by Melissa R. Bickel

Created on: September 15, 2009   Last Updated: October 06, 2009

Would you believe many households have an iron but few know how to properly clean one. It's imperative to know how to keep your iron clean so it keeps working as it was intended to. Maintaining your iron properly ensure the efficiency of your iron.

Water left inside of your iron's water well can turn brown from minerals and chemicals found in tap water. Emptying the water after each use protects your clothes from being stained and protects the inside of your iron from building up these water deposits and rust.

Weekly taking the time to run diluted white vinegar through your iron helps to maintain its internal well being. That is equal parts of vinegar and water. If you use your iron daily you should probably do this twice a week. Be sure to run just a cup of distilled water through your iron so all vinegar residue is washed out. It's a good idea to use only distilled water in your iron from the get go. Distilled water doesn't have all the chemicals regular water has.

Often times your iron will build up blackened residue on the bottom of the iron plate, this can be due to many things such as starch, wax, plastics and so forth. Knowing how to rid your iron of these things will ensure your iron runs as it should. Too, it prevents a transfer of these build up to clothes when ironing.

If the residue on the bottom of your iron is wax allow the iron to heat up and then run it across a paper towel. You can also use paper such as newspaper to do the same thing. The wax while heated transfers to the object your running it across.

If the product on the bottom of your iron plate is starch you can use the steaming process to remove it. What you do is wet a wash cloth, then ring it out so that it is damp. Turn your iron on high. Once it heats up run your iron over the wet cloth. Keep doing this until the starch comes off. If you find that the steam holes are blocked, once the iron cools down, use a piper cleaner to remove the residue.

Now if the residue on the bottom of your iron plate is plastic, you can try removing it the same way you do the wax. This doesn't always work, so you can go to a laundry supply store and ask about purchasing a product that is an iron paste. You rub this paste on the bottom or your iron while it is hot, so you'll want to put some on a dry rag to apply. As with anything hot use caution when applying, you don't want a nasty burn. Once applied, run your iron over a rag damp or dry until the residue is removed.

OxiClean is another product which can

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