JML Fast Fit Ironing Board Cover

Cleaning is something that I don't mind doing as I like things to be in it's place and try to keep on top of things. This means that there's no need to spend the whole of my weekends cleaning, leaving me to do the things that I want when I'm not in work. There is one task however that I hate and that is ironing. For some it is therapeutic, or something to do when watching TV, but for me it is the one job that I find a chore and I hate it so much I even prefer cleaning the oven to ironing!

My ironing board is years old and I have never changed the cover. I didn't realise how thin the cover had become until I took the old cover off and thought that this had something to do with why I have to spend such a long time ironing the creases out of my clothes.

I was persuaded by the TV advert for the JML Fast Fit Ironing Board Cover, so off to Wilkinson's I went and picked one up for £4.99. According to JML they have sold over 8 million ironing board covers in the UK, which is quite impressive. The Ironing Board Covers are obviously very popular as there was only one left and it has a spring green leaf pattern on it. I guess if I wanted a really funky looking patterned one, then I should have bought one as soon as the adverts were shown on TV or ordered one online and not waited a few weeks as I did, as only the boring ones were left.

If you are fortunate to be able to pick the choice of cover you want, rather than have what's left, the covers are available in the following patterns: Spots, Retro, Stones (the one I would have preferred), Lemon, Pegs, Flowers and Stripes.

What does the Ironing Board Cover claim to do?
JML claims it fits almost any size board - this is somewhat true. The ironing board cover has elasticated edges to ensure the cover is held in place snuggly. I am not sure of the exact measurements of my ironing board and wouldn't want to bore you with the details, but did find that the cover is slightly too big for my ironing board.

It took me a good 20 minutes of ironing the cover to the board to make sure that there were no creases in the cover and then it took over a week for me to be completely satisfied that it wasn't going to cause more creases in my clothes. JML recommend that you run a hot iron over the cover the first time you use it a few times as this helps to seal the dye used to produce the pattern on the cover. I did as they recommended and none of the dye leaked onto my clothes whilst ironing.

Reflects heat - this is true. The cover has a thick underlay, which reflects heat so that you can iron both sides at the same time, so there is no need to iron the underside. This makes the whole chore of ironing a lot smoother and easier. The top layer is made of 100% cotton which makes the iron slide smoothly and the bottom layer is made up of 100% polyester which retains the heat. The ironing board cover has a cotton non-slip surface and can hold silk (not that I have many silk items) and so far nothing has slipped off the board.

Fits in seconds - yes it fits in seconds, however as stated above, it took me 20 minutes or so to fit the ironing board cover. You do need to spend time ironing out the creases to make sure that it fits properly and doesn't ride up in the middle.

Lastly it is machine washable up to a temperature of 40 ºC. To dry you need to like the cover flat. I actually found it fitted a lot better after I put it in the wash as this softened the cover slightly, took out the stiffness and did not affect it's effectiveness at all and continues to reflect heat.

Do I recommend the JML Fast Fit Ironing Board Cover? Yes I do. Is it going to change your life? Most certainly not, however anything that decreases the amount of time I have to spend ironing is recommended by me. The JML Fast Fit Ironing Board Cover gets 4 stars from me, as it did take a while for me to iron out all the creases for a snug fit. It saves me time especially as the heat is reflected so for most of the ironing I don't have to iron both sides. The cover is thick and spongy and I find that this makes it easier to iron out those tough creases and generally saves me time to get on with the things that I want to do. I still don't like ironing, but at least the Fast Fit Ironing Board Cover makes the chore of ironing easier!

The JML Fast Fit Ironing Board Cover is available from JML Direct, Wilkinson's, Robert Dyas and Woolworth's. It is cheaper to buy in store at a recommended retail price of £4.99, as there are delivery charges when buying online and you end up paying double.

For more information, please visit: www.jmldirect.com

Thanks for reading xx
© sweetdaisy 2008