Buy a steamer! You won't scald your clothes on accident and if you really need a good seam, lay it down on a table and do it that way.

A table... until it drove me nuts and then I had to replace the ironing board I threw out.

"Ironing Board Alternatives?"

For a person who needs to look professional in order to move up in the business world there's no such thing...
...except sending your shirts out for pressing.

I use the "student" ironing approach of a table with towel and sheet for the most part. ... but things like dresses for weddings or blouses and trousers for interviews or big presentations call for a real ironing board and a trip to a friend's place (who has one!). Some things you just can't iron correctly without a board.

We got an ironing board for our wedding six months ago
and it's still in the wrapper. :) I rarely need to iron anything!

If you don't use the steam option you can iron on a table with a towel and a sheet.... But if you use steam you need something to vent all the extra steam out.

Try a mini ironing board or covering your current one with something to make it beautiful; that way it won't bother you if people see it

So timely...just cleaning out my laundry room/storage area and that blasted mini ironing board is such a dust collector! I think I used mine twice in 2009.
Can you really iron on a table with a sheet etc. without ruining the finish?

I use a half-size one that hangs on the back of a door (not just stored on the back of the door, but folded down and used on the door). I love it.

In college, I used to iron on a table with towel and sheet and ruined the finish on my roommate's coffee table.

Or not iron at all.

As I teenager I would iron on the floor with a towel between the item and and the carpet. One day I was ironing with a little too much vigor and the iron went off the edge of the item and melted the carpet instantly- in the perfect shape of an iron. I don't recommend carpet.

Did I mention that I have the same ironing board I bought when I first arrived in USAF Tech School back in 1987?

It's had a few replacement covers in that time, but I still drag it out every single weekday morning to do my shirt and touch up my pants before going into the office.

The towel on a table works well enough, but a mini ironing board would make sleeves and such much easier.

Ironing through a folded towel hasn't hurt my table. I would call it a farmhouse table. It survived a fire at some point and has a blackened leg. When I refinish it, I'll be using natural finishes and they should stand up to a little heat as well. No worse than a hot pot on a cloth.

I work outside, so my "presentable" is different from someone who works in an office.

I have a mini one that is stored on the back of the closet door, but most of the time, when I'm just trying to get a few wrinkels out, I throw the clothing item in the dryer with a wet washcloth for a few min. - it won't put pleats in or anything, but it gets out most wrinkles. The thing I find the ironing board most essential for is my sewing projects - skip the ironing and you can really screw stuff up!

Downy Wrinkle Release spray!

I iron and/or steam everything I wear to work. I'm also a designer, so have whole rigamarole set up all the time, but can't stand looking like a schmutz when I need to look professional.

Nothing beats a really good iron and ironing board.

I would never ever get rid of my ironing board. I hate being wrinkled, it does not look good. Hang it behind the door that nobody will see. I love ironing.

I use a big 3' square table, but I usually only iron craft projects. I would like one that goes over the door for my clothes. I think it would encourage me to iron more.

May I ask the no-iron people how they do it? Maybe I'm OCD (I do buy starch in a six-pack) but even my t-shirts and turtlenecks need a litttle press to take care of the wrinkles that happen from folding. I look in the mirror and I just can't go out of the house like that. And what do you do with your napkins and tablecloths?

I don't own an ironing board. I can't even remember the last time I ironed, it's probably been over ten years.

My mother never ironed either, so I never learned why it was necessary. She taught me to take clothes out of the dryer immediately, and that's what I do. So there really isn't much need to iron.

i don't like those big clunky ironing boards either! What happened to the boards that flip out of the wall or door like the older homes had? those are the best!

I hate ironing because our full sized board is tucked in the back of an overly stuffed closet. However, ironing is required for a crisp clean look and sometimes the job requires that freshly ironed look. Plus I enjoy sewing and I absolutely MUST iron fabric after washing it and before cutting it. I almost bought a mini ironing board, but the irritation of trying to iron large quanties of fabric on a tiny board didn't seem worth it.

I prefer a full size ironing board...but if you want to go without one...the best thing to use instead of a towel on a table is a wool blanket on a flat surface. Wool doesn't allow the heat from the iron to harm your flat surface!

An ironing pad/blanket: http://www.organize.com/ironingblanket.html?campaign=adwords&kw=ironing%20blanket&gclid=CNrYzYH_wJ8CFc8N5Qoda2BNrg

this works great, and you can fold it up and tuck it anywhere!

I have really tried to be an ironer and worry about wrinkles but it hasnt happened. I have bought and given away 3 or 4 ironing boards. On the rare occasion that I think I should, it is ironing on the bed with a towel. I do as magnolia88 does tho, I fold out of the dryer. The steamer sounds interesting but is there any danger of getting a burn?

Luckily I never worked in an office.

WRINKLE RELEASE SPRAY!!!!

Even though I rarely iron clothes, I still have a board and a good iron. Sometimes it's really important, and it's good to have around for sewing projects where I'm not sure a table and a towel would quite do the trick.

Really considering the steamer option, though...

