Question that's been bugging me...
 

I have one of those cushioned ironing pads... I use it alot when I'm pressing blocks instead of going to the utility room. Because of that, and I use starch consistently, the top of that ironing pad is Y U C K Y. so my question is how in the world do I clean it and get the starchy-oversprayed-dried-yucky-layer off of this?
I actually thought of tossing it and buying a new one simply because it looks bad... suggestions please?

Could you take it outside and shake the daylights out of it, and then wash it with a bunch of bath towels? Then hang it dry?

Mine was like that also and just the other day I took the cover off and tossed it. This is my ironing board I am talking about so i will take some other fabric and make a new cover. I make a hem and leave it open a couple inches and put some small rope or twine in the casing and put it one the board and pull as tight as I can and tie in a knot. the covers at the store are not very good and they are expensive. Good luck to you.

I have a piece of Plywood, I cover with batting and old sheets, that I place on top my ironing board, when Im sewing. I like the firmer surface for pressing blocks. when it gets yucky, I take it off and start over.

That's what I do, too. DH made me a board with bracing underneath so it won't slide around on top of my ironing board. Works great.

I bought one of those small square ironing mats, I think June Tailor, at JoAnn's with 60% off coupon. It also has the cutting board on the reverse side. Really neat thing and I use it all the time. I noticed when I first started using it that it was getting some starch on the surface. Now I keep towel over it and change that every few days. Really keeps the top clean.

I have one of these and when it got funky I just put it under to running water and scrubed with a brush and some dish soap then rinsed it well, it came out like brand new and didn't hurt the cutting board side at all.

I make my own ironing board covers all the time and also the one for the big board I made. I don't do a lot of starching so they don't get too bad.

An old sheet or dare I say it a piece of fabric you purchased bu don't like or it is the wrong sort cover my ironing areas. Wrong sort could be poly, or heavy curtain fabrics etc.

I take an old sheet (double) and fold in quarters. Then stitch around the edges, so it comes out 1piece. Then I use it over my ironing board when I iron and spray starch. it can be flipped over to extend the use and when "yucky" - I throw it in the washer & dryer.

I have one of those too and it got really yucky so rather than get a new one I bought some plain white pillow cases and put it inside one and when it gets yucky I take it off and wash it and put anther clean on on. You can still see the lines on the pad and it keeps everything nice and neat.

i wash mine-
i also have started pressing freezer paper right to my ironing board cover as a protective cover when i'm using alot of fusables---it is easy to peel off & toss when it becomes *yukky*

Now THAT is a GREAT tip!!!! Thank you for sharing it, CK!

Jan in VA

It is good to know I can wash my mat and I also like the freezer paper idea. Thanks.

I did not know that washing it took care of the "yucky". Thanks for the heads up!
Sandy

Now why didn't I think of the freezer paper?? that's a great tip..keep them coming!

Why can't you make you a new cover, would be better than throwing it away.

I just use a good quality dish towel on my ironing board and when it gets too "boardy", I toss it in the washer.

I have the Sullivan's hobby table that fits the 36" x 59" cutting board. Nancy's Notions sells a ironing cover for it. I use that and wash it when it needs it. But I do use the Elmer's glue method for doing bindings, so I use a muslin piece, folded over several times from my midarm practicing. When it gets so stiff that it could stand on it's own, I wash it, bleach and all. Surprisingly, bleaching doesn't seem to make a any difference on the thread.

The first quilt that I worked on I sprayed starch directly on the pieces on my ironing board. I ended up replacing the cover. Ever since then I have a small end table beside my iron board that I put a towel over. I spray the pieces on the towel now. If the pieces are longer like binding, I put the towel on the carpet to make a bigger area to spray. The towel is much easier to wash than my ironing board cover.

I use a lot of starch.....and have quilting retreats with 8 other women who all use starch. I take a wet rag (just "normal" wet....not "soaking" wet) and wash the top of my ironing board. (and the windows and wall behind it ggg> Works great and lots easier than taking it off or replacing it so often.

The main reason why I don't use starch. I did years ago and iron gets nasty and so does ironing board. I feel I don't need starch.

Like masufa, I took mine to my utility sink, using liquid detergent soaped it up good and used a scrub brush gently here and there, rinsed it really well, used towels to "soak" up some of the moisture and let it air dry. Didn't hurt it at all and sure made it look 100% better.

