Originally Posted by
Pat M.
I do remember my mother soaking the fabric in starch and then putting it in the frig until she was ready to iron it. She said it helped the fabric absorb the starch.
My mom used to buy a powdered starch (name brand Faultless), which you cooked into a thick paste, then thinned down with water. Anything cotton that was going to be ironed was washed, rinsed, then placed in the thin starch solution in a tub, then wrung out and hung out to dry (this was before we had a dryer). When the dry laundry was taken in, each piece was sprinkled with water to dampen it, then all the damp clothes were wrapped in a large towel and put in the "back room" refrigerator until there was time to iron it. The cooked starch was a light blue color, so was fine for light fabrics when it was thinned, but for darker fabrics, blue jeans, dark shirts, etc., she would add a little tea or coffee to darken it. No one was happier than my mom when they came out with spray starch! No one was happier than me when we got our first dryer!