DIY Ironing Boards and How to Choose Vintage Irons

Vintage Irons Produce Nice Flat Blocks!

Do you admire old irons but have never considered using one? Lori Holt from Bee in My Bonnet won’t use anything else and has good reasons for preferring them.

In her opinion, due to their heat and weight, they produce flatter blocks than modern irons. She feels that steam distorts and shrinks blocks so she looks for non-steam irons with soleplates that are completely flat.

She has other good reasons for using old irons as well, which she explains in the video further down this page. Lori also explains what to look for in old irons and how to fix frayed cords and ensure that they’re safe (starting at 6:23).

But first, she explains why and how she makes her own pressing boards. She likes to have pressing boards sized to match her cutting mats and feels that hard boards produce flatter blocks with less distortion than those that are highly padded. She has a very simple way to make them.

We especially like the version with legs for storing tools and such underneath. These can easily be made to fit nicely in the tops of rolling carts.

You’ll find a lot of great info in Lori’s video, not just about pressing boards and irons, but also about achieving nice flat blocks when pressing them.

Click here to watch the video at YouTube if it doesn’t play on your device.

Old irons can be found at thrift stores and tag sales. You can also find them on Etsy and Ebay.

Lori’s cutting mats have different pretty colors on each side. We were able to locate a few sizes here and here.

Silver ironing board fabric and thin Hobbs 80/20 cotton/poly batting are used to cover her pressing boards using 3/8″ staples from a staple gun. The 1/2″ thick plywood boards can be cut to size at Lowe’s or Home Depot (notice that the corners are cut off so they’re slightly rounded).

There’s still a bit of her My Happy Place decorator fabric available here while supplies last.