Starching Again
 

I’ve recently started starching my fabric before beginning a new project. It’s just wonderful! I put the yardage in half Sta-Flo, half water, wring it out, let dry, and iron. I love the ease it brings to my quilting!

I’d rather not use spray starch because I feel immersing the fabric gives it better coverage. However, I wring out the excess starch before drying and this makes the fabric very wrinkled - so much so that I can’t iron it out.

is there a better way? TY

I don’t know. Dunking the fabric in a starch solution sounds like a lot of starch. I used to make up a starch with boiling water and cornstarch. 2 cups water to 1 teaspoon cornstarch? It had a few different options. Light, medium and heavy starch. I used this technique for years. Now I’m happy to just iron with a little steam. Always have used the Rowenta iron. I do have a water spritzer bottle I used. It’s the one the hairdressers use.

I also do full immersion of my fabric to starch. I put it in the washing machine spin cycle (no water) to remove excess liquid, then hang the fabric and press while still slightly damp. If I can't press it before it fully dries, I slightly mist with water before pressing.

I use spray starch and spray the fabric wet. I have a full bath in my sewing room and never use the shower so that is where I spray it and let it dry on a laundry rack in the shower. It never gets too wrinkly. It's getting hard to find real spray starch, it's all fabric spray now.

I use to use spray sizing. Got tired of the gunky iron. I never use starch just spray with a spray bottle, iron removes any and all wrinkles.

When I want a heavy starch I do like indycat: immerse, then use the spin cycle of the washing machine to remove excess.

i also like to starch my fabric before starting a project or cutting. When my fabric gets wrinkly from starch, I just steam iron it. It's usually a big enough piece that I don't mind steaming it before cutting. Sometimes it will remove all the wrinkles, sometimes a lot of them.

When I'm ready to iron my fabric after starching, I simply use a spray bottle of water and spray, works great, if a wrinkle won't come out, simply spray again, at least this is what works for me.

I spray starch most of my fabrics and put it on a drying rack until it is completely dry (usually takes over night) and then iron it. It works best this way for me.

I hang the piece on a large hanger or over a shower curtain rod. Spray the fabric until damp with the sta flo. Let it dry, you can put in a dryer but I just do something else. Then iron after it’s s dry.

I mix the liquid starch and water in a spray bottle and use that to make my fabric pretty wet and then iron it. I love working with the "stiff" fabric. I challenge you to stretch a bias edge when you do it this way!

I find spray starch flakes when I press the fabrics so went to using the vodka recipe but didn't find that to be as stiff as I'd like so add Sta-Flo to it. I make it by the gallon and keep the leftover in my fridge downstairs. I also picked up an old wringer washer top, the wringer section. Made a stand for it so it could sit between the 2 sink tubs, then installed a rod above to hang the fabrics on hangers over the sink to drip dry until I'm ready to press them. At times I'm starching anywhere between 1yd to 5yd pieces so the wringer saves my hands. Its not a pretty setup but its functional.

Welcome, Susan.

My first thought was like what Snooze2978 is doing with an old wringer washer, but it will have some wrinkles, too. Are you drying it over a rod/drying rack, clothesline or dryer? I have heard that even with a dryer one should shake out the clothes before putting them in.

I think that it would help to iron while it is slightly damp, before it has dried completely. When I was a kid, we would sprinkle the dried clothes with water and roll them up and put in a plastic bag overnight (do not leave any longer as they will get nasty). That would make them uniformly damp and easier to iron the next day. Have you used steam while ironing? I know that many have said that they never put water in their steam irons as the irons eventually have a tendency to spit. The suggestion then was to spray water with a fine mister. I have a mister that I got from a beauty supply store that has a really fine spray. I use that instead of steam and seems to work quite well.

Hopefully you will find a solution that will work for you.

Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.