Starching fabric how and when
 

Do you starch your fabric with canned spray starch or do you mix your own? Do you starch the whole yardage? What parts water and starch? In the machine or pan? I would really appreciate your help. Thank you


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I use spray starch. Sometimes I starch the yardage, then again I starch as I press the blocks as I'm sewing them together. Than after all blocks are made I give them a quick spray and press again.

I use Best Press rather than starch (which I understand doesn't make fabric as stiff as starch). I hand press my yardage after washing and drying, fold and put away. When I begin a project, I spray whatever length of yardage I'm using with the Best Press before pressing and cutting, and I spray and press throughout the piecing process. This will sometimes result in sprayed yardage going back on the shelf (if I've pressed more than I use), which doesn't concern me with Best Press; but I would be concerned with having starched yardage sitting on the shelf, in case it should attract bugs.

I use best press also. I starch as I sew blocks and then again before quilting. Makes everything lay nice and flat and less strings!

Just FYI. Best Press IS starch. I know the label says "starch alternative" but that doesn't mean it's NOT starch - that term is a marketing technique meaning it's an alternative to the traditional grocery-store starches, such as Niagra and Sta-Flo.

If you look at the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheets) for Best Press, you will see it is listed as a starch. It is clarified, scented, and has an added surfactant to help it absorb into the fabric faster.

I have nothing against Best Press, I like it, I just want people to be aware of what they're actually purchasing.

I've found that I actually prefer the non-aerosol Niagra spray. It's cheaper and is available at the local grocery store, which is nice when I'm on a roll at 10 pm and run out. And my family, especially both of my teenage sons, love the scent. ;)

It depends on how I intend to use the fabric. I do not pre-wash most of my fabrics for quilts. There is enough stiffness in un-washed fabric for me to accurately cut and piece, so I do not starch that fabric. Depending on the block, I might spray starch the blocks as I go. I usually spray starch an entire top and press before sandwiching. For spray starch, I just use whatever canned starch I find at Walmart or the grocery store. One can lasts me a long time.

For machine applique, however, I like to heavily starch the background fabric yardage before cutting. The easiest way for me to do this is to mix a 1:1 solution of Sta-Flo liquid laundry starch and water. Sta-Flo is readily available to me at Walmart and the grocery store. After mixing the solution, I work on my kitchen island with the yardage. I use a large wall painting brush to saturate the yardage with starch, wait a few minutes to make sure the fibers have a chance to absorb as much starch as possible, then toss the yardage in the dryer. I iron with steam (or spray with water to dampen the fabric) to re-activate the starch. Only then do I cut my background blocks for applique, and I cut them an inch larger all around (and trim back after the applique). This form of starch stiffens the fabric enough so that I do not have to use a stabilizer under the background fabric when I machine applique. Spray starch would not provide enough stiffening power for that.

I also like to heavily starch backing fabric before sandwiching, using the same method in the above paragraph.

Best Press doesn't provide the amount of stiffening I like in a spray starch, so I don't use it. One caution about spray starch -- you need to give it some time to be absorbed by the fabric fibers before you press. Otherwise it stays on the surface and either flakes as you iron or burns if you leave the iron on the starch for too long. The good thing about burned starch is that it washes out later on; it looks as if the fabric is burned, but usually it's just the starch that burned.

I mix my own with stay-flo in a spray bottle and starch before I cut. If I am making a crumb block or string block, I will dip my blocks in starch water, dry, iron and square them up and trim perfectly.

I don't starch baby clothes, or baby quilts

I use good, ole fashion spray starch ( usually Niagra) I starch and iron my fabrics before cutting. Really helps with flannels. Starching before cutting really improves cutting accuracy.

I, too, use the Sta-flo liquid starch mixed at a 50/50 ratio into a spray bottle. I usually spray my yardage after pre-washing prior to use. I tend to also re-spray sub-cuts since I tend to sew in fits and starts. If I'm dealing with pieces or blocks with bias edges, I'll spray some more. Once I've finished quilting I wash my quilts so I'm not concerned with any leftover starch/scents.

I found 2 recipes that work well.

First one: Mix together 2 ½ cups of tap water and 1 ½ tbsp cornstarch in a saucepan (make sure there are no lumps).
Bring the mixture to a boil for 1 minute then cool to room temperature.
Fill a spray bottle. Store in the refrigerator.

When you bring it to a boil, the starch stays suspended and works perfectly: no shaking, no clogging, and nicely starched fabric!

Second one: Mix one part vodka to two parts water in a spray bottle (I use 1/3 cup vodka and 2/3 cup water).
Shake to combine.

The first recipe gives you a cloudy starch, the second one gives you a clear starch.

I use Terial Magic

I use spray starch - sometimes it is an aerosol and sometimes it is in a spray bottle. It depends on what I can find when I go to buy it. The fabric is washed when it comes into the house, so it gets ironed and starched when I am set to use the fabric. Otherwise it will have to be ironed again when I get ready to use it, and I do not like to iron when I don't have to.

