Need Advice on Vintage Iron Care, Please

[d-jones]

Distilled water

My dad always ran distilled water in the radiators of the various cars he had until he got a used mid 1960's Simca 1000. It had a little four cylinder with an aluminum head. After he'd had it for about a year he began to find water in the oil, so he pulled the head off. A couple of the ports for water flow had opened up right at the surface that presses against the gasket, creating large irregular channels that wormed their way all the way to the combustion chamber. He took the head to an engine shop to have the channels welded up and machined smooth, and when he showed it to the guy at the front counter, he looked it over and said,"You've been using distilled water, haven't you?" He went on to explain that water is an excellent solvent that readily dissolves minerals, but that distilled water will do this rather aggressively until a certain equilibrium is reached, at which point it's no longer distilled. It turns out that distilled water is rather fond of aluminum, so pop switched to anti freeze.

 

Could this be why some steam iron manufactures are saying not to use distilled water? Perhaps they're using aluminum in a place where it would come in contact with the distilled water and be damaged or otherwise compromised. Then again, maybe the guy that spoke to my dad all those years ago was completely full of beans, who knows. I just thought I'd throw that out there and add to the confusion.

 

[launderess]

Underwriters Laboratories Standards for Irons.

Underwriters Laboratory (UL) Standards for Irons

Drop test -- drops iron three feet onto an oak floor, once on each side, once on the point, once on the heel and once flat, while heated and unheated. Iron must continue to operate normally afterwards. No opening can be created that is big enough to allow a finger -- simulated by a plastic probe -- to enter the iron and touch a live part.

Endurance test -- operates the iron for 500 hours.

Flex test -- flexes the cord 50,000 times, 20 cycles per minute, to check cord integrity.

Temperature test -- determines that no surface of the iron ever gets hotter than 662 degrees F, a condition that could cause a fire.

Mold-stress test -- bakes it in an oven for seven hours at 18 degrees F higher than maximum operating temperature to check for structural integrity.

Moisture test -- conditions the iron in a humidity chamber for 24 hours at 85 percent humidity.

Overfill test -- overfills steam iron and lets water drip over the unit to check for shock hazard.

Strain relief test -- pulls on the cord for one minute by suspending a 20 pound weight from it to simulate the effect of yanking on the cord.

Stability test -- angles the iron on an inclined plane at 10 degrees to see if it will tip over.

Flame resistance test -- applies direct flame for 30 seconds to determine that it will not support combustion.

Leakage test -- checks for the presence of excessive current on the outside of the appliance.

Power-input test -- determines that the iron draws no more than 105 percent of rated wattage.

http://www.electrical-forensics.com/ClothingIrons/ClothingIrons.html

 

[launderess]

Domestic irons either by accidential burns or starting of fires caused no end of harm and damage. We all have seen those old cartoons, television shows or movies where the housewife or someone leaves an iron down on surface and soon it starts to smoke, then scorch, then burn and finally often things went aflame. Something had to be done. So irons got "cooler".

In defence fabrics and domestic textiles changed.

Bed and table linens went from heavy linen and cotton muslin to lighter percales and even cotton/poly blends. Shirts as well went to lighter weight cottons as well. More man made fabrics and or blends which cannot withstand high heat also lessened the need for high heat.

Then there was the influence of the rapid adoption of tumble dryers. As more households had dryers many housewives put away their irons. What ironing was done was more to touch up dried laundry rather than "dry iron" damp laundry. Once you move to that irons don't need to be very hot, but have to generate steam which is where irons have focused their attention.

 

[foxchapel]

Just out of curiosity what makes distilled water "bad&#3

I cannot give a scientific answer to that. I don't think it's bad, it just is not appropriate in some applications.

We once used a vaporizer when our son was sick and it would not create much steam with the distilled water I had on hand for the ca. 1970 steam iron. Had to use tap water in the vaporizer.

FFWD--> to the '90s, my fancy new Rowenta says to NOT use distilled water. Old habits die hard, I poured some in anyway. Darned thing would not create steam.

 

[danemodsandy]

Waxed Paper Addendum:

Well, it seems there are some strange things being sold out there as waxed paper, so I will amend my advice slightly. Run a warm iron over an 18-inch piece of Cut-Rite waxed paper.

I have been doing this for over 40 years, and have enormously enjoyed the improvement in glide.

BTW, it's "waxed" paper, not "wax" paper. Waxed paper is paper that has been waxed; the "E-D" ending denoting past tense lets you know that a process was performed in the past.

Wax paper would be paper made of wax, a thing modern science has not yet figured out how to do, mainly because there is no need. Off my grammarian soapbox now....

 

[paulg]

Hotel irons are icky

I agree with Whirlcool completely about the sordid state of hotel irons. Although I take my own iron whenever I can I do check the hotel's iron and usually find them unusable.
Recently I had to go to Ohio and had some dinner events that required that I dress up. Of course I took along a Hoover iron in honor of Ohio.
It glided and steamed like a pro.
BTW: I always use distilled water because my mom told me so!

 

[supersuds]

"Wax paper"

Ha, it irritates me to see that, too. Or "old-fashion" instead of "old-fashioned."

 

[launderess]

I had some granulated ironer wax that is made for industrial

Yes, that is the product one has as well, indeed have several cans but am still using the one opened years ago.

Proper way to use the product for both irons and ironers is to make a "pad".

