Starching Fabric--in Sink or Washing Machine??
 

How do you starch your fabric in a sink or do you use your washing machine? I'm on a septic tank, will starch be bad for that? Thanks, for any info.

Actually, I buy the starch by the half gallon jug and mix my own 50/50....then put into a spray bottle....way cheaper than buying canned sprays....I would really like to do it in a sink, but the process is something I don't remember from my childhood and nobody seems to know what I am talking about.....I am sure I remember something about put the clothes into a plastic bag in the frig, but other than that I am clueless....so I will be watching this thread.

it was not easy to find as most articles are about spray starching. but here is a link on how to starch shirts in a sink: http://laundry.about.com/od/howtoiro...ts-At-Home.htm ... scroll down to Get Ready to Dip

Starching, and then putting in the frig - my mother used to do this. But, she hated to iron so much, that she would get to the "putting in the frig" part and leave everything til it mildewed and then threw it out. Luckily for us, she didn't do that to too many clothes since we weren't wealthy. I know things were sort of saturated with the starch mixture and I think she did it in the sink in the cellar near the washing machine. When I got old enough I took over the ironing and no more mildew. I still like to iron.

If I want it really stiff I mix Sta-Flo about 60/40 in a bucket or the sink, dip, squeeze out, dry, then press with steam.

I just buy the 1/2 gallon of starch at the grocery store. I mix it up 50/50 (starch and water) and put it in a spray bottle from the dollar store (or the container that I bought 4 years ago before I figured out I could mix my own much cheaper) and spray it on the small pieces after sewn or larger fabric piece before I cut it and iron it. I usually put the fabric in a plastic bag and let it sit awhile when I am cutting fabric, then iron the starched fabric sometimes with steam and sometime not. It works for me.

Compared to what everything else cost in my quilt room, I find the cans (or now they come also in squirt bottles) of spray starch exceedingly reasonable. I use about three a year.
I only starch what I'm going to cut, when I'm ready to cut it.

Starch is one of my four must haves for tools.
Here, cans run from $2.00 on sale to $3.50 each.

I don't think starch will hurt septic systems, it is generally speaking only cornstarch and water, although I don't know about commercial additives.

We are also on a septic system. My husband has been dip starching his shirts (and some of my yardage :)) for almost 40 years without ill effects. This is how he does it: mixes a 50/50 solution of StaFlo and water. He launders the item as normal, takes it out of the washer wet, immerses it in the starch mixture, wrings it out & throws it in the dryer till it's damp then irons. If it gets too dry, he spritzes it with water as he irons. When we were first married & he said he wanted me to starch & iron his shirts as I never did it to his satisfaction, he took over. Works for me.
I'm a pre washer, but I don't dip starch all my yardage, just if the pattern has a lot of bias edges, or I'm making a really large top that will be tugged around as I stitch. Otherwise I just use the 50/50 mixture in a spray bottle & lightly spritz.
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I remember my mother starching clothes. After she put the starch on the clothes, she would put them into a plastic bag and put them into the frig. I think she kept there over night.

Starch hasn't hurt my septic yet. Usually though, I mix a60 water 0 starch soln. Just spray on fabric, leave to "soak" then iron....if I am cutting bias, then I dip in sink or bucket, 50/50 soln. dry, then steam iron.

....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.

Prior to steam irons, permanent press fabrics and/or clothes dryers it was common practice to take the ironing off of the clothes line damp to make it easier to iron. Others sprinkled their clothes and rolled them up before ironing. If all of the sprinkled clothes were not finished putting the sprinkled clothes in a bag in the refrigerator kept them from "going sour" or getting mildew.

Some of my very early childhood memories are of my Grandma filling a bowl with warm water then dipping her hand in the water and flinging the water on the clothes before rolling them up for the ironing basket. In hot weather the basket went to the root cellar at night if she was not finished with the ironing. In the winter time it was put on the back (unheated) porch.

When I was old enough to babysit for neighbors I earned extra spending money by adding ironing services to my babysitting. Besides being paid all of $.50 per hour for sitting I made $.25 to $.50 per piece for the ironing I did.

When the laundry was done with the wringer washing machine whites were washed first. There were two tubs for rinsing the clothes. After the 2nd rinse anything that needed to be starched went into a basket. Then the washer was drained. The rinse water was used to fill washer and clean water went into rinse tubs. Starch and bluing was added to the second rinse water. Then the clothes went back into the water for the starch.

I use a dip method , using a large container with a tight seal I use a 50/50 mix of stay flo concentrate to water , then put my fabric in and shake until its all saturated. Then I dry on a clothes drying rack. Any left over mixture goes into a spray bottle with additional water for touch ups or small pieces.

My washer has a starch cycle, which I use for fabric which will be cut on grain. If I will be cutting on bias, I prepare a 50/50 mix of Sta-Flo and soak for several minutes, then hang until barely damp, and iron dry.

I mix the starch according to the bottle's direction - usually medium and put it in a small plastic dish pan if it is only one piece of fabric and then in a larger one. This is after the fabric has been washed and dried. After it is starched I put the piece in the dryer briefly until it is damp dry - about 8 minutes. They I take it out and iron it. Hope this helps.

Thanks Bearisgray for the answer about the washing machine, won't be doing it that way, mine don't have a starch cycle.
Lass, I think I'll try your way, sounds easy.
I enjoyed all the stories, brought back memories. How times have changed.

