Monday, June 20, 2011

Cleaning day

This weekend I did a thorough cleaning of my work horse Bernina. Vacuum and cleaned and oiled to give her another round of sewing.

At the same time I also cleaned my Rowenta iron.

I've had this little baby for about 11 years, and she still works like a charm. I've never put water in any of my irons. I use a spritzer whenever I need to dampen my fabric. But as I was re-reading the directions for cleaning my iron I came upon this little hint -

Rowenta irons are designed to be used with regular tap water (up to 12 grains of hardness). If your water is harder than this, Rowenta recommends mixing half tap water with half distilled water. Never use 100% pure distilled water since this can cause the iron to spit and leak.

There are many types of household water softeners. Many of them are perfectly acceptable for use in an iron. HOWEVER, some types of softeners, particularly those that use chemicals such as salt, can cause the iron to leak or spit during use. If you experience this type of problem, we recommend that you try using inexpensive bottled spring water. NEVER USE 100% PURE DISTILLED WATER. Once you have changed water it will take several uses to correct the problem.

So peeps, just a word to the wise, as I know some gals have been experiencing major problems with leaky irons. These are suggestions from the Rowenta cleaning kit, but it may be applicable to other brands as well.

I hope this will make for some Happy Quilting :-)

7 comments:

John'aLee said...

Wow! Great information. I didn't know this!
Thanks for sharing.

Impera Magna said...

I've always used tap water with my Rowenta and I've never had a second's trouble with it...

Sue said...

Thanks for the info. That explains a lot.

Allie said...

I've always used just tap water in my irons, and every single one leaks or spits. I now use a spray bottle only. A pain as I really like using steam!

Crispy said...

I had heard the distilled water is not good for an iron. The one I use for steam pressing has filtered water put in it....the kind you can buy from the kiosk at the grocery store. I've never had a leaky iron :0)

Crispy

Ivory Spring said...

I am going to be the odd quilter out! I have had nothing but problems with Rowenta, and I had bought the above mid-grade ones. I have gone through three in the last two years. For some reason, Rowentas and I don't get along all that well.

Talin's Corner said...

I think you just got lucky or they made irons better years ago. I bought a Rowenta a few years back and followed the instructions. I only used tap water, but it would leak like crazy when I turned the iron off. I now have a new Rowenta (made in Germany) and it is working beautifully.