To Starch or Not to Starch
 

I have not been happy with some piecing I did for an 8 point star. I didn't starch any of the fabric ahead of time, which I found out online could certainly have contributed to my wonky lines.

There are many videos where quilters starch so heavily that the fabric is stiff when it dries! Have I missed a reliable tool to assist in my piecing accuracy? Do you prefer light, medium, heavy or no starch at all?

Thanks for your tips!

I starch or homemade best press everything that I'm going to cut. I get the concentrated starch and dilute it roughly 60/40.

I haven't starched anything in a very long time. However I do think it can help with difficult patterns. When I starched, I used Niagara Spray Starch, or whatever I could find if that wasn't available.

I starch as needed. Some fabrics, particularly when the pattern calls for bias cuts, HSTs for example, sew better with a touch of starch or best press to make them more stable. Nope, I don't starch everything nor do I starch heavily. For me, it seems to work. A little as needed.

LadyAg77, give one block a try with starch and if you like the results go for it.

I starch my fabric using Sta-FLo liquid starch and water. I try to make it at least medium and towards the heavier starching. I dunk mine in a dishpan and then run the fabric thru a makeshift wringer and then hang to dry. It does help with the fraying of some fabrics and when doing those wonky shapes, it also helps. Plus as I use hot water in my starch, if the fabric is going to bleed, it will bleed then. ALso if its going to shrink, it should shrink then also. Once dry, I mist with a mixture of vinegar and water and press. Some say vinegar helps stave off bleeding too and the vinegar smell goes away once you press the fabric. I've been doing this for the past 5-7 years now.

Sta-Flo went off the market a couple years ago and I went to every store in town and bought what I could find then. Then they put it back on the market but I've only found it online and it's now about twice to 3 times the price it used to be.

I am not a starch user, I've tried it. I have friends who are believers but it doesn't work so well for me. For one, I can be sensitive to scents. "Sensitive" isn't a full blown allergy but still, can affect me.

Two, I don't feel the need, but I am (partly because of those scents) a believer in pre-washing and I then iron the heck out of it. I've seen some people try to use some floppy/wrinkled not right stuff and maybe for them starch is the answer. Me with a hot iron and steam and sometimes a mist, my after-washing fabric can be hard to tell apart from fresh on the bolt.

For normal piecing, I always starch lightly. If I'm doing anything tricky or with bias, I'll starch more heavily. I find it helps me a lot with my accuracy. I did a project several years ago that was all 1/2 square triangles. I starched the heck out of them and had no problems at all. I find that some fabrics don't need much starch, but it's helpful with some. It can make soft fabrics very easy to work with. If I'm doing EPP, I don't starch because it makes it hard to fasten the fabric around the papers and is not needed because the papers stabilize the pieces.

When I use spray starch, I spray on the backside to avoid flaking on front. I would use it all the time if I had someone else do the ironing! It is too time consuming. I use Best Press before cutting.

Interesting that you find starch more time consuming than Best Press. I use starch on yardage because it's cheaper than Best Press. I buy the liquid starch at HEB and mix myself. I never thought about it taking longer to use than Best Press.

I buy the liquid starch at HEB and mix myself.

What is the brand of the starch you buy at HEB? There is no liquid starch available in any store I've been to in over a year. I find it at Amazon but way overpriced for starch. I've been using Terial spray diluted 1 cup spray, 2 cups water. I do still have bottles of Sta Flo I bought when it was discontinued but that won't last much longer.

Washing ALL quilting fabric before cutting it is an absolutely essential step for me.

I really don't understand the people that will wash a large piece of fabric for all the usual reasons that people wash their fabric before cutting it - won't wash smaller pieces before using them. But - their monkey, their circus.

As far as starching - especially on fabrics that want to ravel badly - which I try to avoid - it does seem to cut down on the loose threads on the back of the piece.

And does make the final pressing look prettier on the back.

I just like to know how my fabric is going to behave after it's washed BEFORE I go to the effort of making something with it.

If by starch you mean Best Press, yes. I spritz fabric before cutting; leave it to dry and it practically presses itself. I then spritz every seam sewn after initially pressing from the front, let dry a bit and press again from the back. When constructing blocks, I cover already sprayed seams with a press cloth.

The starch I bought is called Linit Liquid Laundry Starch. It's the only liquid starch I've seen stores since Sta Flo quit making theirs. I think it works just as well as Sta Flo and is $3.77 for 64 oz

I've seen it online but not paying double digits for starch. LOL Not in any stores here yet.

I have used Niagara starch from time to time, nothing consistent. I just took a class where we used templates and cut our pieces. The classroom was sponsored and was stocked with items for us to use, rotary cutters, mats, irons, thread, and they had Magic spray. I used the magic spray and am a believer now. I have bought some since and did my own experiment and can absolutely see and feel when sewing the difference on blocks with and without the Magic spray. I also have terial spray and will dilute and use it up in time too, but Magic spray is definitely going to be near my iron station from now on.

Since I only starch my fabrics before I cut into them, once the quilt has been made and gifted, send a note with a couple color catcher explaining how to use them when they first wash the quilts. Then it's on them if they don't use the color catchers.

I'll have to check on that Linit Starch as some day I will run out of Sta-Flo.

To clarify, I like Best Press better than spray can starch, but I'll use either. I just iron/starch once before cutting. I would like it stiff as a board, but creating stiff fabric would take so much time. I am following this thread because I never used much starch before quilting. And only in spray cans. Pressing fabric is my least favorite task. And ya'll?

If you want stiff as a board fabric you need to use Terial full strength. Spray until wet, let dry, press, and the fabric will be like cardstock. It washes out completely.

Thanks everyone for your kind replies! I am a very recent convert to using starch and it has made piecing my LeMoyne Star so much easier! I didn't know if starching was used by very many quilters though. :)