Steam Iron Not Working

My steam iron does not issue steam; it just spits out water and drenches the clothing. Any ideas?

Kate King

Answers:

Steam Iron Not Working

Hi Kate,

It is probably clogged with mineral deposits.
First, empty all of the water out of the iron. Then take some vinegar and fill up the water reservoir.

Let it sit a while (1/2 hour or so), then turn on the iron to the steam position. If it has a sprayer, spray some, too. Then turn it off and let it sit a little longer because the vinegar will have worked its way into the plumbing of the iron. It will help dislodge the gunk (probably mineral deposits) that are clogging the iron.

Then dump out the vinegar and put in clean water and repeat the process. If it seems to be working but you are getting a lot of stuff out of the iron you might want to repeat the whole process again. Make sure to iron onto something you don't care about, a rag or old towel.

If this doesn't work, you probably need to get a new iron but it's always worked for me. To keep your iron clear of mineral deposits, buy a jug of distilled water to use only for your steam iron.

By ThriftyFun

Steam Iron Not Working

Vinegar-diluted with water will cure this. Fill your iron with a vinegar/water solution -about half and half and plug it in and let it sit upright and steam itself clean. When the solution is all gone, run through plain water which should steam nicely. Using distilled water in your iron will keep this from happening. (09/17/2004)

Steam Iron Not Working

Vinegar will clean the buildup out. Put white vinegar instead of water in your steam iron and heat it up. You may have to do this a couple of times but this will clean it up. Hope this helps!
(09/20/2004)

By geri

Steam Iron Not Working

Regarding the comment by Susan to buy a jug of distilled water...we buy bottled water for drinking and only use this in the iron, no longer use tap water, and our "gunk" problems seem to have disappeared! (09/21/2004)

By Ann