More like D'oh!-lefin, amirite?

October 19, 2011 7:37 PM

I did a Dumb Thing. Involving an iron. And some carpet. Please help!

As I was heading out the door earlier today, I noticed that the skirt I was wearing had a wicked butt wrinkle. I didn't have time to get the ironing board all set up, so figured I'd just spread it out on the floor (I always try to do the classy thing) and give it a quick press. So far so good.

Anyway, as the iron's heating up, I look down and notice that there's something smudged on the surface. I don't want it to rub off on my skirt, and I don't want to touch the hot iron to get it off, so I BRILLIANTLY decide, "oh, hey, I'll just give it a quick swipe on this floor here to rub off whatever this gunk is."

Well, I forgot that the carpet is synthetic fiber, and I melted some carpet (nylon? olefin? no idea) all over the face of the iron. Thankfully the carpet is OK. The iron, however, is not. (I also had to walk out of the house with a huge butt wrinkle, which was just awesome.)

Now that the iron is cool, how do I get this crap off? It's sliiightly tacky, patterned with a delightful berber weave, and covering the whole damn thing. I'm considering goo gone, but I think it's flammable. If I use goo gone, will the iron explode the next time I go to use it? Any other ideas? (And what if goo gone doesn't work?)

Thanks.

(I should add that it's not even my iron, which makes this extra fun. Please don't tell me to just buy a new iron. I will do that as a last resort.)

posted by phunniemee to grab bag (14 answers total)

Fourth result on Google: How to remove melted carpet from an iron plate.
posted by FlamingBore at 7:47 PM on October 19, 2011

I'd try scraping it off using a razor blade or palette knife.
posted by orange swan at 7:47 PM on October 19, 2011

Iron cleaner exists. Buy some. Use it.
posted by mollymayhem at 7:48 PM on October 19, 2011

Update: is there any way to remove it without having to go out and purchase iron cleaner? I'm really poor right now and would like to avoid that. I have a variety of cleaning products to choose from, but no iron cleaner.
posted by phunniemee at 7:52 PM on October 19, 2011

You can try some of these options.
posted by FlamingBore at 7:58 PM on October 19, 2011

When I melted some synthetic fabric onto my iron, I believe I used a Dobie pad to scrub it off. Maybe a light abrasive that's safe for stainless steel, like Barkeeper's Friend?

(Before I attempted the Dobie pad, I purchased some iron cleaner, though. You're welcome to borrow it, if I can actually find it.)
posted by enlarged to show texture at 7:58 PM on October 19, 2011

If you memail your address I'll send you some iron cleaner. We cannot the allow butt wrinkles to win.
posted by iconomy at 7:59 PM on October 19, 2011 [6 favorites]

Actually, there may be a nonstick coating on the metal, so maybe not Barkeeper's Friend. But give the plastic scrubber a try.
posted by enlarged to show texture at 8:00 PM on October 19, 2011 [1 favorite]

No experience with carpet specifically, but for other types of gunk on iron, I've had good success with heating the iron, then ironing on multiple clean rags or paper towels. Gunk that was ironed on, now ironed off.
posted by dorey_oh at 8:39 PM on October 19, 2011 [7 favorites]

Mild abrasive like baking soda?
posted by arcticseal at 9:05 PM on October 19, 2011

I've cleaned an iron by heating it up and scrubbing it against some wet, rough material ... some sort of old rough cotton blanket, I think. That might be something to try after you have used other methods.
posted by Kadin2048 at 9:48 PM on October 19, 2011

Can you link to your iron so we can see whether steel wool would do it or if its all fancy?
posted by hal_c_on at 2:08 AM on October 20, 2011

Yep, the method of ironing it off worked for me too. It might have helped that it was done straight away, but I got the remains of my dad's hiking shorts off the iron and onto an old towel pretty effortlessly, and I had melted the living shit out of them.

Massive sympathy, this is exactly the kind of peculiar, oh-god-I'm-so-broke-undo-undo-undo incident I have at least weekly...
posted by carbide at 8:49 AM on October 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

Hooray! Turned out it was a simple fix. Heated it up to its hottest setting, ironed it off on an old towel, then dampened the towel and went in for another pass. All better!

iconomy, you are awesome. Thanks for the offer, but the butt-wrinkle has now been vanquished. :)
posted by phunniemee at 12:55 PM on October 26, 2011