Need iron advice

I hunted all over for an iron that didn't leak or spit grubby water! Mine now is one of the mid-line (I imagine?) Tefal. I love it. It has a Teflon base plate, though, which some people don't like. You do have to get a special cleaner, but that's all. I don't 'baby' my kitchen appliances (for that read neglect!) and it seems to be doing just fine. . In message , snipped-for-privacy@comcast.net writes

What kind of water are you using? The directions for my Rowenta said that it may spit and leak if you use distilled water. I use filtered water, but not distilled and haven't had any problems.

There are commercial steam iron cleaners, but I have successfully used white vinegar. If you google "clean steam iron vinegar", you'll find a bunch of methods, but most of them go something like this -- Fill the iron with a 50/50 mixture of vinegar and water. Let it steam for several minutes, then turn it off and let it set for an hour or so. Pour out what's left in the iron, fill it with plain water, let it steam for a while and pour that out.

Julia in MN

I bought a new iron about 6 months ago, and I love it. Siemens Power Slider,

2600 watts, 2 steam settings, self-cleaning, steel plate. Says it uses tap water, but I've been using the condensation water from the dryer. It doesn't leak and doesn't spit. Roberta in D

schrieb im Newsbeitrag news: snipped-for-privacy@75g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...

My Rowenta instructions said not to use distilled water.....but to use tap water instead. If you read the fine print it says if your tap water is between X and X levels of hardness. I know that our city water is border line so I mix tap water and a small amount of distilled water. My iron does not spit or leak when I use this mixture.

Betty in WI

I tired of this problem years ago and went back to just using a spray bottle of water to dampen my ironing. I seem to get plenty of steam this way. By keeping the iron dry all the time I managed to maintain an even heating surface too. Now I haven't bought an iron in 8-10 years. I paid $10.00 for it then and it works just perfect. I have one iron for my quilting and another that I use for laundry only because I use starch sometimes with my laundry. Oh yeah, and I have a third one that I almost for got. I use it seldom, but for crafting that sometimes require the use of an iron

julia

snipped-for-privacy@comcast.net wrote:

Sure you can clean it. Vinegar or iron cleaner or whatever.

I solved the problem by never putting water in my iron in the first place. If I need to use steam on something I either iron it fresh from the spin cycle, or use a spray bottle of water. For me it works better than a steam iron anyway. YMMV I had a GE that lived for about 20 years and saw a lot of hard use before it gave up the ghost. Now I have one of those Black and Deckers that look like a 1950's vintage iron. I also have a super cheap Sunbeam for when more than one person needs to be ironing (believe it or not it happens). Almost the first thing that happened when anybody used the Sunbeam was a cat attack on the ironing board. The iron took a tumble and broke the settings dial. I took a pair of pliers and turned it all the way up, so that particular iron is used only for cotton and linen. I've also got a flatiron in a box around here somewhere. It has never been used for ironing clothes though, at least not in the last 50 years or so. The lady who gave it to me used it for keeping bacon flat in the pan. Then she put her house on a pork free diet when her DH's cholesteral was checked. Hence it got passed to me. The thing is probably nicely seasoned if I ever think of something to do with it.

NightMist

Just think, all your quilts could smell like bacon! LOL

Howdy!

No water: a dry iron has never spit or stained or pee-ed on my fabric. Dry cleaner: they're his clothes, he takes them to the dry cleaner/laundry, lets the professionals handle it.

Currently using a Sunbeam, $19 from Sears; had it for several years.

Older iron was saved for messy jobs like adhesive materials, waxed paper on labels, iron-on patches. Clean it? Reckon not. ;-D

Ragm> I know this is s novel idea but read the manual! Actually

Yanno, I had to look and look again to get the other meaning of seasoned to filter through my brain. LOL

Of course what I meant was seasoned as in cast iron, which most flatirons are.

I just shudder to think of trying to actually use one as it was originally intended to be. Comes to it, I'm not sure you can use one without a proper wood stove or a good fireplace. I have thought of digging it out and useing it as a weight. There is always something curling up at an inconvienent edge.

NightMist ekeltricity is superior when it comes to clothes ir>A nicely seasoned iron? What a way to start my day. This will keep me

I have had my Rowenta going on 6 years now - I use generic "spring water" - not distilled - never had a problem. ME-Judy