Comments on: Hide your ironing board

By: John

John — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 12:04:27 +0000

Because of our limited space, we decided to go for the lifestyle fold-awy ironing board and it works a treat. It's super quick to deploy and put away which is what we like most about it - shame about the ironing part though.

By: Laura

Laura — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 01:27:16 +0000

Any wall-mounted or sized-down ironing board is going to be less useful and harder to use than a real full-size ironing board. If you have a whole laundry room, why don’t you want an ironing board in it? It’s a room for *laundry*, after all. Ways to store or hang a board when it’s not in use, on the other hand, work quite well.

By: Nat

Nat — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 17:55:21 +0000

We got rid of our ironing board after many years of leaving it hanging on the back of our laundry room door. Honestly, we don’t have anything that needs to be ironed on a regular basis. However, we did keep the iron. We just use a towel on top of the washer and dryer. We also have a small Jiffy Steamer. When I used to be a costumer, we used standing steamers for everything with excellent results except some silks which crisp up better with an iron. Steamers definitely work on large pieces of fabric. Think of all those wedding gowns that are steamed, not ironed. Also, don’t underestimate the steam while you shower technique. The trick is the use your hands to help smooth out the wrinkles and give tug on the fabric.

By: Mike Hester

Mike Hester — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 16:29:42 +0000

Mine hangs from a door. It folds down when I need it. I found it at Wal-Mart. You can only use the pointy end, but that’s good enough for me.

By: Leanne Sanford

Leanne Sanford — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 06:31:09 +0000

I fold mine up and slide it upright and in between the washer and dryer. We don’t have a laundry room, just a closet in the hallway with bi-fold doors. I just set it across the tops of the washer and dryer. This way I HAVE to put it away because otherwise I don’t have access to the washer for the next load. So it always gets put away.

By: Heather

Heather — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 04:34:33 +0000

We have two coat hooks screwed into the back of our "junk room" door. The ironing board hangs quite nicely out of the way. Total cost, about two bucks.

By: Debbie

Debbie — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 19:49:13 +0000

My fantasy house has a laundry room big enough to leave the ironing board up in at all times. It’s just so handy that way, and I’m much more likely to iron. Decorative covers are available, and you could always paint or otherwise decorate the legs.

Currently I have a washing machine in the kitchen, drying racks in the bedroom, and clotheslines in the back yard. The ironing board is used in the living room and stored in a closet off the living room.

Like others, I use both ends of the ironing board and I also like it to be long.

So I’d like a laundry room to hide all this stuff in. Mmm, laundry room. Even having one in the garage would be okay, though we’d sweat our brains out in the summers.

P.S. Would a steamer work on large pieces of fabric?

By: Nathania

Nathania — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 18:21:40 +0000

Mine is in the coat closet! The iron sits on the shelf at the top of the closet.

By: David

David — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 17:19:37 +0000

I have a problem similar to Leslie’s. Unlike most people, I iron using the square end of the board. There’s more surface area and, well, I’m just used to it.

By: Jeri Dansky

Jeri Dansky — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 17:07:38 +0000

I’m with Erin – I got rid of my ironing board and iron on Freecycle when I realized I hadn’t used them in years. Hardly anything I own requires ironing, and those few things I take to the cleaners. (And if that situation changes – not likely, but you never know – I’ll look into getting a clothes steamer.)

By: Bob

Bob — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 16:23:29 +0000

You’re lucky, my wife keeps ours in the middle of our living room

By: Erin

Erin — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 16:19:58 +0000

We got rid of our ironing boards and irons entirely and use a clothes steamer exclusively. There’s no board to drag out and set up and it’s SO much faster than ironing with no danger of putting in a crease where you didn’t want one or burning/melting the fabric. The only thing it doesn’t do is make sharp creases, but most of the pants that need those are dryclean only, so no problem. It’s really made a huge difference for us!

By: Andrew

Andrew — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 15:21:52 +0000

Ikea do a mini ironing board (about 30ins long) that has a ‘hanger’ at one end. It hangs up on your clothes rail. However, because the ‘pointy’ end isn’t as long, it’s harder to get whole garments on there (to avoid ironing fronts and backs simultaneously), nor is it long enough to do a whole leg o’ trouser. But mighty concealable nonetheless.

By: Leslie

Leslie — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 13:45:32 +0000

The trouble I have with wall-mounted ironing boards is that I often use both ends of the board: the “pointy” end for yokes of shirts and the like, and the “square” end for ironing long, flat surfaces (like shirttails). So how to access both ends of the board if it’s bolted to the wall?

I have an ironing board caddy which I have hanging in my cloest; it includes a spot for the iron and starch/water spritzer. About twenty bucks (Canadian) at a hardware store, and it suits me fine. It would also fit behind any door. Works for me!

By: Chris E

Chris E — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 13:15:37 +0000

Are there any worthwhile boards which aren’t free-standing–which is to say, better than plywood and a towel?