Ironing Board Covers & Hot-Plate Pads — Asbestos Exposure Crosswalk

What This Equipment Is

A category of small consumer / commercial-laundry asbestos products designed for direct contact with hot irons, hot cookware, and hot lab equipment:

  • Ironing board covers and pads — asbestos-cloth or asbestos-felt fabric covers fitted over the metal ironing board for safe contact with hot iron faces
  • Hot-plate pads / trivets — asbestos-cloth or asbestos-millboard pads placed on dining tables under hot serving dishes, on stovetops under hot pots, in labs under hot beakers
  • Kitchen counter heat shields — asbestos-cloth pads protecting countertops from hot cookware
  • Laundry-service flatwork press pads — heavier asbestos felt used on commercial-laundry flatwork ironing equipment
  • Asbestos clothes-line / drying-line spacers — sold for residential and commercial laundry use

These were ubiquitous household products through the 1970s — sold in hardware stores, sewing-supply stores, and general merchandise channels. Most middle-class American households of the era contained at least one or two of them.

Why These Products Were an Asbestos Exposure Pathway

Direct hand contact during use, daily for many years. Edge wear from repeated folding, washing, and replacement of fabric pads released chrysotile fiber against the user’s skin and breathing zone. Commercial-laundry workers using flatwork-press pads at industrial scale shifted from intermittent exposure (household user) to chronic occupational exposure (commercial-laundry employee).

The 1970s “energy-crisis” period also drove a brief consumer-product wave of asbestos-cloth pot-holders, oven mitts, and stove-safety pads sold for residential use — adding additional household exposure cohorts.

Manufacturers Named in Litigation

  • Johns-Manville — asbestos cloth and felt supplied for consumer products
  • Raybestos-Manhattan — asbestos textile products
  • A-Best — asbestos garments and PPE
  • Various small-scale consumer-product manufacturers selling under store-brand and private-label channels

Documented Product References

Images sourced from publicly available product-identification reference materials. Inclusion does not constitute a finding of liability against any company.

Trust Funds That May Apply

  • Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust
  • Raybestos-Manhattan Asbestos PI Trust

Categories Most Exposed to These Products

Household users — particularly homemakers and home-laundry workers of the 1940s–1970s era who used asbestos ironing-board covers and hot-plate pads daily for entire careers.

Commercial-laundry workers — flatwork press operators in hotel, hospital, restaurant, and institutional laundries.

Cross-References

Compiled from publicly filed asbestos litigation, CPSC consumer-product records, and industry-publication histories. Product and company references reflect what has been alleged or documented in publicly filed litigation. This page does not constitute a finding of liability against any company. Not legal advice; consult a licensed attorney about your specific situation.