Originally Posted by
pocoellie
Any fabric I'm going to work with, I spray starch heavily on the right side of the fabric, put the fabric/s in a plastic bag, and let it sit for a minimum of 2 hours, then I either let it air dry or stick in the dryer for a few minutes, then iron on the wrong side of the fabric. If you do it this way, you very, very rarely will get flaking and your iron won't get all gunky, and consequently, neither will your ironing board. The reason your iron gets all gunky is that the starch hasn't "gotten" into the fabric fibers and you're really only ironing the starch and not the fabric. I also use the concentrated spray starch and mix it 50/50 in a spray bottle, it goes a lot further than the canned starch.
I agree with
pocoellie . From those of us who grew up really iron everything, allowing the item to sit and absorb the starch is critical to a good crisp finish and will eliminate flaking. Some would even tell you to "refrigerate" the cloth. I do not place mine in a plastic bag as pocoellie does, but I do roll it tightly and let it absorb the starch and moisture then iron while still slightly damp.
I, too, mix my spray starch 50/50 for my quilting fabrics to prepare for cutting. When I finish a block and do the final pressing on it before assembling my quilt I use a light mist of Best Press mixed 50/50 with water