Ironing board & covers-an asbestos question please

bundance

Im having a tidy up, and I have an old ironing board with metal legs, and it has two covers on it.
It also has an original non detachable pink and white striped cover on it which is foam backed.

I don't know the age of the board or the covers.

One cover is foam backed. It is a printed blue fabric.

One of them is silvery (cannot tell if its foam backed).

The board is pretty worn.

It's been in the flat since I moved in over 10years ago.

How can I tell if the board or covers contain asbestos please?

wallbash

How can I tell if the board or covers contain asbestos please?

Just chuck it away.

fred7777

You can't.

However Asbestos hasn't been allowed on new household products since around 1985 so unless the ironing board is over 25 years old don't worry.

Even in the unlikely event it is asbestos it won't be any danger unless you pound it into dust and snort it!

Your local council should have facilities for disposal of asbestos. The usual rules are don't break it, put it in two sealed bags and wipe any dust and the area it was in with a damp cloth, don't sweep or vacuum. up the dust.

wallbash

You can't.

Have done ... just watch me.

fred7777

wallbash wrote: »

Have done ... just watch me.

But you're not the OP

lynni_2

I no that you can get asbestos samples taken from artex ceilings/walls etc although I have never heard of getting a test done on anything like that - would probably cost you more to test them than to replace them anyway

Niv

The covers are very unlikely to be. I have never seen asbestos ironing board covers (thats not to say they never existed). What has been asbestos on ironing boards is the rest for the iron which used to be asbestos cement, this was replaced in later years by a vermiculite cement board which was shiney with the flecks of vermiculite.

bundance

The board has no heat pad on, so I know that does not contain asbestos.

The covers may well be older than 1985. I've no way of telling.

Niv - I read online that ironing board covers can contain asbestos.

"Asbestos was commonly used for fireproofing from the mid-twenties through to the eighties. As well as fireproofing materials such as millboard it was also used to create asbestos rope or cord and formed into products such as ironing board covers, fire blankets, oven gloves and mats."
Taken from here http://www.ams-holdings.com/asbestosmaterials.htm

It is my guess that the covers I have dont contain asbestos, but as I do not know what asbestos ironing board covers look like, I cannot say for sure.

Does any one know what asbestos ironing board covers look like?

Many thanks and hope I am not being a pain.

Could I just throw these out with the weekly domestic waste collection, as I cannot get to a dump-no transport.

phill99

Just leave it out the front of your house and within 2 hours the gypsys will have taken it for scrap. Problem solved.

bundance

Does any one know, Do ironing board covers containing asbestos look any different to modern ironing boards.

Am I being foolish by putting them in the dustbin, or keeping them in my flat, if I am not 100% sure what they are?

Many thanks

bundance

Hi, just to say problem now sorted.