My iron is still a good iron, except for mineral deposits it leaves on my fabric. I can actually see the flaky pieces in the holes on the plate.

Do I clean it like a coffee pot with vinegar?

I don't have the funds to buy a new iron right now.

Thanks for reading and for any replies!

Michelle

Good question, wish I knew the answer.

i googled your question and was going to attach a few links... but some of them have vulgar language... finally found this one http://www.managemylife.com/mmh/ques...ow-can-i-clean
they all seem to believe that white vinegar is the answer and don't use CLR

I think my Rowenta iron instruction books say to fill it with vinegar and steam it out on an old thick towel. Then refill it with water and steam it again on a clean old thick towel so you are sure to get it all out.

HTH

I used vinegar in irons before BUT I haven't done it in my newest one yet (it's only 3 yrs old).
This is what I did. At your own risk--
I poured white vinegar into a cold iron....filled it up all the way. Let it set overnight. Plugged it in and pushed the steam button till it stopped steaming. Poured the rest of it out and filled with distilled water a few times till the vinegar smell was gone.
Still worked great till I dropped it and broke it 2 mos later.

Do you think this will work with a straight steam iron? I bought one and after using it once it spits out rust..I'm not ironing my quilt stuff with that! I was really disappointed...

I have used vinegar years ago at my parents house - it works.

Do you have iron in your water? We do so I use bottled water.

in my good iron. i have an old iron i use for fusibles and such and use softened tap water in that.

I used vinegar, too. Only I set my iron outside when I plugged it in and turned it on. I didn't want that overly salad smell in the house or garage.

Didn't even need to rinse it. Just let it set outside for awhile.

ali

Use distilled water to help dissolve down the heavy deposits that build up from time to time.

I still use vinegar or lemon juice to get the heavy stuff out, but sometimes just using distilled in our heavy water area still acts as if I used the vinegar/lemon juice - it cuts up all but the most heavily baked on stuff. So I switch back and forth between the two to avoid etching the metal in my iron/ teapot or the plastic in my cups.