Diy ironing board cover with wool mat
 

I am wanting to make my own rectangular ironing board cover around 24"x 60" . I plan to buy a piece of felted wool the same size from eco rug. My question is do I just lay the wool piece on top of plywood? Would it stay on good? Is it good for the wool to be on top of wood? Do I need a cotton cover?

I just used a wool army blanket picked up at goodwill for $5. I washed it in hot water and dried it in hot dryer to shrink it, but I am pretty sure it was already pre shrunk and it looked like felted wool already. I cut it to size for my ironing board and I do have a cover over it.

My concern would be that the steam coming in contact with the wood could cause a mildew problem. Also, a pad should be used so the wool doesn't flatten and defeat the purpose of the wool mat. Perhaps you should consider a waterproof heat proof cover on the board (plywood) and then a padding before applying the wool. I have an afterthought what is the plywood treated with? You would be heating that and breathing it.

I second Red Garnet's concern. If you never use steam then you'll probably be fine. I use a wool mat on top of an old office desk with some kind of wood-looking laminate. It does get wet under the mat. When I'm done I stand the mat up and lean it against something so it can dry out.

I have an eco rug wool pad on my board. I just put it on the plywood and covered with a large bath towel. I don’t know if you need anything between pad and towel, but I’m too lazy to make something. I don’t use steam, so no need to worry about mold/mildew.

I use a wool pad on top of my ironing board. You wouldn't need a cover over that but I think you would need to fasten the wool pad to the plywood in some fashion. If you spray with water, there is always the possibility of getting the plywood damp. Plywood is made by gluing layers of wood together so getting it damp is not going to be a good idea. You're going to risk warping. It might be better to use a solid wood plank instead of ply wood.

I have one that covers my ironing board and is attached by elastic & clip (you could use the kind that you attach mittens to a kid's coat). I have used steam and also Best Press and don't worry about it (but it's on a regular ironing board, not over plywood). On occasion I take it off and shake it out and basically do like my grandma would have--"beat it" like a rug. When you use steam very much it can take on a wet dog smell, so mine came with a spray bottle and a recipe for a mix of vinegar and baking soda and a suggested a lavendar extract--I'm too lazy to both with that.

We don't know where you live - here is So. Cal. I don't have a problem with the idea of mold. My homemade ironing board is 24in. by 48 in. covered with 2 layers of cotton batting over a plywood that is 1/2 inch thick. It isn't warping and does not appear to be splitting either. It's now about 9 years old. And I spray my fabric with water instead of steam with the iron and spray starch when I need it. My wool mat is 17 x 24. I hang it up using a plastic clip hanger. But that's mainly to get it out of the way, flat, and readily available.

When I made the top for my ironing station which has a plywood top, I ran aluminum foil down the top to fill the area to prevent moisture from getting to the wood.

Does ecorug still make 100% wool pads? When I checked recently it redirected to a different company whose rug pads weren't wool.