Geri B

no starch, no best press, no sizing, no pre washing...and if my points or seams don't match, it's sewer's carelessness...

ManiacQuilter2

I know that Walmart carries Niagara but I buy Magic Sizing and never had a problem with flakes. You need to wait a few seconds after spraying.

gram2five

I use Sta-Flo mixed 50/50 in a spray bottle. Before cutting the fabric, I spray the wrong side of the fabric, let it sit awhile, then iron.

quiltsRfun

Walmart is the only place I could find Sta Flo but they don't have it anymore. Don't know where I'll get it when my current supply runs out. I remember my mom putting the starched ironing in the fridge back in the day.

Dolphyngyrl

I use best press mostly unless I am dealing with a lot of bias like a lone star than heavy starch is needed. I just used what I could find which is faultless

bearisgray

I think there is "starch" that is made from a plant based materisl. - and "sizing" that is made from inorganic substances.

I think of using starch/ sizing on fabric in the same way I think of using scaffolding around a building. Once the item is complete, it should be able to stand alone.

If a fabric is too flimsy/thin/limp to use after washing it without bolstering, I don't use it.

marge954

Although moths/silverfish do eat fabric materials, it’s not the fabric itself they are primarily attracted to: it’s the dirt, lint, salt, dead insects, or stains from human sweat and food such as tomato juice, milk, coffee, and beef gravy that moths like to eat. They cut through the fibers to get to the dirt and stains on the fabric.

There are pieces of fabric in my quilting cave that have been starched (or heavily starched) for lengths of time between 21 years and 2 months. I've never had bugs or insects (moths or silver fish) chew or make holes in the fabrics. My fabric has been moved and refolded quite a bit as we have moved or I have switched rooms or when I'm working on a quilt and pulling out fabric. I've never found holes or dead bugs/insects. The only bug/insect holes I have found in fabric was a suit my husband wore and hung back in the closet without having it cleaned. When he took it out a year later to wear it it was full of holes! Moths suck on the sweat drops that are left in clothes, hence the holes.

joe'smom

One season I found that moths had eaten holes in my two cashmere sweaters. They left the wool alone, LOL.

rryder

I love starch. I use whatever I can find, usually either Niagra or Faultless if I buy it locally. I prefer my fabric to be pretty stiff when I cut it and also when I stitch. I've never had a problem with bugs getting in my starched stash. I've recently found that you can still buy Staflo gallons from Walmart.com and also Amazon.com. For some reason they can't be found locally anymore. What I like about Staflo is you can mix it up to whatever strength you want and either use a spray bottle, or dip your fabric to starch.


When I was growing up we used a Coca-Cola bottle with a cork stopper that had one of those pot metal sprinkler heads in it to hold our home made starch mixture. When it was time to iron we sprinkled the starch on and then ironed/pressed. Of course, we didn't have a steam iron so if we wanted to use steam, we had another bottle (Pepsi I think) with the same kind of stopper/sprinkler that just held water, sprinkled it on and then "steam-ironed" LOL.

Rob

Quilty-Louise

I LOVE using the Downy Wrinkle Release, I dilute it down.