Oh, that really brought back memories. My Mother had one of those and I wish I could find one. It never seemed to wear out and like you said, it reflected the heat. "Thanks for the memories"

Throw away. By the time they are that bad, they are usually scorched in some places too, and have adhesive build up that's difficult to remove. I LOVE a fresh new ironing board cover!

I throw mine out, but I make my own from rubber backed curtain fabric which I pick up from charity shops for next to nothing. The fabric reflects the heat really well. I always make two at a time.

You iron slacks, blouses, etc? What kind of quilter are you, anyway? (LOL). I thought irons were supposed to be dedicated to sewing!

I took a piece of plywood almost 36" square, laid a piece of batting on it then a piece of fabric. Gives more ironing room and keeps the starch off of the ironingboard cover.
Linda

Wash them until they disintegrate.

For starching - the very few times I've done it - I put another layer of fabric over the ironing board cover - so then I can just pick it up and toss it - or put the fabrics to be starched/sized on a cookie sheet and spray them there.

I use my Big Board ironing surface as my cutting table - and my cat also "assists" - so I use a lint roller between washings to get stray stuff off the surface. Cutting lint - cat "lint"

I can outdo her, my ironing board is 66 yrs. old. I got it from my Mom and she got it for a wedding shower gift. My parents celebrated their 66 wedding anniversary last June. I have made a larger board that fits over the top of it for a larger pressing surface for quilting.

I wash mine, but all the new ones say DONT WASH, so I made mine, even the pattern, then I saw a sewing room accessories pattern that has one, can't remember whose pattern at the moment tho.

I have one of those heavy ones with rulers and grid printed on it etc. I priced a new one and decided to try washing it first before I put that kind of money into another one. It washed quite well and also shrunk it a little, so now it fits tighter than it did when it was dirty. Wash it. The worst thing that can happen is it will fall apart and you'll have to get a new one anyway.

I've never washed one. The one I have now has a teflon coating so I don't have much trouble with things sticking to it.