Julienm1

Saw several tuts so I have enough information to explain to DH what he needs to do. BUT very few use the silver insulbrite stuff.
Questions: Best wood product to buy?
I know need to use 100% cotton batting and quality cotton fabric for top.
When you made yours, did you make it so you can take the top off to launder?
Do you need the silver stuff?
Can't wait to hear pros and cons making this yourself.

QuiltE

I "think" by "pressing board" you mean a quilter's sized ironing board?

Mine is 22"x50"x3/4" regular plywood and screwed onto a metal ironing board. I covered it with several layers of flannelette. Then the top cover was a fun quilting cotton. Each layer was stapled in place.

With time, the top looked sad .... stained and even worn through in the most used position where I press the smaller blocks. Removed that and converted it to be removable with elastic around the edges.

Later stapled the "silver stuff" (not insulbrite, think it's called teflon?) as the top layer. It lets larger pieces of fabric or quilt tops slide/move better. Whereas, yardage or a quilt top tends to stick to a cotton top and then when you press and try to move for the next section, it can sometimes be a real annoyance!

If I were making my board again, I would make it a wee bit wider, so that 1/2 WOF would fit across the width of the ironing board. Likewise for whole FQs to fit on top. Yes, technically most will fit the way it is, but it means aiming well! Another annoyance!!! Luckily I don't work with many FQs.

The length of my board fits nicely for pressing a full WOF and leave space for the iron to sit as I reposition. If you are mounting the board on top of a portable ironing board, you need to watch that the whole thing will be stable and not be tippy once you get it completed. That would only be disastrous! I think that was why we stopped at 50" length when mine was made.

Good Luck in making your ideal ironing set up!

Julienm1

OMG! TYSM for all the details. Not going to make it for a couple weeks but your details were fabulous. TY again.

mcadwell

I have a 22" x 58.5" vintage professional ironing board (got it for $10 at a garage sale!!!). The length is fine but I wish it was about 6 inches wider. Alas, something that size won't fit in my sewing room.

Rhonda K

I have a 24 x48 board on top of the adjustable height work bench. I found that 3/8 plywood worked fine. It is covered with one layer of insul-brite and one layer of the silver iron fabric. I have also made 24x24 and 18x 18 boards. On the smaller boards a layer of cabinet cushion is glued onto the back. This prevents the boards from slipping. I slide straight pins into the cushion and it holds all the layers just fine. You can hot -glue too.

Quiltah Mama

My ironing station is a 24"x48" piece of melamine that I bought at Home Depot. I watched Jordan fabrics video tutorial on how to make a pressing board, and I made mine just as he did in his video. I am very happy with it.

QuiltE

You're most welcome!

Another thing to keep in mind ..... the best ergonomic height of that ironing board for YOU! We spend a lot of time at our boards, so it's important to be comfortable, to make pressing as easy as it can be for you, and so that you don't hurt yourself in doing it.

quiltingcandy

My friend's DH made one for my friend and me. We used the half sheet of plywood that was 1/2 inch thick, we covered it with 2 layers of cotton batting, then 2 layers of cotton fabric. We pulled the fabric over the edge and stapled it to the plywood. He then put a one inch finishing piece over the fabric and nailed it in place. Since we were going to be setting them on to an ironing board we drew line around our ironing board and nailed 1 x 1 boards on the lines so the board would set onto the ironing board and not tip.
So far it's been over 10 years and the fabric is still looking great. If it does need to be changed I will more than likely just make a cover with elastic and ties like my ironing board cover.

Barb2018

I made one for myself a few years ago. I used a sheet of 3/4 thick plywood, 36 x 76. I covered it in several sheets of heavy weigh tin foil, cotton batting and topped it with cotton duck cloth. Everything was stapled to the underside. Then on the underside I made a set of rails so that it could sit on top of a banquet table. When I want to use it I set up the table and slide the ironing table onto it. I also use PVC pipe on the table legs to adjust my table to my height.
Over the years it's gotten grungy, but I didn't want to rip it apart and redo it......it was a busy summer that year. So I got out my carpet scrubber and used the hand attachment to scrub the top. I worked so well. I had it in the sun to dry and the top tightened up again like it was new. I think this summer it'll get redone, but I'm thrilled that it's lasted so long.

Snooze2978

My 1st cover I used the striped ticking fabric but my iron kept leaking so it got stained quickly. The next time I decided to use the silver heat resistant fabric I had stashed somewhere in the sewing room. I stapled to the batting and board so it wouldn't move plus I just have to wipe it off. Love it. Its been working for me for the past couple years now.

When my old iron caught fire right in my hand, a couple sparks dropped down onto the silver fabric and burned a few tiny holes in it but it didn't go any farther so I'm glad I had that silver fabric on instead of cotton or the ticking fabric. Might have been a bigger fire for me to handle.