I've used all the aforementioned methods, minus the vodka one. I reserve that for drinking when quilting isn't going right. Haha.

The two brands I've liked best are Faultless Premium spray starch , which I can find just about anywhere, and Niagara non-aerosol, which I haven't always been able to find easily.

I spray the back of the fabric. The fibers absorb the starch better. I then fold the fabric and sort of tap the starch into the fabric more. Then I set it aside and do the next piece the same way.

To make it easy, i only cut and starch the amount I need to work with, generally a quarter to half a yard. Starch them in the order I'm going to use them (roughly, if I know) so that by the time I've starched the last one, the first one is good and ready to be ironed. I then drape them over a quilt rack bar to keep them from re-wrinkling.

Thanks to all of you for your answers!

First, let me state, I do not starch, nor do I pre wash my fabric. I have not had any problems piecing righ off the bolt, so to speak. If there have been problems, they have been my carelessness, not because the fabric wasn't "stiff" enough. Btw...I have been doing this for a very long time....
But, my question....one poster stated, wash, starch, rebolt and store in totes....isn't starch a food source for tiny critters...that was my first thought to that statement...unless, maybe now starch is not made from natural ingredients, thus eliminating that possibility.....just wondered....

I use the premium spray starch from the grocery store--any brand. Pre washed fabric is folded and stored until use. Once fabrics are selected for use, I spray the backside of all of them with starch, let than sit for 5-10 minutes to absorb in, then iron all fabrics and fan fold them. Then they are all ready for the cutting board!

What is sizing that the manufacurers put on some fabrics made of?

I' ve had some plain water get Very cloudy/ murky from some "off-the-bolt" fabrics.

Prism99, thank you for describing your process in detail. Maybe a silly question, but what is the advantage of having a stiffer applique piece? Does it stay in place better?

Peckish, thanks for explaining about the Best Press actually being a type of starch.

When you do machine applique it's best to have a stiff background; otherwise you are likely to get tunneling (especially if doing satin stitch) or distortion.

Think about appliqueing around a shape. When you sew on the lengthwise grain, the background fabric stretches very little, if at all. However, when sewing in a circle you will also be sewing on the crosswise grain and on variations of the bias. Fabric is stretchiest on the bias, and you will be sewing on the true bias 4 times going around a shape. In-between sewing on the true bias, you will be sewing on degrees of partial bias as well as on the crosswise grain and lengthwise grain. If the background fabric is not stiff, it will tend to distort a lot on the bias.

One method of stabilizing the background fabric is to use a stabilizer underneath. I eliminate this step by heavily starching the background fabric before cutting.

The first time I did machine applique I discovered the need to stabilize the background fabric. I was doing a large applique, and distortion shows up even more on large applique pieces. I didn't understand why, when I got to the end of my applique, I had a huge tuck in the background fabric and the piece wouldn't lie flat. It's because the background fabric had stretched along the bias directions when I sewed.

I estimate how much fabric I'll need for the project plus a little more and starch it using a home made version of the Quilter's Moonshine recipe. I add extra liquid starch to my batch. I soak it in the sink, wring it out as best I can and then hang it over the sink to drip back into the pan. Once dry I'll spray with water to help release the wrinkles and press. I'm in the process of making a pressing station using a 2 ft x 4 ft board, batting and ticking fabric. Hopefully this will make it easier to press those larger pieces and quilts. I never wash my fabrics beforehand as when I dunk them into the starch I'll know if they're gong to bleed or not right then. I then try vinegar to stop the bleeding, blue Dawn dish soap and if that doesn't work then I'll bring out the bubble jet rinse to stop it.

I have recently (in the past 6 months or so) pieced two very large Log Cabin Quilts. On the first one, I starched (spray starch-Faultless). The second one (my avatar) I used no starch. Every piece of fabric in this quilt top has been pre-washed, and every piece of the shades of red have been treated for bleeding, after cutting a 6" long by 1/2" strip and putting it in a glass of hottest tap water. Without fail, every one of them did bleed. I had quite a bit of money invested in this quilt top, so I treated it with a dye setter product which definitely worked (I tested the fabric again after it was dryed and none of them continued to bleed). I did not find that the starch made piecing any easier to piece the blocks, and not starching takes a lot less time than starching. I did find, however, that the first Log Cabin Quilt I made using starch had to be washed before it was gifted. The size of the quilt required that I go to a laundromat with the very large front-loading machines and the cost is pretty high (but not as high as a repair on my machine at home if I used it). The quilt in my Avatar has remained quite clean, and I'm hopeful it won't need washing. The thing is, if it is helpful to you, then do what works for you. I've had problems with allergies to some detergents, resulting in rashes on my hands eventually leading to cracking open and bleeding (I use hand cream/lotion a LOT, but perhaps not enough). I cannot use Dawn DW liquid, and I don't get my hands into any laundry detergent. This problem may not plague you, so you have to do what works for you. We don't have any quilt police!

