no kidding , drinking vodka, yes,yes...its called sizing not starch, my bad,... it really does a good job,material real nice and crisp..molly

I make mine..

1 c Staflo
1c Febreeze- I love the Lavender scent
1c Water..

mix well.. I have had it for a month at a time in my closet. I use it pretty quick tho, but so far No mold.. I even use a clean glass spaghetti jar for my starch..

My great grandmother always made her starch. She never measured, just put a little bit of cornstarch in small pot of water and boiled it. For dipping clothes she made a big pot and reduced it down to the thickness she wanted. It never spoiled as it was made and used the night before ironing day. I grew up with washing day, ironing day, baking day, cleaning day......

I have had no probs with homemade spray starch. What does not fit in a spray bottle should be stored in fridge in a warm climate I would suspect. When I make mine I take what won't fit in spray bottle to a group and refill their spray bottle. It is cheap to make. I put a few drops of lavendar oil in.

thanks so much, i'm tired of buying and 1/2 thru, it falling on the floor and the sprayer breaking off.

Starch now comes in the big non areasol spray bottles. I like Niagara, it has a nice scent and doesn't flake. I find it at Walmart. The bottle is good to reuse if you make your own.

I have been using home made starch for years and never had a problem with it on my fabric. If you leave it in the bottle for more than a week or two (depending on heat and humidity) it will go moldy. I make a batch, starch my fabric, make my quilt and then wash it. But I've had "quilts in the making" with starched fabric sit around for a few months and never had a problem with it on the fabric.

Here's the recipe I use:
1 cup boiling water
1 cup room temp water
anywhere from 1 tsp. to 1 TBLS. corn starch (the more cornstarch you use, the stiffer your fabric will be)

Put the cornstarch in a 2 cup Pyrex measuring cup (or anything similar that can take boiling water).
Add small amount of cool tap water and stir to dissolve starch.
Add boiling water and stir for one minute
Add room temp water and stir thoroughly
When cool enough, pour into spray bottle.

Shake often while using and use within a week or two.

I love this because it's inexpensive, very easy to make, no perfumes or preservatives and it's always on hand since it only has two ingredients we all have on hand. :D

If you heat it up, you can add one teaspoon of salt to a qt and let the salt disolve and that will prevent mold just like the vodca does.

This is exactly the recipe I use. Never had any problems. I have been using the same bottle of it for over 2 or 3 months now. I don't use any thing else in mine either.

I'm a bit confused. If you starch, then dry your fabric, will it iron the wrinkles out? Or do you need to dry it, then kind of spinkle it with water? Guess I'm being blonde again, but I can't get a mental picture of this process. Someone please explain it again for a dummy