To provide an ergonometrically correct ironing board (2) which can be readily folded and retained in folded position, the legs (7, 8) of the ironing board are coupled at a cross-over shaft (9) and each connected to a spacer element (18, 19) in which the spacer element is formed with a recess or groove or notch (17). A hand-operable height-positioning lever (15) which is coupled to a height adjustment mechanism (5, 4, 12, 13, 14) is also coupled to a locking lever (16) having a locking tip (22) engageable with the recess or groove or notch (17) in the spacer elements which are coupled to the legs (7, 8) when the legs are folded together. The locking lever (16) is spring-loaded to retain the legs in folded position; upon operating the height positioning lever (15), the lock is automatically released. For universal ironing convenience, the ironing board has a straight front side (67) which has a curved blunt end (69) with a curve radius of about 350 mm. It merges over more sharply curved corners with the front side (67) and a backside (61) which has a first, straight portion (65) of at least half the length as the front side (67) and which then merges over a gentle bend (66) with a pointed tip end (64) of the ironing board. All corners are rounded, with curve radii of, for example, about 65 mm.