Do you find gunk on your pristine fabric after you press it with your iron? Do you have a filthy iron that is leaving marks on your quilt top? Do not fret! Here’s a simple way to clean that disgusting iron.
- Place an unused dryer sheet into the fold of a square of fabric.
- Put the fabric square on the edge of the ironing board.
- Scrape the hot iron across the fabric. The dryer sheet “juice” embeds itself into the fabric and removes the gunk, depositing it on the fabric.
- Repeat until the iron is clean and you have stopped fretting.
A word of caution: Do not do this with a smoke detector overhead. The juice in the dryer sheet tends to smoke. This smoke may trigger the smoke detector and the fire department will arrive at your doorstep. (Ask me how I know.)
Thanks for this hint!
Happy to help!
I appreciate the hint have used it already,works good.
How long does a dryer sheet last and how long can you use the same fabric square?
It lasts over several cleanings. You’ll know its time to change out for a new dryer sheet and fabric square when the fabric square is really dirty.
Har har,,did you have to feed the fire men?
No, but I did have a lot explaining to do!
I wonder if this only works on irons with shiny metal sole plates or does it work with irons whose sole plate is teflon coated too?
It works on all irons as far as I know. However, if your iron has years of built on crud, you may need a heavy duty iron cleaner like Dritz Iron Off.
I watched a video the other day using salt sprinkled onto a baking paper to clean the soleplate of an iron- worked really well!. In Australia we rarely use “dryer sheets”.
Salt is another good way of cleaning an iron. Great suggestion Joan!
My mom used to use waxed paper with salt inside it (folded over waxed paper), and it always left the sole clean and slippery! (But then, she didn’t fuse things with it, either!) I don’t use dryer sheets, either, but like the idea! I also have an extra, older iron that I use for fusing – just in case!
You don’t have to “use” dryer sheets to have a supply for the purpose of cleaning your iron. I bought a box just for cleaning the iron. I like the idea of sandwiching the sheet between fabric. Keep a little pillow 1″ square with a dryer sheet folded inside a fabric pocket to run a needle through to lubricate it. Great for hand sewing, piecing or embroidery.
Someone suggested that Magic Eraser (Mr. Clean) will do the finishing up after the worst of it is scraped off.
Thank you for posting this! I am going to my iron now.
Nice job.
Very helpful. Thank you.
What a fabulous tip! Thank you!
I keep a couple of USED dryer sheets on my ironing board at all times. I draw the iron across them before I start to iron any quilt project. This help keep the iron clean after the gunk has been removed. Never thought of using the new dryer sheet. So will give that a try. Thanks for the tip.
Sounds a good idea, but if the smoke from the dryer sheet set off a fire alarm is it possible the fumes may not be safe to inhale? Just a thought…..
Since the drying process also makes “fumes” from the dryer sheets, one would think they should be safe.