To wash DUCK CLOTH/CANVAS or not... that is the question!
 

I bought some bright dark yellow DUCK CLOTH yesterday to cover the board I use as an Ironing board..like in Jennys tutorial. I thought it was DUCK CANVAS, but they said, cloth/canvas same thing. It is 100% cotton.

Question: Do I prewash it? I like the stiffness of it, and I know washing will soften it.. at least I think it will...does everything else. But I also don't want the color fading onto the fabric when I iron, as I use steam and/or starch all the time.

So do I wash it before using it?

From my experience....the washing will soften it...and shrink it quite a bit...and it will come out of wash quite wrinkly and need lots of ironing. Maybe washing by hand will help soften it, and take less ironing to make it flat.

You could test it to see if the color runs. If it does it seems that you will have no choice but to wash it.

If I understand you right, you like the stiffness and the washing will probably reduce that. However, you are afraid the color may run onto what you are pressing or ironing and washing will prevent that. Why not try ironing at the strongest steam setting and highest heat some scrap white fabric? If it doesn't fade onto that it probably won't fade onto anything. Then you are left with the decision of how you will fashion the canvas to your ironing board knowing that when you do finally wash it, it will probably shrink. If you can staple or tack the canvas down now and leave lots of extra you are fine. If you are going to cut it to fit then you will have to shrink it first. Good Luck.

I'd wash in hot water just in case it wants to bleed. Insurance for all your future ironing.

I did not prewash duck cloth (canvas) for the big ironing board my dh made for me out of plywood. However, mine is a natural muslin color. It is stapled on; I will simply cover with another layer of duck if/when this layer wears out.

For your yellow cloth, I like the idea of using a portion of it to iron some white cloth with steam. I'd probably use a white cloth that has been washed, so that there are no finishes that might get in the way of color transfer (a dish cloth would probably be fine). If color doesn't transfer with the hot steam iron, then I would also leave a piece of the yellow duck in a glass of water overnight to see if any color bleeds into the water. Afterwards I would also rub the damp piece of yellow duck against several white fabrics to see if there is any color transfer that way.

If there is no color transfer, the only reason to prewash the duck is if you are making a removable cover that you plan to wash later on. In that case, you must prewash to get the shrinkage out of the way before you cut and sew.

One additional test you might want to add to Prism's excellent list is to heavily spray starch on that white cloth to see if the yellow color transfers when pressing starch soaked fabrics.

Don't prewash. Cover the board with one layer of cotton batting then the duck canvas. Spray water to wet the canvas. When it dries it will shrink and make a tight perfect ironing surface. Also never dry your ironing board cover, put it on your ironing board wet and let it dry in place.

I buy white canvas at Walmart. I place a good size piece on my ironing board when I am using fusibles or starch. I have a Big Board and the replacement covers are $$ so this helps extend the life.

I bought a white canvas ironing board cover from the company that makes the Big Board tops. The thing was made very skimpy to begin with - and I do have to put the thing back on very damp to get it to barely cover the top.