Friday, April 09, 2010

One of Life's Big Questions

I like to ask the hard hitting burning questions on my blog. To make you think. To challenge you. To stimulate discussion and debate. I should have been an investigative journalist, but alas my career path took me down another road.

I bought a new ironing board cover today. I was going to sew one but that  seemed like too much hard work. For less than $14.00, I can buy one. No hassles. I'm into making life easy.

As I was taking my old  one off and putting my new pristine one on, I wondered...how often do other people wash their ironing board covers? Am I falling down in the ironing board cover washing stakes?

Pretty sure I’ve had mine for about 4-5 years and it’s been washed twice. What about you?

And to further embarrass myself this is what the old cover looked like when I took it off an hour ago.

(And this was one of the less disgusting shots I took)


And the new one, which can expect to see the inside of my washing machine  approximately every 2 -3 years or so.



So come on now be truthful, am I  a slacker or is  this not on anybody's list of priorities?

20 comments:

Marg said...

Ooo I feel bad now, I don't think I ever washed my last ironing board cover. No, I don't think,.......... I fess up, I know I never washed it. So maybe I can take the crown for Queen of Slack.

seabreezequilts said...

Can't believe your ironing board cover lasts that long mine is 2 years max with 6months of I really need a new one thrown in. No I have never washed an ironing board cover. It may have been because I buy the elcheapo ones from coles, but I don't shop there anymore and foodland don't stock them. So I had to spend $20 last time maybe that one will last longer, it is approximately 6 months old and hasn't been washed. I use a board with cotton fabric stapled to it in my sewing room and I just staple another cover over the top when it needs replacing.

Anonymous said...

Have to tell ya, that I've never washed the ironing board cover. Didn't know that you were suppose to.

Anonymous said...

I've never washed mine, either. Is that an Aussie thing? Then again, there is little need since I will do anything I can to avoid ironing. I have an ironing board just to say I have one. I don't actually use it.

AMW said...

Yikes! I confess I haven't washed mine either, and it's probably 3 years old. I do, however, run a lint roller over it on a regular basis, but I doubt that constitutes "cleaning" it, huh? Guess I'll be taking it off and washing it this weekend..........

Sarcastic Quilter said...

uh, we are supposed to wash it? I don't know if I will feel right ironing without that burnt dirty smell permiating into the air...

Paulette said...

Um, wash the ironing board cover? I had no idea I was supposed to. I buy the silver Teflon (or whatever it is) coated ones though. When they get crappy looking, they get tossed. Although, now that I think about it, I should probably recycle it into something else--potholders maybe? Eh...

Simply UnFlabulous said...

First of all, what is this "ironing" you speak of? I'm pretty sure I've seen people do it before, but I thought it was some secret society I had to be invited into. I bought an ironing board a few years ago when we bought our house, but only because it matched the kitchen. I've seen the husband use it a couple of times but did not partake in the festivities. I would just as soon buy a new one.

Brenda said...

Those covers come off to wash??? I have never washed one, the ones I have had are too flimsy. Last year, I got a heavy-duty ironing board cover-thingy. Some guy in the country builds them out of plywood and heavy duty stuff all stapled on there, it fits over a regular ironing board, but I got a cool shelf from Ikea and put it on there - it's very sturdy and has storage underneath!

Lisa said...

Well, I think you can all stop worrying about the washing thing. I too replaced mine last month (although I did try to make one, and it's slightly odd-fitting), and it was very gross. However, I did try washing it first; which was a total waste of time! Nothing came out. Then I thought about it..... you iron on it. All those stains are there for good. You've made them permanent with the iron. It won't come clean, so you'd have been wasting time anyway! =)

Kirsten's Cooking said...

Thankfully, I just send my husbands shirts to the dry cleaner! He does wear them a couple of times, though...just in case you think I'm wasteful! :)
My mom still irons, though, I'll have to ask her whether or not she washes her cover.
I like how you post questions for your readers to answer, it's so nice to see everyone's comments! Good job, keep em coming!

lw said...

I wash mine about once a year, or whenever the starch gets caked on. It's less when I quilt less. Whenever I do a lot of fusible anything, I end up replacing it because try as I might, I end up with gluey-fusible yuck stuck on it when I'm done. And I'm about to make another t-shirt quilt (this one is black monster movie t-shirts) so I guess I should start shopping for a new one.

Shevvy said...

Oh thank god for the other commentators! I honestly had never thought about washing the covers! Ever! In my whole life!
I've bought a couple of new ones when they get really manky; I'm never going to be featured in good housekeeping am I?

Shay said...

To think I debated this post , thinking "everyone's going to think I'm a total slacker because I don't wash my ironing board cover every month". I'm feel so gratified to discover it's practically universal.

And I replaced mine mainly because I'd been using fusible bonding too. Otherwise I might have just sewn that hole up and tried to give it a wash.

I might give it a wash anyway and save some of that material for using in a sewing project. I'll have to soak it for days first I suspect.

Baa-Me Kniits said...

WELL....I don't even have an ironing board so I think I take the Queen of Slack Award!! If I am sewing I use a towel on the kitchen table, and until recently when I splashed out and actually bought myself a cheap iron, I used to borrow my Mother-in-Laws :-) PS I do own a steamer for blocking all my wool projects and that will do an OK job if I need to spiffy my outfit up...usually I figure what is the point as it gets wrinkled as soon as I sit in the car and put on the seatbelt!

Lorraine said...

I replaced the ironing board cover today....the package did suggest that the cover should be washed before use.......well...that didn't happen!! ...I have never washed an ironing board cover in my life! To be honest it has never even crossed my mind! ...who knew they should be washed?..LOL

Elizabeth said...

Wash the ironing board cover? Who knew? I just buy a new one (lol).

Unknown said...

In this house, starch is like life water when ironing. So, I wash the cover about every 2 months. I have two ironing boards. One for sewing and one for clothing. I would like to make a cover and have a sewing room that is all coordinated, but I don't think that will ever happen, so I buy a new one every few years and that makes me happy.

Lane said...

I did make mine out of offwhite canvas. It will probably never wear out. But, it does get starch sprayed on it and that darkens over time. So, I probably wash it about every two years, or when it gets really good and brown. Lane

Vesuviusmama said...

I wasn't aware you were supposed to wash the ironing board cover! Or even take the old one off before you put a new one on! I've been doing it wrong all these years!