Why build this tool? Because, let's face it, ironing is SO out-dated and boring, even if it is still necessary.

Plus, these boards are easy, cheap, and fun to make and they take up very little room (stash them with your regular ironing board, behind a dresser, on a hook in your laundry room...). To use them, simply place them on top of your regular ironing board and iron away.

A custom ironing board, such as I'm about to describe, helps you iron your most-common clothes faster and easier (and, in some cases, even better), leaving you more time to do other things.

If you have different-sized family members, such as kids, or if you iron items that are of a different shape, from draperies to handkerchiefs, you may want to make several of these custom ironing boards. A sleeve ironing board like this is next on my list to make—one where I can slip the board inside long sleeves, iron the sleeves, then take the board out to quickly add the "seam" look to the outside edge of the sleeve.

You could always buy no-iron, wrinkle-free clothes, if you don't mind all of the chemicals they include in the cloth to make them stay sharp and if you ignore the reports that those chemical additives cause cancer or other diseases.

You could always go without ironing—I know people who think I'm silly for ironing because they just skip that step, and they're even proud of that fact. (FYI, yes, it's painfully obvious to everyone else just who neglects to iron their clothes.)

You could steam-iron your clothes, but that's better left to the professionals—it still only provides mediocre results for those of us amateurs with non-commercial steamers, and it's easier to "burn" the fabric with a steamer than it is with an iron.

Also, conventional ironing allows you to use starch to smooth the surface of the fabric and helps prevent wrinkles throughout the day by providing a mild stiffening effect (and a pleasant, homey scent).