Well, I change mine when I can not stand it anymore! I have a small gallery kitchen and that is were I have my ironing board up. And it is up most of the time. I bought some of that "oil cloth" material at a local quilt shop, cut it down the middle so it just hangs about 4 inches over my ironing board and that is what it is covered with when I am not using it for ironing. As my kitchen is so small and I have limited counter top spaces, I use my iron as an extra working surface when cooking. It's working! I did buy a good wider ironing board that states it can support 150 pounds. It has a couple of wire racks on the bottom and I have a big tuperware bowl on one of them that I throw in my onions, sweet potatoe, and squash. I also use the rakes to hang dry things that should not go in the dryer. Yikes, I have been in a pandemic way too long in my little bubble.