Lay My Hat

Our guests seem to have a knack of scorching the base plate of our steam iron and I wondered if anyone has a recommendation for an infallible way of cleaning it please?

Last time I cleaned it as recommended on the internet with baking soda and finished up with powder totally caked in the holes. In the end I threw the iron away in exasperation and bought a new one! And, surprise, surprise, here we are again with the new one - scorch marks on the bottom!

Try wiping the base plate with neat white vinegar. It's brilliant at removing all sorts of stains, including calcium in kettles, so may well help your poor abused iron.

Have you tried toothpaste? You need a fine abrasive.

Thank you both of you for your suggestions. I've bought some white "household" vinegar today and also something which I think is a bit like the toothpaste solution - here in France they do a fine household abrasive based on stone which comes as a thick white paste. What attracted me to it was the fact that it claims to polish as well as clean. I don't want the base plate to be scored because then it will only get worse.

I'll give it a go. Thanks.

Base plate now perfect thanks! Mixture of vinegar and small amount of abrasive stone polish and careful avoidance of the steam holes!

NB: I've also moved the iron dial back down to a lower temperature in the hope that when they switch it on they take more care with the settings.