I was wondering if any of you had a preferred brand of starch?

I like to use the non aerosol type to help with ironing to get out some of the wrinkles out after I have washed new fabric. I also use it when I am working with pattern pieces that have bias edges to keep them from stretching and also for some of the applique pieces so that they hold their shape while handling.

I have tried to find starch powder so that I can mix my own but after asking at a lot of different stores, I just can't find it. I do have a bottle of Mary Ellen's Best Press that I got from my LQS and it is one of the nicest I have used but since I use so much, the price is a little too high for me for the volume that I would need - I go through a lot. Right now I am trying Niagara and it seems to be ok.

What do you use?

Niagara non aerosol spray starch lavender scent $1.79 at Walmart or Meijer

I use Best Press too, as it's the only one I can get here, apart from a commercial aerosol spray for laundry. I think there was a thread here a while back that suggested trying corn starch for your own recipe. I think you could probably Google for quantities.

Mary Ellen's Best Press is wonderful!

Mary Ellen's is very nice, indeed. At first i thought i'd need to use a lot more of it to achieve the stiffness i like when i'm working with bias, but i was wrong. i'd use it all the time if i could afford it.

i had toyed with the idea of using the less expensive nonaerosols that are starting to show up on the grocery store shelves, but i'd still spend a fortune because i use so much.

sooooo, i get the least expensive liquid starch i can find and mix it with water. i use a 50/50 solution. i just pour a half-gallon bottle of starch into an empty gallon bottle and fill it with water. it's easier than trying to figure out where the 60/30 line is.

i get flakes sometime, but that's fine. they brush off. besides ... the fabric doesn't get any flakier than me, so it all works out. :lol:

You can make your own starch with cornstarch from the grocery store. Yep, the same stuff you use in the kitchen to thicken sauces or gravy. Just mix up and put in a spray bottle. The only downside is you have to store in frig (because you aren't putting any preservatives in it)and if I don't use up, I mix a new batch weekly.

But it is dirt cheap!!

I like Best Press, but it doesn't like me. Every time I use it I have trouble breathing and start coughing. That is the reason I bought it in the first place as it wasn't aerosal.

I does work, but I think I have to get a mask to put on when I use it.

OMG!!!! You have JUST solved the mystery why I've been coughing for the last 2 months!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DUH - I never thought to connect the two! I'll NOT use the sprays for a few days and see what happens!!! Thanks! (man, the things you learn on this forum!)

I buy the bottles of Niagra and mix them 50/50 too. If I want it really stiff, I still pull out the can of aerosol heavy spray starch. :D:D:D

Mary Ellens