10 Sewing Notions You Need to Know About: Iron Shine Cleaning Pen

Over the course of the next ten weeks, I’ll be introducing you to ten fantastic notions that you’ll be wishing you heard about sooner. These wonderful items will make your sewing life easier and more enjoyable.

While I know it’s not advisable to get fusible on your iron, I seem to always manage to get my iron all sticky in spite of my noble intentions. I’ve previously attempted a myriad of solutions ranging from scraping it against the edge of my ironing board cover in a vain attempt to displace the goo, to creating wisps of potent and inadvisable-for-breathing smoke derived from a drier sheet. Unfortunately, none of these was as effective in removing the sticky residue as my husband’s brand new dress shirt. Ooops!

That was before I discovered the Clover Iron Shine Cleaning Pen. It just so happens that I’m working on an appliqué project at the moment. While it remains to be seen whether my finished work will be identifiable as a pronghorn elk, I do know my iron (and the family dress clothes) will come away unscathed. I’ll show you!

First, I gunked up my iron really well. I stamped it right into Steam-A-Seam II Lite and then melted it on for good measure. (Do not try this at home.) Go figure, the only time I don’t have a mis-step regarding the successful use of parchment paper (a great product for creating a barrier of safety between your sole plate and fusible) is when I’m prepping to put Iron Shine to the test. See how great I am at making an icky mess?

After less than a minute of scrubbing, I gave my iron a once-over with a wet rag to reveal a perfectly shiny sole plate. I also was able to remove all the massive amounts of fusible debris the pen had collected by gently rubbing the tip off with a wet cloth.The Clover Iron Shine Cleaning Pen was even able to remove some hard water deposits and black singe marks that had established themselves prior to the intentional defilement of my iron via fusible. Based on my little experiment, I can attest to the pen’s ability to remove anything you manage to burn onto it.

I advise adding the Clover Iron Shine Cleaning Pen to your collection of notions, as it costs much less than replacing an article of clothing that gets wrecked by residual goo, and it’ll save your project from the heart-wrenching possibility of getting fusible stuck to it where you didn’t intend. Now, if I can just remember not to place the fusible on the right side of the fabric, and to reverse all my pieces, I’ll be golden! I’ll see you next week, when I unveil another item you’ll want to add to your holiday wish list.