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Originally Posted by EasyPeezy
By the way, I finally tried Mary Ellen's Best Press. I wasn't too impressed.
It's ok for small jobs. I think I'll keep using my cornstarch mixture. :-D |
Originally Posted by misseva
Originally Posted by EasyPeezy
I make my own starch. In a large bowl or pot, stir 1/2 cup cornstarch into
1 cup of cold water. Stir in boiling water (2 quarts for heavy solution; 4 quarts for medium and 6 quarts for light solution). If you only need a small amount then half or quarter above quantities. Sometimes I add a bit more water for the heavy solution as it gets a bit too thick. You can try and adjust as you wish. When the cornstarch solution is cool, I use a paintbrush to apply it on my fabric (stir the solution often or shake if it's in a spray bottle). Let is soak for at least 30 mins. If I don't have time to iron I just put everything in a ziploc and put it in the fridge for the next day. If it's too wet I roll the fabric in a towel first and iron on the wrong side with a cloth on top so that the starch doesn't stick to my iron. When the heat has absorbed most of the humidity then I continue to iron without the cloth. Hope this helps. By the way, I finally tried Mary Ellen's Best Press. I wasn't too impressed. It's ok for small jobs. I think I'll keep using my cornstarch mixture. :-D |
I have learned at our guild to use Sizing. Starch has a protein-base, and moths, ect, are attracted to it. Sizing is not filled with those properties. I have never had any problem with moths finding my quited items.
Good luck! Mariah. |
Originally Posted by EasyPeezy
I make my own starch. In a large bowl or pot, stir 1/2 cup cornstarch into
1 cup of cold water. Stir in boiling water (2 quarts for heavy solution; 4 quarts for medium and 6 quarts for light solution). If you only need a small amount then half or quarter above quantities. Sometimes I add a bit more water for the heavy solution as it gets a bit too thick. You can try and adjust as you wish. When the cornstarch solution is cool, I use a paintbrush to apply it on my fabric (stir the solution often or shake if it's in a spray bottle). Let is soak for at least 30 mins. If I don't have time to iron I just put everything in a ziploc and put it in the fridge for the next day. If it's too wet I roll the fabric in a towel first and iron on the wrong side with a cloth on top so that the starch doesn't stick to my iron. When the heat has absorbed most of the humidity then I continue to iron without the cloth. Hope this helps. By the way, I finally tried Mary Ellen's Best Press. I wasn't too impressed. It's ok for small jobs. I think I'll keep using my cornstarch mixture. :-D |
Does Best Press come with no scent? or is it all scented?
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I wouldn't trust the Internet source of the information that said silverfish require high humidity.
I grew up in the desert where the humidity is rarely higher than 30 percent and is frequently lower and my mother was in a constant battle with silverfish. froggyintexas |
Leah Day at Daystylesdesign.com has a great video on her website about starching and since I've seen it I haven't had any problems when I starch my fabric. Very detailed info. I was doing it all wrong before. Here's a link to the video: http://www.daystyledesigns.com/starchfabric.htm
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I make my own starch. I used a recipe I found here on the QB. I use stay-flow, water and fabreeze. I adjust the amount of starch depending on how stiff I want the fabric... usually 1/2 starch to all the liquid.
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I have used sizing for years without any problems. I like it much better than starch. I was sandwiching a quilt today using basting spray today and noticed one area just was not sticking at all. I tried it again with the same result...then noticed I was using sizing instead of basting spray!
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The trick that works for me is to WAIT a minute or so for the starch or siing to soak in before ironing. It doesn't seem to gunk up as bad, and clean your iron with salt on a dry washcloth every so often
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