Mama and Mamaw always made their own starch, lye,soap and homeny in the wash pot out back over a fire. They made their starch with flour. Prepared the same was as this. Then after the clothes were dry, sprinkled, rolled up and put in a towel , put in the frig for a while, seems over night was best. the white clothes were boiled in the washpot and bluing was put in the rinse water. That was the "good ole days" when clothes were scrubed on a washboard and your knuckles got skinned,hands got raw from the hot water, and froze on the clothes line when hanging out clothes to dry in the winter, and clothes got bird droppings on them in the summer. All that water had to be drawn from a well.
Our toilet was out back with bugs and spiders if it wasn't kept scrubbed and limed.
grass was mowed with a push mower (not powered except by muscle)
Yeah, I remember the good ole days.
Sorry for the length of this but when I started about the starch the rest just rolled out.