Product Review - Irons and Iron cleaner

I don't like ironing or cleaning but I have spent the last 30 min or so cleaning my irons.

If you are a sewer you've got to know that ironing is crucial. You must sew and press and sew and press and sew and press and... Well you understand. That is how you keep your item looking and sewing together nicely. Whether it is a garment, a handbag or a bib I am pressing it! I don't like ironing my own clothing unless I pull a blouse out of the closet and I am going to church and have some time. But I also know with my little ones crawling on me, I really shouldn't bother because I'll be wrinkled again soon

When I moved away from home, my dad gave me an iron he found at a yard sale. My roommates used it more than I did. It was pretty sturdy and we could have used it to fight off intruders. When I got married a sweet friend of the family gave me a Sunbeam brand iron. That got A LOT of use especially when my husband joined the Army. He was often checking out new irons and they were so expensive. That Sunbeam iron seemed just fine with me since it pressed my seams well and kept his uniforms looking all right.

Christmas before last I bought him a new Black and Decker iron. I have had good luck with Black and Decker over the years. My B&D handmixer I received 13 years ago for a wedding present is still going strong! I had no problem with this iron. Only a year later the Army switches from a BDU you have to starch and press to the new ACUs. Could you hear the shouts of exclamation all over the world and sighs of relief that noone had to press their uniforms anymore? And probably some shouts of despair because the cleaners kept really busy starching and pressing them. Oh well! (I've got tell you all though...I never pressed his uniforms. I know a lot of Army wives who do, but I was never one of them. Ditto shining boots.)

Allright, so I am a little off the subject. Enter new iron. Husband buys me the iron of his dreams. I don't want to know how much he spent. He loves gadgets and loves having the nicest things. He bought the Rowenta iron because he said I need the best iron for my business. I hate to say it, but it's only OK. I like putting distilled water in my iron but this one discourages it. So we used tap water and now after a few months, it spits out little white flecks when I serge my steam. AAHHH!!! They brush off whatever I am doing but it is annoying for a newer expensive iron. I am sure it has a warranty but I am so bad at keeping warranties and receipts so I don't see myself returning it soon. It also is heavy but doens;t feel well balanced when I am pressing. I really expected more. The biggest bummer: I can't use it while the air conditioner is on. I have a lot of stuff plugged in my sewing room. I have the TV, DVR, 2 lamps, the laptop, sewing machine, a serger or two and the AC. I turn on my iron and the circuit blows. AAHHH!!! It gets pretty hot while I iron.

But here's some good news. The B&D and the new Rowenta have terrible build up on them from all the fusibles, interfacing and adhesives I use. Or I should say HAD. I absolutely recommend Dritz brand Iron Off Hot Iron Cleaner. I bought it at Fabric Mart here on Oahu and it can be found at Joann Fabric I have to order online since we don't have a Joann here. But I was happy to see I can buy it for about the same price. I paid $5. It is difficult to find the notions and gadgets I want in Hawaii. It can be a real hunt.

This stuff is rad and you will see that others on Joann reviewed it well, too. I set my iron on the hottest setting for cotton and squeezed some of this on an old folded pillow case. Then I rubbed it around and the lightest stuff came off easily. But I had TONS of gunk on mine. So I added more and kept going. I used Q-tips to clean it out of the vents. I was having a problem getting one real bad spot off so I just started squeezing small amounts onto Q-tips and scrubbed that spot hard until finally it all came off! The sole plate is shiny and looks brand new!

This looks like the old pillow case ought to be totally chucked now. Keep in mind when the directions say it will smoke it does! This stuff was smoking like my grandma and kind of freaked out my kids when they came in. But it wasn't irritating to us and I ventilated the room. Well as well as I could because since I couldn't turn the AC on! Also rememeber this must be used on a very hot iron for it to work so be careful you don;t burn yourself, especially when working with they Q-tips.

So what did we learn? Irons can be tricky but there is a great way to clean them off. I feel I have 2 new irons now and I will be experimenting with the B&D top see if it blows circuits too.