Putting an old pillow case over it is also a good idea. Change it every so often..

I take mine off and soak in the kitchen sink with a little dish soap over night. In the morning I rinse the daylights out of it-hang it on a hanger to dry. This way it doesn't shrink or get twisted out of shape from the washing machine. Once its on the board again the wrinkles that are left are pressed out. Saves me time on always making a new one.

That is one of those "why didn't I think of that" times. Great idea. I will use this one.

I took a 24x24 board from the hardware store, wrapped it with a thick towel (beach size) and made pillowcase-style cover for it. When it gets too overstayed, I just slip off the cover and towel and wash it with the rest of the laundry.
I made sure the cover was a colorfast fabric (used some pretty leftover fabric), and that it fit snug. Makes a very nice area to press plus it is not too big that I can't slid it into a small space in my motor home, allowing me to have a nice pressing board while on the road.

great idea ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,am going to use it have two june tailor board that are old and would work great and get more use out of the boards :thumbup:

If you mean one of those portable ironing mats that have a foam rubber pad on the underside, I have the same problem exactly and sometimes wipe it off with a damp terry wash rag. The gunk loosens up more easily if it's still warm from the iron.

I wanted to mention that the bigger problem with using starch or even just steam on one of those pads is that if you're doing quite a bit of ironing it's not as heat proof as I once thought. I had it overlapping my biggest and best cutting mat on a table and found that it didn't protect my mat from getting a little damaged from heat. You most certainly would not want to use one of these pads on a good table. Still, I like the size and shape of it and the fact that I can roll it up to take with me. I put two layers of Insul-brite under it to increase the protection, and I no longer let it anywhere near my cutting mats.

I'm curious about people using spray starch on the little reversible mats. I have a mat like that in the most common size, which is about 13" square. I have tried it and find that it's too small and starch gets out beyond it and all over everything. The foam-backed mat is about 22" X 28".

I always just tossed mine, maybe i need to rethink this.

At first my plan was to get a new cover every 6-9 months; I found one I like for $10 on Amazon, but now I just cover the board with a towel when I'm doing a lot starching and throw it in the wash.

I always lay an old pillow case under the piece I'm starching. I guess any fabric would do tho. Then when it gets yucky, I just toss it

I washed my first June Taylor mat and thought it was OK. The washing of it distorted the ruler markings on it, and it didn't come as clean as I wished. I also bought a new one with a 50% off coupon and asked here on the board how to keep it clean. Someone suggested I get some of the silver iironing board fabric from Joann's and use one of those old marking wheels that we used with the colored marking paper to mark darts on fabric when sewing clothing. You cut the fabric a little larger than the board and use the tool to force it between the ironing surface and the backing that is the cutting mat. It works! I never used the measurements on the ironing side of the board anyway. Now my new one stays clean. I hope this helps.

If you have (and every sewer I know has one) a tracing wheel it works great to run around the edge of the pad to tuck in a cover over the old one. You can't tell it's a cover and it pulls out easy to wash. I did this to the new one I bought and the original cover still looks like new. I started putting a layer of freezer paper underneath the cover to keep the steam from the starch from going to the mat side. I had the mat bow from steam on my old one.

I bought at a yard sale an old wooden TV tray table. I made an ironing board cover out of an old sheet and the Batting with the silver in it, Used when making pot holders. I made it with elastic and I can remove it and throw it in the washer ans dryer. Fits perfectly to my right, I just swivel and iron. Great when I am piecing.

Thanks for the tip on using the ironing mat-mine is on my cutting mat and it never occurred to me that the heat might warp my cutting mat!!! Now I'll remove the cutting mat before I iron.

I throw mine in the washer on gentle cycle and let it air dry. Don't know if this would work for you.

Can you wash it?

When my ironing board cover gets "icky" from starch, etc... I just make a new one,(method sewingsuz above uses) generally out of the 54" wide decorator fabric from WalMart. I just put the new one over the old one.. Adds cushion to the already existing one. Measure the biggest width of your board and add enough for turning edge and casing and voila! pretty new cover!! You can also color coordinate to you room!

I set my iron on cotton, no steam, put an opened up brown paper bag on the ironing board and then press the bag. It will clean up the ooky stuff on the ironing board cover.