Hi
I have a new oliso iron and in the manual it reads to empty the water from the iron when done.
I have never done this before when I was emptying it DH asked what I was doing. Told him it says to do this.
Do you empty the water from your iron after each quilting session?
Does anyone out there know why you should do this?

Uh Oh guess I should read my manual I have the same iron I never did this with my old irons but I have hard water so maybe a good idea.

Hi,
I was always taught to use distilled water in my iron. This is especially true if you have hard water.

I don't empty my iron if I'm working on a sewing project. When I used to use my iron for pressing clothes I would empty the iron between uses.

Lately I have to honest that I haven't been careful about either practice. I've been using a B&D with regular tap water. I'll probably more careful with my next iron to use only distilled water.

Have a Great Quilty Day!
Pam M

I have always emptied the water from my iron & I use distilled water. I just empty it back into the gallon jug. My Rowenta iron is 15 yrs. old & no problems.

I do not empty mine never have but I do use distilled water.

I believe my B & D DIgitial advantage says to empty, plus to use tap water, not distilled. So far so good. It doesn't leak and it is about 6 years old. And the expensive Rowenta lives in the closet because it sputters and leaks and I don't like it.

I have the same kind of iron as stitchnripper and haven't had any problems with mine and I've had mine about 6 yrs. also.

I've never poured out the water from my iron, I too use distiled water, generally I use everything I put in...

My Rowenta says to use tap water and doesn't say anything about emptying it. It's still going strong after 5 years. But a funny thing - it makes the loudest, strangest noise when I push down on it. Doesn't sputter or leak, just groans. Anybody else have this problem?

I bought a new iron and refuse to put water in it. I've never had an iron that didn't start sputtering and leaking so I decided not to give this one anything to sputter and leak. If I want steam, I use a mist bottle.

I use distilled but once in awhile I splash in a little tap water just because one of my manuals said to go back and forth if you have hard water. We have VERY hard water. Also, I read not to use water from a water softener. Think it's because of the salt in it.

I use half tap and half distilled in my irons. I've had my Rowenta for about 6 years without a problem. I have heard if you have a water softner you shouldn't use that water in your iron.

I am lazy and do not empty my iron. But I am supposed to empty it.

I have recently found out why. Although I have ALWAYS used distilled water and do clean it, I never emptied it every day because I use it every day of my life and thought it was a pain. Then- it just stopped steaming...I super cleaned it- soaked with iron cleaner, and with vinegar as recommended. I shook it and rinsed it and you would have thought I was mining! The huge blobs of build-up was unbelievable!I had to take pieces out with tweezers. I kept rinsing it with water, but it was black and so much sediment, I had a new Oliso in the cupboard I took out and will now empty it every night.

Now this makes sense the sediment in the water settles and stays in the iron. Okay I'm sold.
Thanks petpainter

I have a Bosch iron- I've never emptied it, except by using it. I use half tap, half distilled.

I've always been very loyal to my irons and emptied the water while the iron was hot, pushed the steam tab to high and let it steam out. Altho I was so faithful, they lost their ability to steam, shot out hunks of lime, etc. Then I bought a $6 from Walmart, never emptied the water and it steams, gets hotter than my good iron. I will never buy an expensive iron again. If my Walmart keeps up the good work, I may never have to buy an iron again.
Rita

Oliso iron, I think I don't have my iron set right, it doesn't seem to be a hot has other irons that I have had.

Is there a special setting to make it hotter.

I love the iron other than that, but I too, don't empty the water out of it. I use it almost every day while I am working on quilting pieces.

I have never emptied the water out of my iron(s). To be perfectly honest, I don't know how!

Why would there be sediment in distilled water? Is it possible that the build-up was coming from something else, maybe some part of the iron that had deteriorated? (Just guessing, and hoping that my failure to empty out the water won't ruin my iron.)

I use my iron every couple days and never have emptied out the leftover water.

My iron actually says to empty each night, but the difference is that it says do NOT use distilled water - to use SPRING water. It is the only iron I have not had sputtering, leaking and spitting problems with. I have used this iron for about 5 years and am happy with it.

