Do any of you starch before you start a project - and how stiff do you make your fabric. Also, I have been looking for the liquid starch in a gallon container - usually its blue but cannot find it here in the Ozarks. Do they still make it? There was an article about making your own liquid starch with corn starch. I tried it - nope, didn't work.......any suggestions? Thanks

I don't general starch any of my fabrics unless they are really flimsy. I like to use Magic Spray as it isn't quite as stiff as starch. I think this is a personal preference and has lots to do with what type of piecing you are doing.
The WM and Dollar Stores near me sell blue starch, but not by the gallon.

Wal Mart has gallon sized Sta Flo. I really like it to help keep the backing fabric stiff when I do FMQ. Sometimes I use it when I piece. I like to mix my own strength.

Last I knew Wal-Mart carried it. My last bottle I bought was over a year ago and I use it all the time! It is in the laundry isle usually on the top shelf just above the magic sizing.

I starch everything. I cut better and sew better when the fabric is about stiff enough to stand up! Seriously, I starch pretty stiff. It helps me. Our Wal-Mart has Sta-Flo in the big jugs near the laundry products.

I use starch most of the time. So far I have only used the spray starch or sizing, but I did buy a big jug and intend to try that soon.

Just last week I picked up a jug at Walmart, haven't used it yet. It was under $3, and looks like it'll go a long way.

It's a quart size blue bottle of Sta-Flo liquid laundry starch that I keep on hand. It is still made and sold. Try going to customer service and requesting your local store to carry it.

I starch the crap out of my fabric. It makes it easier to cut and holds the fabric together as well as it makes it so much easier for FMQ. Also, I use kids washable markers for marking my quilt tops and I never have had any problem with marks coming out after washing. I think it's because I'm marking on the starch and not the fabric :D

I don't like the feel of starch, but I do use spray sizing on some projects, particularly Mariner's compasses.

I can understand the starch making it easier to rotary cut, and piece on a machine, but won't starch make it more difficult to hand quilt? I've never learned to quilt on a machine because the only machine I have is a Singer Fashion Mate 360 from the 1970's (It has 6 stitches-LOL) I am learning to piece on it though. When I was taught quilting the rule was always wash first and use no starch. Since I'm trying to learn new ideas, I was wondering.

I soak my fabrics with starch, let them air dry and then press. I find for me, the fabric is easier to cut, press, and my blocks do not stretch. I can also finger press some seams and they really stay nicely.

Starch the backings the same way, I rarely have a pucker.

I don't hand quilt, so I can't answer that question :D:D:D

I starch the fabrics that I'll be using for a quilt a day or two before starting the project. I use the Sta Flo brand in the blue bottle and dilute 50/50, spray or soak the fabric, then let it "soak" into the fabric for a minimum of 2 hours, then air dry, then press.

It looks like both of our WalMarts choose NOT to carry it - I have been checking it out for the last 6 months. Thanks

I just got home from buying some. Both Walmart and Winco carry the liquid starch. I use 50/50 and a spray bottle. I do make sure I rinse out the spray part of the bottle after a day of sewing it tends to gunk up if I dont and leave it sit over night.

I hand quilt and also use the Sta Flo starch with no problems.

Thank you so much!! Can't wait to try it !! Will make things much easier!!

I just spray starch my dresden plates when they were all put together so it would stay better while working with them. this is the first time I did this and it does make a difference. I like it.

i starch when i'm piecing blocks like jacob's ladder, shoo fly. i use mary ellen's best press i purchase mine at the lqs and the have the bigger containers. i also have seen it at hancock's. it is a clear starch alernative and it is available in different scents.

I'm curious about it making hand quilting harder also.

I starch and hand quilt also and I don't have a problem.

I starch nearly everything. My quilts come out much much better and the fabric is easier to work with, less stretching and slipping.

It took me a while to figure out how to get enough on the fabric and then how to not get to much.

I now use and old wash tub. I pour in one bottle of starch and two bottles of water. Then I just dunk the fabric until it is soaked wring out and throw in the dryer.

Using a spray bottle of water I mist the fabric the iron. Don't stretch the fabic as you iron or it will distort. Jus press it out nicely.

It is a process but I find it to be well worth my effort.

I do starch sometimes, especially if I know I will have lots of bias edges to contend with. I make my own however. It's much cheaper, no chemicals and I always have the ingredients on hand since it only requires water and corn starch.

Here's the recipe if anyone is interested:
In a two cup Pyrex measuring cup, mix 1/2 - 1 tsp. corn starch with a tablespoon or two of room temperature water. Add one cup boiling water and stir well. Add one cup room temp. water and stir well. Cool just a bit, then pour into your own spray bottle (the kind they sell in the gardening section at walmart).

A few notes - the amount of corn starch you add will determine the stiffness of your fabric. I like mine a bit stiffer so I add a good teaspoon.
Remember to give the sprayer a shake before you use it and a few times while using it to keep everything well mixed.
Because this has no preservatives, each batch will only last a week or two and will then need to be discarded, if there's any left.
Like all starches (either homemade or store bought) it can attract critters like silverfish, so make sure you don't store starched fabric. (Honestly, I have never had this happen, but since it can, it needs mentioned.)

I heve been quilting about 50 years abd I never use starch.

I use the Stay-Flo starch in a 1 to 1 ratio. I bought a spray bottle of Niagra starch that was OK, but expensive. I kept the bottle to reuse for the Stay-Flo mixture, my reasoning was the Niagra spray bottle was designed for starch. It has not clogged once.

