Have you ever been late to a meeting, only to find out the shirt you must wear is wrinkled? You stand there in your undies, frantically ironing. Just when you are finishing the last section, the iron burps out brown gunk from the steam vents. The shirt is unwearable now, and the day slips even farther into the panic zone.
So. About that brown gunk. What is it, and why did it heartlessly ruin your day?
The brown gunk is sediment. The minerals in the water that you filled the little water tank with have deposited themselves in the innards of your iron. Now you know. It’s time to clean the thing. But how?
Unplug your iron and empty as much of the little water tank as you can. Now refill it with ½ vinegar, ½ water. Don’t stress; it need not be exact. The Damsel won’t mind if you end up filling the whole thing with vinegar. Slosh it around if you can, and let it sit a few minutes. Plug the iron back in and turn it to high with the steam setting on.
Discharge as much steam as you can by ironing an old towel or rag. Many irons have a “clean” button, or some such thing that causes the iron to shoot out bursts of steam. Alternate ironing and steam-bursting until the iron no longer gives off any specks of brown through the steam vents. This will take several minutes.
Ring! Ring! Hello, honey, whatcha up to right now?
Oh, hi, dear. Just ironing the rags. Gotta go!
It wouldn’t hurt to refill the iron with another vinegar/water dose and let it sit again. Take a nap, read a blog, and come back and do the steam-on-the-towel a few more times until you feel really good about the sparkling steam now coming from your iron.
Do this regularly to keep the brown menace away from your nice white shirts. Or, buy a jug of distilled water and keep it in your ironing area, to use strictly for filling the iron. Distilled water has no minerals left in it, so it can’t gunk up your iron. Kindly note that distilled water and bottled “spring” water are not the same thing. In fact, spring water is heavier with minerals than tap water, and will be twice as bad about causing brown gunk.
The worst brown gunk the Damsel has personally experienced has come from using perfumed ironing water. Beware! There are easier ways to make your clothes smell nice.
At least you don’t have to use this seriously old school iron. You’d have to put it in the fireplace to heat it up. The Damsel can guess why they were called “sad irons.” Maybe you wouldn’t have brown gunk from steam vents, though. You’d only have ashes to worry about. Holy cow!
Mystery solved! I have never been so entertained reading about brown gunk.
Dear Damsel – I love your blog.
Thanks for all that you do…I still hate to iron though!
In my childhood, my mother used an iron heated from within by gas burners, electricity not having reached our farm at that point. I love reading your posts. Some of these repetitive chores are very therapeutic.
So was the iron “cordless” then? If you grew up without electricity, you must have some fantastic old school skills. I’d love to hear any of them.
I love you! My 13-yr-old iron has been dirty for years. So instead of trying to figure out how to clean the darned thing, I keep getting rid of linen & other things that require ironing. (duh is me!)
thanks for the tips, I will try ‘em!!
–xoxo