Why does my iron leak or spit brown water?

Clear water leaking and brown grit spitting are two different faults — one is usually the plate being too cool to make steam, the other is limescale breaking loose inside.

Difficulty: beginner
Time: 30 min
Read: 6 min
Safety: caution

Short answer

Clear water running out means the soleplate is too cool to flash the water to steam, usually because the temperature is set low or steam was pressed before it heated. Brown or white gritty spitting means limescale in the vaporising chamber and steam channels, and needs the manufacturer's self-clean followed by steaming through an old cloth until it runs clear.

An iron makes steam by dripping water onto a hot cavity behind the soleplate, where it flashes instantly to vapour and is forced out through the holes. Two things go wrong with that. If the cavity is not hot enough, the water does not flash and simply runs out as liquid. And because scale forms wherever water boils, that same cavity and the channels leading from it are exactly where mineral deposit collects and then breaks loose onto your clothes.

Safety

Unplug the iron and let it cool before any cleaning, and never immerse it in water. Never put vinegar, descaler or any cleaning product into the water tank unless the manual explicitly permits it — acid attacks the aluminium vaporising chamber and the internal seals, and the resulting leak appears weeks later. A self-clean function ejects boiling water and steam, so hold the iron over a sink at arm's length. Any iron with a damaged cable, a cracked body or a scorched plug is scrap, not a repair job.

What you'll need

An old clean cloth or towel to steam through
Distilled or filtered water, in a hard water area (optional)
A sink
Cotton buds and white vinegar, for the outside of the holes only (optional)

Where limescale forms in an iron, and what each symptom means

Step by step

Look at what is coming out.Clear water is a temperature problem. Brown, orange or white gritty liquid is scale. Sticky brown streaks that come off the plate face rather than out of the holes are a different problem again — burnt starch or melted synthetic on the outside.
For clear water, check the temperature setting first.Steam needs a hot plate. Most irons only make proper steam from about the two-dot setting upward. On a one-dot synthetic setting, pressing the steam button simply pushes water through.
Let it heat fully before using steam.Wait for the thermostat light to cycle off at least once. Pressing steam during the initial heat-up is the single commonest reason an iron leaks.
Do not overfill the tank.Fill to the marked line with the iron unplugged and cool. An overfilled tank leaks through the fill hole and the plate, particularly when the iron is stood on its heel.
Stop pressing the shot-of-steam button repeatedly.Each burst dumps a measured slug of water onto the chamber and drops its temperature. Several in quick succession will overwhelm it and the last ones come out wet.
For brown gritty spitting, run the manufacturer's self-clean.Fill to the line, heat fully, unplug, hold the iron horizontally over a sink at arm's length, and operate the self-clean or calc-clean control per the manual. Boiling water, steam and scale come out. Repeat if it is still dirty.
Steam through an old cloth afterwards.Refill, heat, and iron a clean old towel with steam for a minute or two until nothing brown transfers. This clears what the self-clean loosened but did not eject, and it is the step people skip before going back to clothes.
Clean around the steam holes from the outside only.A cotton bud damp with white vinegar, on a cold unplugged iron, around the mouths of the holes. Wipe it off afterwards. This is external cleaning and is not the same as putting vinegar in the tank, which must not be done.
Change the water you use.In a hard water area, filtered or distilled water prevents nearly all of this. Check the manual first — some irons specify a proportion of tap water, because completely pure water can cause its own problems with certain anti-scale systems.
Empty the tank after every session.Water left standing in a warm tank accelerates scale and can smell. Empty it while the iron is still warm, over a sink, then stand it upright to dry.
Store it upright on its heel.Stored flat with water in it, an iron will weep through the soleplate onto whatever it is standing on. Empty and upright is the rule.
Recognise when it is finished.An iron that spits after repeated self-cleaning, or that leaks continuously regardless of temperature, has scale or a seal failure inside a sealed appliance. Irons are not economically repairable; replace it rather than persisting.

Tips

If the leaking started when you switched to a steam-heavy technique on delicates, it is almost certainly the temperature. Steam and low heat are incompatible on almost every iron.
Anti-calc cartridges and self-cleaning systems reduce scale but do not eliminate it. They extend the interval; they do not replace the routine.
Fabric conditioner and spray starch are the two things that make an iron sticky and brown on the outside. If you use either, expect to clean the plate regularly.
A leak that only appears when the iron is stood on its heel is usually an overfilled tank rather than a fault.

Common mistakes

Putting vinegar or descaler in the water tank — Most manufacturers prohibit it. Acid attacks the aluminium chamber and the internal seals, and the damage shows up as a leak weeks later that no amount of cleaning fixes.
Using steam on a low temperature setting — The plate is not hot enough to flash the water into vapour, so it comes out as liquid. This is the mechanism working as designed, not a fault, and no cleaning will change it.
Leaving water in the tank between sessions — Standing water accelerates scale formation, can develop a smell, and weeps out of the plate if the iron is stored flat.

If it doesn't work

Clear water runs out of the soleplate

Cause: Plate too cool to make steam, or steam pressed during warm-up — Fix: Turn the temperature up to at least the two-dot range, let the thermostat light cycle off once, and then use steam.

Brown or orange gritty spitting

Cause: Limescale breaking loose from the vaporising chamber and steam channels — Fix: Run the manufacturer's self-clean over a sink, repeat if needed, then steam through an old cloth until it runs clear. Switch to filtered or distilled water.

Steam from only some of the holes

Cause: Partially blocked steam channels or hole mouths — Fix: Self-clean, then clean around the hole mouths with a vinegar-damp cotton bud on a cold unplugged iron.

Water pools under the iron when stored

Cause: Tank not emptied, or the iron stored flat — Fix: Empty the tank after each session and store the iron upright on its heel.

Leaks continuously whatever the setting, after self-cleaning

Cause: Internal seal failure — Fix: Replace the iron. It is a sealed appliance and not economically repairable.

Questions people ask

Why is my iron leaking water instead of steaming?

Almost always because the soleplate is not hot enough. Steam needs roughly the two-dot setting or above, and pressing the steam button during warm-up pushes liquid water through. Turn it up, wait for the thermostat light to cycle off, then use steam.

How do I stop my iron spitting brown water?

That is limescale from inside the vaporising chamber. Run the manufacturer's self-clean or calc-clean function over a sink, repeat if it is still dirty, then steam through an old cloth until it runs clear. Switch to filtered or distilled water if the manual allows, and empty the tank after each session.

Can I put vinegar in my iron to descale it?

Only if the manual explicitly says so, and most say the opposite. Acid attacks the aluminium chamber and the internal seals, and the damage shows up as a leak later that cannot be reversed. Use the machine's own self-clean function instead.