Supersized Ironing Board

Doug helped me retrofit my ironing board and increase the ironing surface area to be able to iron the full width of a half yard of fabric at a time!

Read on for our process for creating this supersized ironing board...

Material needs:

• iron board frame 
• 2'x4' sheet of 1/2" thick plywood
• 4 pieces of cotton batting that are 6" longer/wider than your plywood board
• 1 piece of canvas fabric 6" longer/wider than plywood board
• smaller piece of wood to build iron shelf
• electric drill with 1/2" bit for water bottle holes, bit a bit wider than your bolts and countersink bit.  
• staple gun with 1/2" staples
• 8-10 bolts 1.5" long
• 8-10 washers
• 8-10 nuts
• nut driver or wrench to tighten nuts
• Scotchgard fabric protectant spray

Step 1:  We removed all the padding, leaving only the metal frame.  We used a 2'x4' sheet of 1/2" thick plywood, which was a few inches short of my original ironing board's length.  But this was easily resolved by attaching a small shelf at the narrow end of the original board, that could be used to hang starch, water and to rest my iron.

Shelf for Iron and Supplies

Step 2:  Place plywood on floor and rest iron board on top to determine bolt placement to align with metal lattice work where bolts can be fit.  Holes were then drilled and the top surface was countersunk so the bolts would lay flush.

Countersinking holes so bolts lay flush with board surface

Upholstering 4 layers of cotton batting and canvas fabric

Step 3:  The bolts were placed into their holes and then the entire plywood section was covered with 4 layers of cotton batting (all scraps from previous quilts) and 54" wide printed canvas.  Care was taken to smooth out wrinkles and then all 5 layers were pulled taut with a few 1/2" staples to hold everything in place before turning the entire unit over and placed on a hard surface to secure all 4 sides with evenly spaced staples.  The corners were then pulled inwards and secured with more staples.  All excess fabric and batting was then trimmed off.



Step 4:  Keeping the unit on the floor, fabric side down, the original iron board frame was set back onto the board for reattachment.  This was a bit tricky as some of the bolts had shifted slightly making for a snug fit.  Take special care not to accidentally push the bolts out of their holes or else you might have to remove staples, fabric and batting to access dislodged bolts.  Place washers onto each bolt and then the nuts, and use wrench or nut driver to tighten for a secure fit.

Reattaching and securing iron board frame

Optional step 5:  You can add a small shelf to cover any remaining gaps at the narrow end of your ironing board.  Holes can be drilled to hold bottles of starch, water or even scissors.

Protecting the surface fabric:  I sprayed the canvas fabric with Scotchgard fabric protectant, but be sure to read the safety warning label carefully to allow ample drying time before exposing to any heat sources...ie. a HOT IRON!

Happy Ironing!