Take a good sized clean length of plain cotton or linen cloth and sprinkle an amount of the wax pellets on one side of the cloth. Keep the product towards the middle 3/4's of the fabric so you have "clean" ends. Then fold the clean part in half over the pellets and then in half again. You can then fold the "clean" ends over towards the middle. What you want to do is have the wax concentrated in the center and several layers of fabric on one side covering the wax, but a single layer below. Once you use the pad the rationale behind all this palver becomes clear.

If used on ironers the heat of the shoe/chest combined with pressure from above (roller) will melt the pellets and cause them to spread. It also forces an amount of wax out of the pad and onto the shoe/chest. If there are enough "clean" layers above the wax however you won't get product on the rollers which is to be avoided at all costs. If that happens then obviously the cover must be changed/laundered.

For use with hand irons one simply lays the pad "clean" side down and rubs the soleplate across the pad once or twice. Again the heat and pressure will melt/spread product causing an amount to take onto the soleplate but not ooze out onto the otherside. I usually leave my pad on top of an old towel just in case.

In either case of ironer or iron after applying wax you want to run a clean cloth over the surface to remove excess product, much like buffing a car or polishing furniture.

For ironers you can either raise up the roller and "buff" the shoe with a clean dry cloth, or run an old but clean length of cotton or linen fabric (and old sheet works great) through a few times until you observe the shoe is polished and no excess product is coming off onto the cloth.

Personally only bother using ironer wax on metal surface ironers and vintage irons. The more modern offering of irons with ceramic or Teflon soleplates do not require waxing I find.

 

[michaelman2]

Yep, that is exactly what I have done with this product. As you mention, the can that I opened a while back for my ironer...is still almost full....

 

[danemodsandy]

John:

"old-fashion" instead of "old-fashioned."

That's not the worst.

One of the things I miss the very least about the South is seeing "ice tea" everywhere.

And like "wax paper," "ice" tea would be tea made of ice, which sounds like a very weak brew indeed.

It's "iced," y'all. ICED, do y'all heah?

 

[michaelman2]

On this same note...someone saying in a moment of exasperation " well, I could care less"....when what they are meaning is " I could NOT care less"......the former implies they still care. I hear this all the time. The iced tea is common around here as well.

 

[retromania]

Michael,

What is that in the background?  Looks like a Rowenta gravity feed ironer.  Is that what it is???  What do you use it for?  Do you tailor or do alterations? 

 

[foxchapel]

danemodsandy,

Getting further OT here, but the one that bugs me more than "ice tea" is "carmelized onions" on restaurant menus. It's supposed to be "caramelized". Carmel is a city in California that does not affect any onions.

 

[retromania]

Now y'all!!! 

 

[michaelman2]

retromania,..yep there are two Rowenta steam chamber irons. One takes forever to generate steam but when it does finally heat up...IT STEAMS. The other is much more quick when it comes to steam generation, but the trigger on the handle needs to be repaired. No alterations, no professional use here...just an obsession and as you can see, I have almost gone full circle now ending up with a 1960s GE Steam Iron as my daily driver....

 

[xraytech]

Michael,
For your GE iron if you choose to use water in it I would use distilled.
In my vintage irons that is what I use, though I rarely ever put water in my irons. I grew up with mom and my grandmas having steam irons but never putting water in them and sprinkling dry clothes or ironing damp clothes instead.

When I do put water in its distilled and I always drain it out when done.

I'm also glad to hear I'm not the only one who travels with their iron. I take my General Electric F-92 steam, spray and dry iron as I cant stand the light weight and much cooler operating modern irons.

 

[westingman123]

Dritz

Somehow, I always manage to bake starch on my iron's sole plate. Impatience, most likely. I've found Dritz Iron Cleaner to be a lifesaver. I get it at the fabric store. My local Ace Hardware has it, as well.

That's a fine iron you have there. I love an iron with some heft.

 

[michaelman2]

Dritz Hot Iron Cleaner

Hey Westingman123, I agree, this is the same formulation as the Faultless Sole Plate Cleaner. This really works to remove anything that may have stuck to a sole plate. It also works really well on a ironer shoe to remove any residue or build up. Spray starch is less of a problem for me if I spray the garment and wait a few minutes before ironing. I used to spray my dress shirts, roll them, bag them in a plastic bag, then into the freezer. Take them out to iron them. There was little or no starch transfer and I assume it was because the starch had been absorbed fully into the fibers of the shirt and not sitting on top waiting on a hot iron.

 

[westingman123]

Yes, sir!

In the ancient days of my youth, Mama used to prepare all of the ironing as you describe. Would that I were so organized now! I continue to batch iron (and that aroma on ironing days!) but I can't ever plan ahead enough to prepare the "pile" overnight.

I have Mama's Ironrite,and use it for flatwork, but I never mastered the craft of ironing shirts.

I've tried the Faultless cleaner and it is competent. I'm not so pleased with the packaging, as I can only ever find it in those single-use containers. I much prefer the tube that Dritz comes packaged in.

Call me Keith, by the way, and I'm off to gnosh on some cheese straws!

 

[launderess]

Iron Soleplate Cleaner

Can be had in large tubes at a decent price from any commercial laundry/dry cleaners supply house. Those tiny tubes sold in supermarkets/hardware stores are a ripoff IMHO.

http://www.cleanersupply.com/products/product.cfm?pID=703