The iron is an ally of all housewives in the world, you can’t avoid using it even when it’s hot. Before going out, you should iron your clothes.

However, use after use, the iron gets dirty, so sooner or later, even if you don’t want to, you have to take care of its cleaning and the care that allows you to extend its life.

Like all other household appliances, the iron also needs periodic maintenance and it is advisable to do so to avoid staining, sometimes irreparably, freshly washed and dried clothes .

Iron, because it is important to dedicate yourself to cleaning it

The iron obviously gets dirty on the soleplate , which is where small dirt stains appear from clothing. Other times, these are simple lime stains, which should be avoided. Cleaning is necessary not only to avoid ruining the clothes, but also because dirt prevents steam from escaping through the ventilation grilles , which are often clogged

There is a useful trick to properly clean your iron, leaving it looking new, shiny, fragrant, in a word: perfect. It takes a few minutes and a little patience and that’s it.

1. Baking paper and coarse salt

As strange as it may seem, these two elements together are miraculous. There are some simple steps to follow, which will allow you to have a brand new iron in just a few steps.

Take a sheet of baking paper, place it on the table, sprinkle coarse salt over it, covering it completely and evenly. Then, turn on the iron, wait for it to get really hot, pass it over the sheet of paper and then over the salt as if you were ironing. Press firmly.

You can see at a glance how quickly dirt and limescale stains disappear , so your iron is ready to use without the risk of damaging your clothes.

2. Vinegar

Vinegar is among the most sought-after ingredients for household cleaning. It is used for almost everything: cooking, washing, disinfecting, removing ingrained dirt from any surface, making steel shine like new again, ….

Prepare a vinegar and water solution that is good for the exterior, including the soleplate. Wipe the entire surface with a cloth before storing or using the iron. To clean and polish the plate, you can prepare a vinegar and coarse salt solution .

In addition, you can use vinegar to clean the boiler. Fill it with water and vinegar, half water and half vinegar is enough. After that, turn on the iron and let the steam escape, thus expelling the limescale present inside the boiler.

Tips for using the iron correctly

When you iron, mistakes are often made that may seem trivial at the time, but they are not at all.

Firstly, avoid going over zippers and buttons, then when ironing synthetic fibre garments you should place a cloth between the iron and the fabric, to prevent it from sticking to the soleplate. If you make this mistake you will not just ruin the garment, but the iron. Therefore, it is advisable to use distilled water to avoid lime build-up and to completely empty the tank every time you use it.

If you have an old iron, maintenance can always be useful, but you cannot expect miracles, because an iron that has had its time cannot have much left to give . All that remains is to buy a new one.

Nowadays there are lots of models on the market, both traditional and modern, there are even vertical irons that allow you to remedy small wrinkles in a few minutes without having to take out the ironing board.

People who do very little ironing can settle for a classic iron, while those with a large family can buy an iron suitable for ironing large quantities of laundry, for example a professional one with a boiler. The latter requires more attention.