how old is your ironing board ?

Don't have an ironing board, got an iron somewhere... I think.. hahah. I'm a scruff.

Mine was a wedding present and we will be celebrating our Golden Wedding this October:beer:

Hi

Mine is 17 years old ... came with either a 30 year or lifetime guarantee :) Works like new and have also replaced covers numerous times.

Mine is 25 years old and it has had many new covers on it. I didn't realise it was that old until I just worked it out....so that means I'm 25 years older than i was when I left old:(

I know this is a very old thread but I came across it when a friend said he needed a new ironing board. When I asked for more details, it became clear that the cover was kaput and at some point in the past some enthusiastic person had removed all the padding under the cover so that he was practically ironing on the metal. This was a Beldray (Invincible?) ironing board, one of those old ones which are a fantastic design. I got rid of mine ages ago because I wanted a larger ironing board and still mourn the loss of the Beldray's design. But back to my friend's board. It is so easy to make a new cover. I used furnishing fabric which had come from a charity shop and when I hemmed it I tucked string into the fold so that there was no hassle of trying to thread it through afterwards. Then I got some old flannel sheets (which don't fray when you cut them), though I could have used an old blanket or towels, to create some padding under the cover. This is better than foam which deteriorates. The Beldray has a nifty hook so you can pull the cover taut firmly and keep it in place. I find this so much better than the elastic covers you buy now. Finally, I turned to the asbestos plate which was probably safe as it was undamaged, but I was uneasy. So I replaced it with a tile, which I cut into shape after a bit of experimenting. (Tip, ensure that you organise your cuts in such a way that you're not trying to cut off a small corner and use the uncut edge of the tile for the side which is the furthest away from the cover as the cut edge is covered by the little metal plate which also goes over the end of the cover.) While the tile may crack if someone puts an iron face down on it, at least it won't burn and people tend to put irons down on their heels, don't they? If the tile doesn't sit flat, gently bend the metal under it and it will. My tile was too thick to be tucked into the holes as the asbestos board had been so I had to cut the corners and, just to be sure, stuck it down with double sided tape. The ironing board looks lovely! I understand that the holes in iron rests are for steam irons and obviously there isn't a hole in this ironing board, but it doesn't bother my friend. (I did dispose of the asbestos tile carefully according to regulations by the way.)

When I replaced my 30+ year old Beldray, because I wanted a larger board, I bought a Minky, thinking it would be great because it was a reliable name. What a palaver it was. First, the cover was so thin that I got marks on my clothes where I ironed on the edge (which for some bizarre reason isn't flat) of the board. I wrote to them and they sent a super thick pad. Well it wasn't super thick enough, and in desperation I found an old duvet and used that as padding. Unlike the Beldray, you have to pull the padding (and the cover which I made) into the gap between the end of the board and the iron rest, and it's a small gap! There is also nowhere to anchor padding or cover, so I ended up tying the padding to the underneath of the mesh in various places. The cover I just pulled as tightly as possible. It didn't take long for the duvet to become flat and now I have a very comfortable ironing board. The iron rest, however, is rubbish. I put my steam iron flat on it and it very quickly bubbled the paint so now I perch it precariously on the edge of the iron rest. Just as well I don't have kids or pets to knock it over. I am considering replacing it with a tile, but I store the ironing board standing up behind a door in the spare room (the cover goes with the decor!) and I've put a hook in the wall, not to hold the weight of the ironing board but to hold it in place so it doesn't tip forward. So if I make a tile, I'd need to make a hole for the hook and I'd probably also need some tile nibblers as the iron rest has curved corners and I'd have to nibble out the hole.

If something happens and I need to replace the Minky, I shall look for a new one far more carefully and learn from my struggles!