Safety precautions:

• Never touch the element or tip of the soldering iron. 
• They are very hot (about 400°C) and will give you a nasty burn. 
• Always return the soldering iron to its stand when not in use. 
• Never put it down on your workbench, even for a moment! 
• Work in a well-ventilated area. 

Preparing the soldering iron:

• Plug the soldering iron in.
• Wait a few minutes for the soldering iron to warm up. 
• You can check if it is ready by trying to melt a little solder on the tip. 
• Wipe the tip of the iron on a damp sponge. 
• This will clean the tip. 
• Melt a little solder on the tip of the iron. 
• This is called 'tinning' and it will help the heat to flow from the iron's tip to the joint. It only needs to be done when you plug in the iron, and occasionally while soldering if you need to wipe the tip clean on the sponge. 

Soldering:

• Hold the soldering iron near the base of the handle. 
• Touch the soldering iron onto the area that needs to be soldered.
• Make sure it touches both the item to be soldered and the board. Hold the tip there for a few seconds .
• Feed a little solder onto the joint at the tip of the iron. 
• It should flow smoothly onto the lead volcano shape. Apply the solder to the joint, not the iron. 
• Remove the solder, then the iron, while keeping the joint still. 
• Allow the joint a few seconds to cool before you move on to the next one. 
• Inspect the joint closely. 

Great Links – I would suggest visiting these sites if you don’t have a lot of experience with soldering/de-soldering. 

http://tangentsoft.net/elec/movies/ ( Videos )

http://www.epemag.com/solderfaq/desold.htm

http://www.mediacollege.com/misc/solder/