1) buy nice clothes that don't wrinkle easily - synthetics or wools
2) hang everything up on appropriately shaped hangers instead of folding. for pants with a crease, hang so the fold is at the crease
3) if you use a dryer, take clothes out right away.

I don't own an iron and hope to never own one.

I mainly only use an iron for sewing projects, so I have a mini-ironing board for small items. If I need to iron larger items, I just use the kitchen counter with a towel on top.

I have never ironed my clothes, even when I have had corporate jobs. All my clothes are hung on hangers to drip dry, then straight into the wardrobe - so they don't get wrinkly. I only use the dryer for sheets and towels.

I have a friend with the OCD ironing gene who even irons her underwear! I never notice how well-ironed her clothes are, and she has never noticed that I don't iron anything! When I told her (after 10 years of friendship) that I don't iron, she was amazed. The thing is that within 10 minutes of wearing clothes the difference between hours spent ironing & no ironing is negligible.

Can a steamer replace my iron?

I iron a few times a year, but a reasonably sized board is a must. No sense in trying with a mini-board.

I sandwich my ironing board between a window and a floor-length opaque curtain. The window is in the back of the house so I don't care that people outside can clearly see the board. I hardly ever iron, but I find that an extra horizontal surface comes in handy when I'm working on a big craft or baking project. At Christmas time I laid a towel on top and used it as a cooling rack for cookie sheets.

A steamer ~ I haven't ironed in 6 years. I don't own an iron or a board anymore. I have replaced the steamer twice though...TOTALLY worth it. I do want to upgrade to a retail fabric steamer in the next 2 years. I do reccomend getting the rowenta one though

http://www.shoprowenta.com/detail/ROW IS1430/Pro_Compact_Steamer

Conair also makes them

http://www.conair.com/compact-fabric-steamer-p-208.html

The Conair ones tend to die after 1 year. My first Conair lasted for 3 years, the second after they changed the style of it lasted only a year. Have had the Rowenta one for about 2 now. LOVE IT.. worth every penny. a GF just borrowed it as she bought some linen drapes & couldn't get the wrinkles out, worked better than she thought it would on them.

Now if you like creases in your clothing, then yes you need a board & a Iron.

I'm like AliceG -- we buy starch by the 6-pack. I iron everything except underwear and socks!

The most delicious thing is to slide into bed like I did last night, with freshly washed and starched bedlinens on top of a fluffy duvet and pillows...mmm....

Heck, my advice would be to buy a LauraStar!

Okay, so I get that you're not there...

Neither was my mother... as a teenager, I went out and bought an ironing board because we didn't own one, and I didn't like ironing on the kitchen counter on a towel-covered folded blanket. It was a nightmare! Difficult to press properly, took ages to set up, took ages to iron something.

Even if you drip-dry clothes so that they don't look too wrinkly, that method does not result in clothes that are ever crisp or polished...

Really, there is no substitute for an ironing board. Hide it under your bed.

wall mount it! container store or other gadget selling store.

GET A STEAMER!!! Best gift I got all year...Hands down.

When we moved into our vintage apartment, the landlord said it would be fine for us to rip out the hideaway ironing board (it flips out from behind a door in the kitchen like a murphy bed) and put in tiny shelves for a spice rack or hang our broom in there.

He's nuts. These folks back in the 1920's knew what they were doing by building these stowaways!

Take me back to North America, the land of no ironing!! I live in the UK at the mo' and they iron EVERYTHING! Even kids clothes, their underwear and towels! LOL... Now, for the most part they do not own dryers, I know, how does one make it through life... So everyone hangs their clothes on clothes horses and of course everything wrinkles... I have a great half size ironing board from Ikea that hangs in the closet off the rail when you are not using it, does the trick for now, but boy do I miss my dryer...

I iron every morning! The majority of my wardrobe is cotton, and my mom ironed every morning, so it seems normal to me. (but weird to my friends!)

Have you though about a vintage WOOD folding ironing board? There are some on ebay and they show up a lot at flea markets. They're really lovely!

My husband sends his shirts out and I just use the edge of my bed (a cotton duvet over a lightweight down) for my occassion items. Works like a charm!

Ottoman with a towel over it.

Do you have so much stuff that you can't fit an ironing board in your closet? At the very least you could get away with a half-size/travel size board. There is no good substitute for an ironing board!

How about a combo ironing board and full length mirror (function and function):
http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2009/07/14/ironing-board-double.html

I don't own it, but I did think it was an ingenious idea when I first saw it.

I think I've ironed less than a dozen pieces of clothing in the last twelve years - and right now I don't even own an iron!

If pants need a crease, or shirts need pressing, they go to the cleaners.

I recently purchased a steamer, and that's perfect for me to use on silk and other delicate items.

I've bought a couple of different steamers, hated them, awkward to use, poor results. Look for a wall-mount cabinet with a fold-down ironing board, only hold out for one with a mirror on the door. I've had one for 7 years now, wouldn't be without it. You can install it higher or lower on the wall, to suit your height. www.organizeit.com/poironsm42.asp?cmpid=gbase