Just started with this process myself. I bought liquid Sta-Flo, mixed it 50-50 with water, and put it in a small spray bottle. I wet the fabric and then spin in the washer so it's not too wet. Take the moistened fabric, spray with the premixed starch(I spray over the kitchen sink or the tub...they are easy to clean if you get overspray), fold or roll the starched fabric, put it in a plastic bag for a bit, then go iron. It helps to put a bath towel over the ironing board first. When the towel gets too packed down, throw it in the laundry and wash all that starch out...keeps your ironing board from collecting all that starch. The bugs in my septic haven't complained yet, but they aren't getting much starch by doing it this way.

Have never used the washing machine for starching, so that one I know nothing about. Have used the sink for starching (used to work for a restaurant and our bows had to be STIFFLY starched each day), I used full out of the bottle for stiff as a board. You will have to work on how stiff you want your fabric (so mix your starch with that in mind), your fabric needs to be washed then dried (you might press lightly to get the big wrinkles out). Then lay your fabric into the starch (so that every inch is wet), take off ALL excess starch and hang dry (I always did this over the bath tub). When fabric was dry, you might touch up your fabric with an iron. Good luck

MOST of all you don't want to use a lot (if any), steam

Bearisgray has a good method.
No, the starch will not hurt your septic tank. It is a natural substance.
When I was young I had to hank the clothes on the line. I put a big lump of Argo starch into the enamel wash basin (held about 5 or 6 quarts), added a little cold water to soften, and then boiling water to fill the bowl about half full. Then it went outside under the wash line. Dad's shirts went in first, then our dresses and a few other things, and last was Mom's aprons. It was very difficult to wring out the shirts because they were so hot. They were then hung on the line.
When they were dry, they were brought into the house, sprinkled with water, rolled up and put into a bushel basket that had an oil cloth liner. The next day, they were ironed.
I do remember that Dad's shirts were the stiffest, and Mom's aprons were not very stiff at all. So saving the left over starch doesn't seem like a good idea. I dumped it onto the grass in the summer time. In the winter, the clothes were hung on lines in the basement, or draped over newspaper covered radiators. (I used to love to sit on those radiators to get warm. LOL)

Starch was purchased in a box, it was not powder, it was more like granules, you mixed it to a paste and then to a very smooth cream by blending in very warm water with a slotted spoon. Next you kept stirring and adding in boiling water from the kettle until it was almost as thin as plain water. We had the latest bluing it was packaged like a Hershey bar! you carefully break off a little marked off square and it goes into the pan with the starch and you keep stirring until the bluing is all melted. Then after the clothes are washed and rinsed and put through the ringer you starch the things that need starch by dipping the garment or just the collar and cuffs in a basin that is full of half water and half the starch you just cooked, then those clothes go through the ringer again and then are hung out to dry on the clothes lines. The remaining starch solution can be saved in an old glass mayonaise jar in the refrigerator. When the clothes on the line are dry you bring them in and hang or fold except for the ones that need Ironing. T-shirts did not need sprinkling first just pressing, everything else was sprinkled with the water in a clean old ketchup bottle with a metal and cork sprinkler top. After a half hour, they are ready to iron!

I love these stories as it brings back memories from Grandma's as well as growing up on a farm, although Mom didn't starch much.

I prewash and dry. I use the 1:1 water:starch method in a spray bottle...spray the fabric so that it soaks in, let it dry and iron with a dry iron. Spritz it with water if you need to work any wrinkles out. I like to put a FQ on top of my ironing board. It absorbs some of the overspray and excess starch. after a while it is nicely starched as well. Put away and replace with another FQ.

I remember my grandma (in the 50's) sprinkling my grandpa's shirts after they came out of the refrigerator. She had a coke bottle filled with water. It had the strangest looking rubber cap on it. It looked like a shower head. I also remember swearing to my self that I would NEVER iron anything like that in my life and I haven't :D

Oh gosh! When I was a kid, my mother would take a solid cube of starch and put it in a large pot and heat the water to make it melt. Then when the clothes came out of the washing machine, she dunk them in the pot and wring the out. I'd help hang them on the line outdoors, or down in the basement if it was winter. We let them dry. Then it was my job to dampen them with water and we just put them on a table. By time I got them all dampened, the first ones would be ready for me to iron. I'm not fond of starch!

I used to love the smell of Satina.

My mother used to dip and wring clothes in the starch solution and then put in a plastic bag in fridge and iron the next day. Or, if she wanted to, she would spritz dry fabric or clothes with the starch solution and then put in a plastic bag until the moisture had spread through all the fabric.

I see no reason to starch fabric at all and I don't. I like the flexibility of the soft fabric for meeting corners, etc.

Whether I use ready mix like Niagara or concentrate like Sta-Flo I still spray my material. I use a plastic dish pan. I put the fabric in the dishpan and spray one side. I flip it over and spray the other side. I then roll the fabric and place in a plastic bag for it to mellow for 10-15 minutes and the fabric fibers to absorb the starch. I then press with a dry iron. If I need the fabric stiffer then I repeat the process. The dishpan keeps the surrounding area clean and what residue that is left in the dishpan will dry and flake off. I mix concentrate 50/50 in a spray bottle.

I am going to try this. With my current method mentioned above, I hang the fabric over the tub and with limited space, it seems that your method might be a real time saver. It would enable me to spray and bag multiple fabrics without running out of space to hang it. Even if I decide to keep dip starching, I could be bagging it up to hang later. Just hadn't occurred to me. Thanks for the tip! :)