I didn't use to starch at all, but after taking a quilting class this summer the instructor suggested we try starching our fabric before cutting and piecing on one of our next projects to see if it made a difference. Although I was only constructing a small Warm Wishes for a baby blanket I thought I would give it a whirl. I used Best Press (because that's what I had on hand)...voila! It made a noticeable difference, especially in my piecing and joining the WOF strips.

Jeanette Franz- thanks for your practical experiment on starch vs. not......I test for bleeding the way you do too. Just a glass of hot water and a piece of suspected bleeder.......

Prism99. I don't machine applique using satin stitch much, so I may be way off, but you mentioned tunneling...could that be rectified by cutting out the background to a 1/4" seam after appliquing? When I do occasionally machine applique - not satin stitched however, I do trim that background fabric around from the backside...just to eliminate bulk and allow the appliquéd piece to lay flatter.......

This is what I do. I pre wash because of the odor from the fabrics from the store and the gross things I've seen people do in stores with fabric on the bolt. Just proves a point you don't know who touched the fabric or what with it.[QUOTE=Jeanne S;7672429]I use the premium spray starch from the grocery store

I too use the non-aerosol Niagra spray but I cut it 50/50 with water. I am not a pre washer so just before I cut, I spray and iron what I need.

I am not familiar with Best Press Where do you buy it?
Mariah

edited your quote (sorry about that) This is the way I do it. I'm lazy that way I guess......I figure that I'm only going to iron what I'll use.

After using starch, do you wash the finished quilt?

I order by the gallon from JoAnn on-line, usually waiting until a free shipping promo. They sell it in smaller size at the store, but it is cheaper by the gallon. I've noticed one of our LQS stock it in the smaller size, so you could check around in your area.

I like the stability that starching gives, so I starch and iron before cutting. I am using canned spray starch now, but I think I will try the recipe Chytayzie gave to see if I like it. Her recipe would be better for the environment.

Very seldom do I pre wash my fabric before cutting and sewing. And have found rarely do I press/iron my fabric before cutting. Unless of course its been in my remnant box lol.
When I do feel the need for it I prefer using Sizing much more than starch. Makes it lay flat and has a light body, not stiff like with starch

I use liquid store bought starch with equal parts starch and water in a sprayer. I spray the fabric I'm going to use and then roll it and put it in a plastic bag to let it rest and the starch to be absorbed into the fibers. I then press it. By doing this I don't have any flakes or residue on my iron or board.
I like to starch if I'm going to have bias edges or narrow strips. I find there is less distortion this way.

I want to say that 'critters' do love to eat starch, so I only starch what I will be using at that time.

I like to prewash fabric, that way you will know what to expect when you wash the whole quilt at one time.

Starching fabric before you cut it, helps to make a nice sharp cut. It also helps to make your stitches nice when you sew. Have you ever noticed that when you at a quilt store where they sell sewing machines, that they always give you a very stiff piece of fabric to test sew on? Why? Because all your stitches will look so much nicer. When your stitching lays flatter and your pieces fit together better, your quilt, as a whole, will look much better. Your points are on target, your blocks look more professional and everything just works better. This is just my humble opinion from years of experience. Of course, the disadvantage is that you need to wash the quilt afterwards because, as I said earlier, the critters love starch.

As for what kind of starch I use, I used to use the starch in a can, but it really messes up my iron. I now use the stuff in the bottle and dilute it to fit my needs.

@Marietta: I love your avatar about the Etch A Sketch. It had me laughing till tears came.

I use Best Press and spray starch. When I was younger I made my own a lot but with age I find it much easier to use what is ready made.

I wash and starch my fabric before I use it in a project -- don't like to store starched fabric too long because of critters. I like my fabric stiff because it helps keep the biases from stretching.

I use 1/3 vodka to 2/3 distilled water. I did like Best Press but even the unscented one triggers a migraine for me plus it's really expensive. I seem to get a similar result from vodka/water and it's cheaper and no headaches. Use whatever you like, my mother is a huge quilter and she's made several award-winning quilts with no starching at all and several winners with the el cheapo starch at the grocery store. Whatever you like.

Absolutely. I had to wash the starch out of my very first pieced-block quilt (a Log Cabin Quilt, made and presented to a United States Army Veteran injured in Afghanistan.

When I'm storing my fabric in totes, I also include a cotton ball with a few drops of lavender essential oil which I renew ever now and again when I'm in the tote looking for the next project. Been doing this for years and so far never had an insect problem. We live in the Delta which is full of bugs, so there is the potential.

I used to keep my material in a book case. I had problems of fading on the edges and dust collecting really bad.