I starch heavy and I don't worry about bugs eating the starch since I don't store the starched fabrics. I figure by the time I'm done piecing a top, dragging it across the floor, running over the corners of it with my chair, general handling, and a Dachshund sitting on my lap while I pieced it, it needs a run through the washer after it is finished and quilted, so all the starch will come out in the wash. I don't make works of art so my system works for me. YMMV

I had always considered myself a good quilter, starching allowed me to be even better! and less of the issues that can happen with stretching of bias, puckering, etc. For me it assists in getting each part of the process more accurate, from cutting to quilting.
I am completely hooked onm starch, I consider it a staple like thread.

I use lots of starch as I piece and press and IMO it makes a huge difference.
I also wash my quilts after binding, never had a prob with hand quilting and starch.
When I hand quilt whole cloth quilts I do not starch.

Ok here is a dumb question for you. How do you starch your material, in a sink, bath tub or just spray. And where do you air dry. Doesn't it make a mess where ever you dry it. I'm assuming you can't wring the material or it will stretch.
Sorry for the dumb questions.

I used to starch but switched to sizing after reading somewhere that if you store fabric with starch you can atract silverfish I don't want to have to wash my scraps before I store them to keep the silver fish away...ick!

I make my own strach. I boil two cups of water add two tablespoons of cornstarch and one tablespoon of borax. The borax is a preservative that keeps the starch fresh for weeks. Had to experiemnt with the water to concentrate ratio but have it fine tuned now. I add 1 cup of water to one half cup of starch shake well and test it, adding more starch or water as needed. I keep a jar of the boiled starch in the fridge and it keeps a long time.

How does it affect flannel? I make a lot of flannel quilts and I've not used starch on them before. Does it gunk up the fabric because of the fuzz/nap?

Not dumb at all! I mix up my solution of Sta-Flo and water, "paint" it on yardage using a large wall painting brush until the fabric is saturated, toss into the dryer, then iron flat with steam. Quick, easy, and I can adjust the heaviness of the starch solution to the need.

I personally do not starch fabric for the top (unless it is flannel) as it's too much work plus I wouldn't want to keep heavily starched fabric in storage for years (which is how long it takes me to use up some of the fabric). I do starch if the pattern is one that leaves bias edges on the blocks, but that is rare because I usually don't use those patterns any more.

I heavily starch backing fabric (1:1 solution) because it keeps the backing from puckering when I machine quilt. I also heavily starch fabric that is going to be cut into binding strips -- especially bias binding strips, but I also starch straight grain strips -- as this keeps it from stretching and distorting on me.

I spray starch tops before assembling into the quilt sandwich, but then I usually use commercial spray starch. That is a much lighter starching than what I use for backing and binding.

I use a heavy (1:1) solution on flannel before piecing a top out of it. Works great. See my post above on how I apply the starch. I do wash and dry flannel twice before applying the starch, to make sure it has shrunk. The starch does not gunk up the fabric at all, but does make it unnaturally stiff (like thin cardboard). Makes accurate piecing of flannel very easy, although I still recommend 1/2" seams in case of fraying.

I have not made a rag flannel quilt, but I probably would not prewash the flannel or starch it for that kind of quilt.

I use a hybrid of Prism's method. She posted on starch when I first started and asked. The only fabric I prewash is flannel because it shrinks so bad. I'm not trying to start a war on wash vs. no wash, it's just the way I do it.

I use a 1:1 solution exactly as Prism suggests above. I either spray it on with a spray bottle if it's a small piece, or I paint it on with a paint brush and toss it in the dryer. Then I press, NOT IRON, with a steam iron. I don't stitch on a single piece that hasn't been heavily starched.

I find the starch has greatly improved my accuracy both with rotary cutting and my 1/4" seam. My points are great and I am making more complex patterns. I consider the StaFlo just as important as a seam ripper, iron, cutting mat and rotary cutter.

I hand quilt almost everything. I've practiced machine quilting a couple times. I have absolutely zero problems handquilting. I can SID, echo or freehand with no problems. I wash everything AFTER it's been quilted.

I sure hope this helps.

I starch just before using a fabric for a project. First I wash it by color groups with a little detergent that I will be using in the future (to be sure any bleeding is eliminated) then when it is still wet/damp, put it in a painters tub with Sta Flo 1 to 1 mixture. I let it soak while I wash the next color set then I gently/firmly squeeze out (never twist) what I can (if it is a really large group of fabric, I sometimes ask my DH to squeeze it for me (he has really big hands) then I put it in the dryer and dry it really good. Now I know I won't have any more shrinkage. When I press it, I just use water in a spray bottle. Everything works better for me with this process.

I don't pre-wash, and I starch my fabric to a consistency as close to cardboard as I can get :-D

I LOVE working with the fabric when it's like that.

My various longarmers sometimes complain because they have a hard time wrapping the tops on their machines because they are so stiff. :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

But I always, always wash the quilt when I get it back from the longarmer.

I use whatever heavy duty starch I can find on sale at the market - usually Niagra.

It's all about personal preference.

I've never found a decent starch over here, so I don't tend to use it. But I recently read about a water/vodka mixture I'm going to try!

If anyone ever has a problem with silver fish in Upstate NY please let me know a.s.a.p. I have a tendency to overbuy and hate the thought of washing all the leftover fabric and then having to restarch when I want to use it again. What a inconvenience!
PS I haven't seen a silver fish in fifty years since we had them in our nursing school room in Indiana! Am I dating myself, or what??

I use the vodka mixture also--doesn't make the fabric stiff but you can't beat it for getting out wrinkles! :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

I didn't starch until I got on this board. It has made so much difference in my piecing, I love it. It makes points better, it is easier to match seams, it keeps the fabric from stretching out of shape. Sharon Schambers says to starch your backing before sandwiching the quilt. With her method it makes it so easy. I do not starch until I start using the fabric. One of my big mistakes when I started starching was to put starch on a block and press, I pressed it out of shape every time. Finally caught on to what I was doing and my blocks turned out much nicer. So starch before making the block.