I received an old changing table from my daughter's sister-in-law. Bruce took the top off and added wheels to the legs. The wheels and the new top make it just the right height for me.
After research we found not all wood is created equal. :) (It's the 4th of July tomorrow). Anyway - most of the "big board" time of ironing boards are made out of MDF. It's a great composite material that doesn't warp. Trouble is it is made with a type of glue that has formaldehyde in it. When heat is applied the formaldehyde is released in the air. Basically all press boards and composites use this type of glue. After a period of time the formaldehyde will be gone. But I have a granddaughter, and don't want anything in the air that may harm her.
Plywood uses glue by none containing formaldehyde. The trouble with plywood is that it does warp. And finding a perfectly flat piece at the local big supply store is nearly impossible. We did find a large flat piece that was made out of strips of pine glued side by side. It was back where they have small sheets of wood; rounds for table tops, etc. Again it was made with wood glue without formaldehyde.
Bruce cut it to the size I needed. 55 X 19. This gives me room for a width of fabric plus a place for my iron to rest.
At Joann's Fabric I bought 2 yards of Insul-Bright. It is a type of batting used to make pot holders or casserole carriers. Insulated again heat. From Bo-Nash I ordered their IronSlide ironing board cover. 29 X 65. Because I was using 2 layers of the Insul-Bright, I didn't get the cover that came with the foam pad. I bought my first Bo-Nash cover over 10 years ago for my regular ironing board. Trust me, 10 years is a long time for a cover to last specially as hard as I use them. I'm quite impressed with their product.
I cut 2 pieces the Insul-Bright to the the size of the top plus 1 inch. This gave me just 1/2" overlap for the edges. I did not want it the wrap around to the bottom, otherwise the cover with not stick to the underside of the top. Cut away a square at the corner and the edges fold down without any bulk. Use flat head thumb tacks to secure the corners. I also used them every 5 inches or so to secure the Insul-Bright to the table.
Next, measure the how much over hang and and area you have under the table and add that to your top measurement. I had lots of under surface at both ends of the table, but only about an inch on the short sides. This was another reason I didn't want to wrap my Insul-bright around to the bottom of the table; I knew there wouldn't be enough surface to adhere the Bo-Nash.
You apply the Bo-Nash the same way you would apply a laminate surface. Peeling back the protective plastic as you smooth down the cover. I started at one short end; I peeled the plastic back and under itself with the sticky side up. I pulled it down over the end and secured it to the under side of the table. Once it was secure, I flipped the cover to the left and began peeling the plastic away as I smoothed the cover down. To help smooth the cover down and smooth the creases out, I used my 24" ruler.
