Ironing

I bought a new iron and ironing board cover today. They are very pretty! Lots of conversation came up, but one in particular struck a "I must blog this" cord. This has to do with cleaning your iron. I'm pretty religious about it. I clean the iron plate almost every use. I admit that I don't use the "self clean" function on the iron because I can't figure out what it's really doing besides running steam through it. Things to keep in mind for your iron:
1. Never leave water sitting in the tank. It can create rust for those of you who are not frequent ironers. Rust on clothes is just not a good thing.
2. Using a cloth between your iron and your craft project is a great idea. Keeps the adhesives etc. from building up on your plate or getting into the holes. I just have a piece of muslin that I keep near by for that purpose. It's amazing the amount of dies that it picks up too.
3. Keep the cord wound when not in use. This keeps people from accidentally tripping over the cord and knocking your iron to the ground. It's also useful to keep the dog from eating the cord (lost 2 irons to this).

Isn't she pretty?! Look how fun that clothes line ironing board cover is!

4. On to the hot iron cleaner. Use a rag and follow the directions on the tube. I can actually tell the difference when I use the cleaner and when I don't. There is a lot less drag when I use the cleaner. On vacation I used the iron at the cottage and it was like pushing a brick over sand paper. Bonus effect - the cleaner smells really good.
5. You might want to have an ironing board cover for crafting and one for clothes. That adhesive is a mess! Especially if you do the ironed crayon thing.
All in all, treat your iron nice and it will treat you well.