How to Remove Sewing Interfacing Gunk from your Iron

Second only to a sewing machine, an iron is a seamstresses best friend.  A good iron allows you to make your fabric smooth, create strong creases, curve bias tape around a circle, bind interfacing to fabric, and put the finishing touches on a project.  

I love my iron.  It's a Rowenta Effective, similar to the one here.  I got it for my birthday many years ago and while I wouldn't typically ask for an iron as a birthday gift, it has improved my life so much that I deem it one of the best gifts ever!  It's great for ironing clothes and it helps tremendously in the sewing room.  

However, in the last few months, it's been clogged up with interfacing glue and stitch witchery remnants.  I could see a decline in the iron's performance and was determined to restore it back to its full functioning wonderful self!  

 

I picked up this Faultless Hot Iron Cleaner at the store last week and was incredibly impressed with the results!.  For less than $5 a tube, it is worth the price of a Starbucks Latte- I promise!

 First, I'd recommend massaging the tube and mixing all the gel prior to opening.  My gel wasn't mixed well and tended to do better towards the middle or end of the tube rather than the beginning.

Squeeze a small amount onto a towel.  Make sure it's an old towel that can be ruined.

 Put your iron directly on the cleaner and start moving your iron in a circular motion.

It will get very smoky in your room....  open doors, windows, etc.  I didn't  think the smell was too bad, but the smoke was pretty thick.  

If you have a pretty dirty iron like me, you'll need to repeat the cleaning process a few times.  I did three "rounds" of cleaning and used about 3/4 of the tube.  The above picture of my iron is after the first cleaning.  

And the pictures below are after the second and third cleanings.  

You may notice that I still have a little "gunk" in the round spots, which I think could be removed with a q-tip when the iron is hot.  I just havent' gotten around to trying that yet.

The difference between this iron cleaner and other iron cleaners I've used has been amazing!  I've paid more for other cleaners that didn't work but this was simple, fast, and effective.  

Since I've cleaned it, I find that it irons better and heats up faster.  It's like a brand new iron.  :)

Oh, and make sure to use a towel that you can toss in the rag box.  This is what my towel looked like after three cleanings.

Happy New Year; Happy Iron Cleaning!

Helpful Links:

Faultless Hot Iron Cleaner

Rowenta Iron