I remember the bottle with the sprinkler top! My mom had one too! She never put things in the freezer, but she did used to sprinkle them, roll them and put them in a zipper plastic bag in the frig until she was ready to iron them. I think she used to do the same with starch but I'm not sure.

I still have my “sprinkle” bottle. I rarely use it but it lives in my laundry room. I love it! I also still have my skate key and my. Brownie pin!

I iron my scraps with my steam iron now but when I was making “Circa 1880” I followed Pam Buda’s advice and starched my Strips (1 1/2”), let them dry and ironed them. I really helped keeping stitches straight.

Just my opinion, but I think that moist cotton rolled up ("in the dark") would grow mold if one forgot to get it ironed pretty soon. This is what I think prompted the refrigeration or freezing. Since whenever plastic bags came out, I would sprinkle (still have a bottle with that top) and roll and put in a simple plastic bag, for moisture to spread throughout the piece. I would be perfectly content if I never need to do this again, however. . .

it turns moldy if left long enough in the fridge. Not sure about the freezer

I still have my mother’s sprinkler bottle. We put in “ ice box “ not freezer

My mother did not iron, sew and generally disdained all housework (although she liked a clean house so we weren't disgusting). My sister and I still joke about the quality of the food sometimes. But we were fed, clothed and educated. All else is gravy...

My mom always used the freezer method!