....a man who launders AND dip starches AND irons his own shirts......oh my, that to me is a first.....Bless you and him!!!!! I have to say, i never dip starched anything in my whole life...but a vague memory of grandmother who did that to lace curtains, then put them on "stretcher" to dry stiff as a board!?!?!? I don't starch----dip or spray--- I will use sizing occasionally....but I don't prewash either!!!!!!i just cut and sew....love to iron!!!!!!! When DH had to wear dress shirts I did sprinkle, put in plastic bag in fridge overnite and spray starched and ironed EVERY Tuesday!!!!!! Then came wash n wear!!!!!!! Alleluia!!!!!!!!oh the memories........

When I got big enough I got to do the laundry. Since Mom worked I did the starching my way; in the bath tub. Anything that needed starching was tossed in the tub. I filled the tub up about 1/3 of the way. I would tumble it by hand so everything got covered. Thank goodness I don't have to do it anymore. I have the cans which are almost empty. Got the bottled starch and mixed 1/3 cup to a plastic dishpanful of hot water. Hand tumble and squeeze (not wring) excess out, then hung on the shower rod and towel rods in bathroom. Works for me. Don't do that often just on if I know there will be bias cutting and on t-shirt knits. I dislike having to starch anything, therefore don't do it often at all.

I also buy my starch in the jug and mix 50/50, then I put in a plastic bag for a minimum of 2 hours, then either air dry or put into the drier for a few minutes. I'm on a septic also, never had a problem.

Way back when - Mom had a Maytag wringer washer and clothes were line dried.

She used this huge bowl - it was the bread dough bowl that she mixed dough for eight loavrs of bread in at one time - used that powdered starch that came in a blue and white box - Argo? - added a bit of cold water to the starch and stirred it - it was cloudy looking - then added hot water to it so it got more translucent. Then added a rectangle of Satina to it and stirred it until it was blended and melted.

She dipped the whole item into the bowl and wrung the items out by hand. Then they were line dried. Then they were sprinkled and rolled up so things would get evenly damp and put into plastic bags. Ironing was the next day. Some stuff did get put in the freezer.

By the time she was done, there wasn' t much liquid left in the bowl. I think the leftover was dumped outside. The septic system at that place was poor - we found out how poor it was after Mom's house was demolished! Most of the used water was carried outside and dumped. That was back in the day when you could still pump out your own tanks and dump the water on the grass. This was on a farm.

And before some of you go Eeeeeewwww - probably no more disgusting than walking in a park where dogs urinate and defecate.

But to answer the originsl qustion - NO to the washing machine.

My mother would dip clothes in starch in the kitchen sink and put in fridge. Then spent all day ironing the next day. I think women must have invented ways to make drudge work back then. My kids would have worn soft wrinkled clothes and not so stiff they crackled clothes. I would have been the bad homemaker for sure. :D

I use a spray when I iron.

I starch my pieces in a dish pan. Just the other day I had a 6 yd. piece to starch and decided to chop it into smaller sections to fit their purpose. Cut into 6 sections and then hung them on skirt hangers to dry over the sink. I wring them out as best I can before hanging. Within a couple hours they're ready to be pressed. Since the starch is in a dish pan, I can return it to the gallon jug I use to mix it up when I need it. I also make up my own starch using the vodka recipe plus add additional liquid starch to make it even more stiff as I like.

Boy, does this thread bring back memories. When I was in nursing school in the early 1970s, we would starch our flattened nursing caps and then put them on the refrigerators to dry. I don't remember the proportions, but they were definitely stiff.

I developed my own method of starching fabrics for quilting. I buy Sta-Flo liquid laundry starch at Walmart (most grocery stores carry it too). In a small bowl, I mix up 1 part Sta-Flo to 1 part water. I lay my yardage on the kitchen island and use a large wall painting brush to brush the starch solution onto the fabric. I give it a couple of minutes to allow the fabric to absorb the diluted starch mixture, then toss in the dryer. The bowl and brush are easy to rinse off in the sink, and the kitchen island cleans up quickly with a sponge and water. Later I iron the fabric with steam; steam re-activates the starch. This is the fastest method I have found for starching yardage.

Edit: Because I have had carpal tunnel syndrome and also have some arthritis in my hands, I really don't like the idea of using a spray bottle repetitively. If I need to use spray starch, I use the canned variety from the store. It's pressurized, so I don't have to do a lot of squeezing.