A clean iron can make ironing your laundry more productive, while a dirty iron may burn fabrics, spray rusty or cloudy water onto your clothes, or fail to heat to the right temperature.
A schedule for cleaning an iron depends on how often you use the iron and the products you use each time. However, an iron should be flushed to remove limescale at least four times a year. Clean the bottom of an iron when you see a dull film or a brown-stained build-up on the surface – this is something many people struggle with.
Cleaning enthusiast and home organising expert Anita Birges took to her Instagram page @mise_en_place_aus to share a video of her “magical” method.
She captioned the video: “Watch as I bring this iron back to life in minutes using just a paracetamol tablet and a few simple moves. It’s seriously like magic!
“Whether you’re dealing with burn marks, stubborn stains, or lime scale, this hack will totally transform your iron.”
Anita instructed that the first thing to do is to turn your iron up to its hottest setting, then grab a paracetamol. Make sure it’s a tablet, not a capsule and place it carefully in some tweezers.
Then, gently rub over the dirty spots on the iron plate. Anita said: “Whether it’s burn marks, stains, or crusted on limescale, the paracetamol simply melts it all away.”
For the final step, wipe off the dirty residue with a slightly damp cloth and “watch the cleaning magic happen”.
Just be careful of your fingers because the iron will still be super hot.
