts of the coating) with a soft cloth and repeat the procedure. After that, all buildup should be eliminated except for minor residues.
Now the steam nozzles still need to be cleaned. Take a small bellows (available in the pharmacy for ear cleaning) and inject lukewarm water into each nozzle. (Caution: it comes out of other nozzles).
After this procedure, the water tank is refilled, the iron is brought to maximum temperature and the contents of the tank are evacuated manually. This is repeated again. Finally, when the iron is only lukewarm after switching off, the nozzles are wiped with cotton swabs that have been soaked in alcohol and briefly rubbed off the entire sole with a cloth soaked in lemon juice.
All's well that ends well ? or maybe I would rather 17.94? to invest in the special offer for a new steam iron?
