I starch using Sta Flo starch to which I add about 2% water. I cover my ironing board with a towel when starching and sometimes put a bed sheet on the floor if I am starching very large pieces of fabric. Getting that starch off the floor is no fun. Both the towel and the sheet go into the washer when I have finished the day's starching. I have lots of starched scraps and, so far, I have not had any bugs. I do worry about the heavily starched tops I send to the LAQ as it sometimes takes her a year to return them. Fortunately, the returned quilts have been fine.