Funny you should ask. I have a Rowenta and it talks loudly to me too. Can't figure what makes it do that. I too notice that it does it louder when I press down on it.

I have heard of iron makers recommending spring water, but it seems like a very strange idea to me. Spring water has minerals, and the amount and type of minerals vary from one batch to the next. Why would this be preferable to distilled water, which has no minerals?

My iron also says to use tap water. We have well water so for me it would make sense.

All you do is turn the iron upside down and the water will come out of the hole you put it in. Then just push the steam button to dry it out.

Me too, it's just that I don't like using steam to press pieces it can stretch and press them out of shape, I have a mist bottle for the stubborn creases, works a treat for me.

In our area in Wisconsin we have hard water and lime sets in the iron and tea kettles in no time. I don't use any water in my iron. I use a spray bottle and have good luck pressing anything I want to work on. If I need more steam, I used a thin cloth dishtowel and spray it with water or wet it and use it.
I have had too many spots of dirt and whatever come shooting out of the iron when using water in it.

Carol J.

i guess you should, i never do, though

I just bought a new Singer iron and the directions say to use the cheapest bottled water you can find if you have a high "lime" content, which we have. I also used a Board member's idea and use a wine decanter with a spout to pour into the iron. I normally do not empty my irons. Have not had a problem as yet!

I have a pressure iron/steamer in which I use bottled water (distilled water is a no-no, but don't want to use tap water either). Bottled is only $1.00/gallon and, no, I do not empty the reservoir each time, although it is "recommended".

I have an Oliso and never empty it. Use it everyday (almost) and it drinks RO water.

Never really thought about it. I'm real bad to just open up things and throw away the box. I'm sure it is because water might rust the inner chambers of the iron and cause damage. Not to mention coming out and stain your cloth. It's probably one of those good ideas that we never think about doing.

I use distilled water and also use my iron everyday. I iron everything....yes, I'm one of those...LOL I've never emptied it and I've had the same iron for over 5 years. I hope I didn't just jinx myself....

I have an Oliso and I do not empty the water after each use. If I know I'm not going to be quilting and ironing for a while I do empty it then. A lot of irons do not require distilled water. I found that out by reading the instructions. I put distilled water in my old iron and it spit all over the place, same thing happened with the Oliso.

Rhonda

I never have emptied my iron on a regular basis. Maybe that is why they stop working. I do use distilled water, but only a couple weeks back I was watching (Fons & Porter I think) and she had a guest from Oliso. He said to never use distilled water and to just use water that you would drink. The only water he said not to use is real hard water. He was not too clear on the recommendation. I did not understand why distilled water is not good. He just said not to use it. Period.

Ditto. I never use water.

I recently saw and Love of Quilting episode about Irong and they said never to use distilled water in your iron. They didn't say why. I have never emptied my irons and don't seem to have any problems. One thing you could do is use bottled or filtered water to lessen the amount of minerals in the water.
Bev

Well, maybe I'll try using just bottled water for my new Oliso. I also have 5 Rowentas in the closet I use for my artwork because they all sputter Terribly. I was told by the company to use half distilled and half tap water for for them. Didn't work! I Really Have to have an iron that steams, just the water bottle won't do it for me. Time will tell. I don't think the cheapies will do if if you garment sew, too. They probably don't get hot enough.

I have always emptied my iron after I get through with it for the day. I suspect that some of the problems people are having with their Rowenta irons is that they don't empty them. All the manuals I have ever read, including the ones for my GE and my Black and Decker say empty them.

My irons-GE and Rowenta at the moment-say to use tap water. They specifically warn against softened water. I use reverse osmosis water and have for years, but would not hesitate to use tap water.

All metal will corrode if left in standing water long enough. My neighbor left water in her iron for several weeks while she was out of town and when she got home, the iron was ruined.

Of course, she left hers flat instead of on its heel, so that might have made a difference.

The chemicals in the water settle and collect in the steam orifices if you leave water in the iron very long. It doesn't take but a minute to empty it, so play it safe and follow the directions.
froggyintexas