How do I clean this black residue from my iron sloeplate?

Question

There is a black residue on the sole plate of my steam iron(courtesy of my son),for the 2nd time. I cleaned it once before and scratch the surface. How do I clean this off without scratching the surface again.

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

Puit the iron on the hottest setting (no steam). Saturate and squeeze out a rough piece of rough cloth (denim, terrycloth) with Club Soda. "Iron" the cloth and it should remove the black stain and not scratch. I learned this when I worked in restaurants and cleaned the grill with Club Soda. Great stain remover.

Answer 2

Check at your local fabric store for a product called "Iron-off", made by Dritz. Rowenta also makes something similar. It's a small tube of paste which you use with a hot iron. Put a small amount of paste onto an old towel, press your hot iron over this paste, rubbing thoroughly, and slant the iron so you clean the edges too. Follow the instructions, it works pretty well.