building a better ironing board
 

I have acquired a nifty mid-century mod 9-drawer dresser (whose mirror is long gone). After it gets spiffied up a bit (a date with Murphy's Oil soap at the last) I intend to make it into a *big* ironing board. My question is, are there plans out there, or am I winging it?

The board is going to need raised above the level of the dresser top-I'm not that short. :) I'd like to use the space between for storage baskets, if I can find some that fit. So I'm thinking legs of some sort, possibly 2x4s, and a top. I can't see the top needing to be all that heavy, probably 3/8" plywood.

A couple questions:

Do I need to drill holes in the backing board for the steam to get through? I've seen directions to do so, but I have yet to see a vintage wood ironing board that has holes.

What do I use for padding? Ideally, I'd like to find a couple of old wool army blankets, but until I do, what? And how many layers?

What do I top it with? I recovered my old ironing board with cotton and don't like it-it faded horribly and just didn't tolerate the heat well-you can clearly see which end I use the most. Mattress ticking? Canvas, duck or muslin?

I'd like to make the top bigger than the board, make a channel around the edge and thread it with elasticord so I can cinch it tight, but still take it off to wash it.

I'm open to suggestions, how-I-did-its, and here's-a-how-to links. Any advice is welcome!

Son 1 built a riser for my dresser turned ironing board. I already had a big board and just needed the dresser taller. He used two pieces of MDF and a 4x4 fence post I had the lumber yard cut into 4 inch long pieces. He used 8 chunks of the fence post and put two screws in the top and bottom of each one . There aren't any hole for steam. The big board has a layer of batting and a cotton duck cover. The cover has a pull cord and to make it real tight I used regular old thumb tacks to tack it on. I have a piece of that rubbery grid no slip cupboard stuff under the riser and it never moves at all.

I put it on furniture sliders so if I need it shoved one way or another it's not a problem to move it.

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And you get the advantage of more storage!

Love your ironing table.

I did something similar to Scissor Queen. I had inexpensive kitchen base cabinets for the bottom and a 2'x4' piece of cheap plywood as the ironing board. I covered the board with several layers of cotton batting and muslin. I stapled the muslin to the bottom of the board. I've had it for several years, and while the center of the muslin is a little darker from the hot iron, it still has the orginal cover, and the board pretty much stays put without any sliding around. Best thing is that you really dont need a dresser or table to put it on. Sometimes I just put it on a bed and iron there. Sometimes I'll even carry it to quilt retreats and drop it on any available table or even on the floor. The 2'x4' size easily fits in my trunk.

Great looking ironing station. I think I could make something like that for myself.

Thanks scissorqueen and bossross! That's exactly what I was looking for. This will be my weekend project. I can't wait to get rid of all those plastic drawer stacks!