Thread: Starching Fabric--in Sink or Washing Machine??

it was not easy to find as most articles are about spray starching. but here is a link on how to starch shirts in a sink: http://laundry.about.com/od/howtoiro...ts-At-Home.htm ... scroll down to Get Ready to Dip

Starching, and then putting in the frig - my mother used to do this. But, she hated to iron so much, that she would get to the "putting in the frig" part and leave everything til it mildewed and then threw it out. Luckily for us, she didn't do that to too many clothes since we weren't wealthy. I know things were sort of saturated with the starch mixture and I think she did it in the sink in the cellar near the washing machine. When I got old enough I took over the ironing and no more mildew. I still like to iron.

I just buy the 1/2 gallon of starch at the grocery store. I mix it up 50/50 (starch and water) and put it in a spray bottle from the dollar store (or the container that I bought 4 years ago before I figured out I could mix my own much cheaper) and spray it on the small pieces after sewn or larger fabric piece before I cut it and iron it. I usually put the fabric in a plastic bag and let it sit awhile when I am cutting fabric, then iron the starched fabric sometimes with steam and sometime not. It works for me.

Compared to what everything else cost in my quilt room, I find the cans (or now they come also in squirt bottles) of spray starch exceedingly reasonable. I use about three a year.
I only starch what I'm going to cut, when I'm ready to cut it.

Starch is one of my four must haves for tools.
Here, cans run from $2.00 on sale to $3.50 each.

I don't think starch will hurt septic systems, it is generally speaking only cornstarch and water, although I don't know about commercial additives.

We are also on a septic system. My husband has been dip starching his shirts (and some of my yardage ) for almost 40 years without ill effects. This is how he does it: mixes a 50/50 solution of StaFlo and water. He launders the item as normal, takes it out of the washer wet, immerses it in the starch mixture, wrings it out & throws it in the dryer till it's damp then irons. If it gets too dry, he spritzes it with water as he irons. When we were first married & he said he wanted me to starch & iron his shirts as I never did it to his satisfaction, he took over. Works for me.
I'm a pre washer, but I don't dip starch all my yardage, just if the pattern has a lot of bias edges, or I'm making a really large top that will be tugged around as I stitch. Otherwise I just use the 50/50 mixture in a spray bottle & lightly spritz.
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I remember my mother starching clothes. After she put the starch on the clothes, she would put them into a plastic bag and put them into the frig. I think she kept there over night.