How do I clean a burnt or sticky iron soleplate?

An iron that drags, marks clothes or spits brown water has one of two faults, and they need opposite treatments. Residue on the plate is melted fibre, starch or fabric conditioner. Brown liquid is limescale and mineral deposit inside the tank and steam channels. Treating one as the other gets nowhere.

Safety

What you'll need

• Bicarbonate of soda
• White vinegar
• A clean old towel
• Cotton buds (optional)

Step by step

1. Work out which problem you have.Sticky, dull or dragging plate means residue on the surface. Brown or white liquid coming out of the steam holes means deposit inside.
2. Unplug it and let it cool for surface work.Cold for pastes and scrubbing. The exception is peeling off melted synthetic, which needs the iron just warm enough to soften it.
3. Make a bicarbonate paste for a stained plate.Three parts bicarbonate to one part water, spread over the cold plate, left ten minutes, then wiped off with a damp cloth. Mild enough for coated plates.
4. Peel melted synthetic off while it is warm.Set the iron to low, let it warm, then push the residue off with a wooden or plastic spatula. Ventilate — melted synthetic gives off fumes.
5. Iron over a towel with bicarbonate on it.A folded old towel sprinkled with bicarbonate, the iron run over it on medium heat with the steam off. Effective on stainless steel plates and takes a minute.
6. Never use metal on a coated plate.Non-stick and ceramic soleplates are a thin coating. A scourer or a knife goes straight through it and the iron will then drag and mark permanently.
7. Clear blocked steam holes with a cotton bud.Damp with white vinegar, worked round each hole on a cold iron, then wiped clean. Deposit here is why steam comes out unevenly.
8. Descale the tank for brown streaks.Follow the manufacturer's method — usually a self-clean function with the tank filled with water, held over a sink. Do not put vinegar in the tank unless the manual permits it.
9. Run it over an old cloth afterwards.Steam and iron a rag for a minute to flush the channels and check nothing brown is still coming out before you go near clothes.
10. Change the water you use.In a hard water area, filtered or distilled water prevents the whole problem. Check the manual — some irons need a proportion of tap water.

Tips

• Starch and fabric conditioner both build sticky residue on a soleplate. If you use either, expect to clean the plate regularly.
• Empty the tank after each session. Water left standing accelerates scale and can smell.
• A soleplate that has been scratched will keep catching fabric. At that point a new iron is cheaper than the clothes it will ruin.

Common mistakes

• Scraping a coated soleplate with something metal — The coating is microns thick. Once it is breached the plate drags, holds residue in the scratch, and marks whatever is ironed with it. It cannot be repaired.
• Putting vinegar or descaler in the water tank — Most manufacturers prohibit it. Acid attacks the internal seals and the aluminium components, and the damage shows up as leaking weeks later.

If it doesn't work

Questions people ask