As a little girl I remember my mother sometimes ironing on a doubled up towel over a table. The fact that steam and heat can really damage wood probably never crossed her mind since ironing boards were once made of wood. As a little girl, she would have ironed on a board like this, using a snazzy "Steam-O-Matic" iron like this one. Seems like everything was an O-Matic back then.
Show You might wonder, why cotton? Because it can easily handle any amount of heat and moisture from your iron without damage. Polyester batting will melt in high heat situations, it won't absorb moisture, and besides, they usually have too much loft. Commercial pads can be made of polyester, but they will have the addition of a heat retardant, like fabrics made for kids sleepwear. They still don't absorb moisture well. Let's take a look at these commercial pads to see what kinds of features you might like to add to your padding collection. Working from the board up, the first pad on mine is extremely thin. I would guess this is the pad that is original to the ironing board. What you are looking at is the muslin cover, made just like the top cover with a draw string. This layer is meant to be added protection from burns and water spills, but is totally optional. Should you like this idea, this muslin should be the last layer, going over all layers of padding, not the second layer as I have it! In my case, this muslin would be too small to cover all these layers so it will stay as it is. Here is a close up of that pocket. This top pad is a mix of cotton and polyester that has been pieced. This pad was probably the most expensive of the three for that reason. Because polyester can be made retardant, but never will absorb moisture, the manufacture decided to add a little of that spendy cotton batting just in the middle where the board gets most use. Cotton batting is expensive- so if you have a polyester pad that is damaged just in the middle, it would be very frugal to piece in the cotton just where needed. Or if you want to replace the whole thing, use cotton batting left over from a quilt project and splice those pieces together. Now that you have your pad fixed up and ready to lay out, how big should it be? Because the edges get a good amount of wear, cut it long enough that it will easily cover the sides of your board. Just trim it right on the board to fit. Together, my last two pads cover well enough. We like to use the end a lot, so my end is much longer than it needs to be. It goes well under, and as you can see I do not need and cannot use those end pockets. Yours does not need to be this long. It does not need to be cut exact either. Just remember that your cover has to be big enough to handle all the padding that you give it! Here is the link for how to finish the job right with a cover that is custom sized to your board: http://www.sewchicpatterns.blogspot.com/2012/07/how-to-make-ironing-board-cover.html Happy Ironing! What can I use for ironing board pads?By Material. We recommend 100% unbleached cotton or Teflon ironing board covers.. These fabrics tend to be stain, water, and heat resistant (resistant to heat damage). Related to the point above, cotton and Teflon are also heat-reflective so they won't get burned or scorched.. When should I replace ironing board cover?On average, we iron about once a week. This means your ironing board cover needs to be replaced after 3 years.
Why does my ironing board cover turn brown?Why does my ironing board cover turn brown? This happens to everyone, and it's really not a big deal—it's not dirty! “It turns brown because, after a while, the fabric on the ironing board is under constant heat, therefore burning the fabric,” Sattler explained.
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