I put a piece of ironing board fabric over the wood to reflect any heat and moisture away from the board, then covered that with a thin layer of batting. Over that I used muslin, but have since found I should have canvas on the outside for a firm surface. I also secured my big board to the reg. ironing board with a strap of velcro underneath. My DH came up w/ that idea too, thinking it would be tippy if you leaned on it or if the iron was placed too close to the edge. It works great.

Oh, I know that all too well! What did I do? I bought plywood and made it myself when he wasn't around. Since I am a widow now, I sometimes ask my next door neighbor to help me with some project, he is an engineer too and tends to go a little overboard. Years ago I made my own ironing table out of an old hollow core door and set it on file cabinets. I covered the door with an old wool blanket, some cotton batting, and then a layer of teflon ironing board fabric. The door never warped or buckled. And my 60x80" ironing table I currently have is made with plywood the same way. No buckling or separating.

My sympathies. I have another one of "those" husbands at home. Besides the ole smile and nod technique, I ususally try to purchase/improvise myself and not 'ask" for help. When all else fails, try my mantra, "He loves me, he's trying." I try to handle it like it was one of my little ones.

I got a piece of the thin plywood. It's not actually plywood but the material that they use on the end of cabinets. The hardware store will cut it to size. I took it home and covered it with batting and muslin. Orginally it was a small design wall; only about 2 ft wide and 50 long. Now I take it and put in on my cutting table when I need to cut large fabric. Tell your husband the ones that store in the wall is only good for the little blocks; no way it is good for anything larger; I have one. Good luck

I have to agree that this is the laugh of the day. My BIL is an engineer, and he will always over analyze everything. But, what he comes up with is always top notch.

I solved my ironing board problem by just taking a chunk of plywood, don't even know what size it is, but it was big enough & I made it work. I took pillow ticking, made a pillow case for the board and pulled it over with some old bathtowels for padding. I won't attach it to my regular board, because I sew in 2 places and need it in both, so when I am not using it, it stands up against the wall.

I agree with others, who say, go to Lowe's or Home Depot and have them cut your board. You will never be sorry.

This is to funny. My DH is an engineer. I told him I wanted shelves put up in my sewing room. We went to Lowes and came home with a complete kitchen unit with doors and shelves. Gota love them. LOL

LOL..I have that routine down packed. Just plant the seed and watch it grow.

I'm still laughing, same problem only my is is a welder, so I either do it myself or hire someone else to do it. Got to love them. DEB

I'm also married to an Engineer. Yesterday I was trying to do setting triangle corners (never did those before) and all I was getting was......It won't work, the square root of the____ is and the hypotenuse is too long. After 5 minutes, I had a headache. Just thinking about it gives me another headache.

Lynn :hunf:

Amen on that. My husband finally realized that I couldn't lift the heavy board to change the covers. So...he used plywood 3/8 or 1/2 thick. He made it to slide on and off(it fits the board like a sleeve). Works great. Good luck from another engineer(ette). We know what we want.