Would starch help?
 

I am working on a quilt with lots of half square triangles. The background fabric is one that I hand dyed years ago; I think it was a white sheet before I dyed it a mottled light blue. The problem is that some of the triangles of background fabric simply will not iron smooth and stay that way. They iron smooth then go back to very wrinkled within a few hours. Full disclosure: I live in Atlanta, and our summer humidity is awful!

Would starch help? If so, do I spray it on the dry fabric or damp? Or do I need to do something with liquid starch? (I know nothing about starch...) Any information or advice that you can give will be most appreciated! Thanks! :)

I would wet your fabric . Mix some liquid starch 50/50 with water and soak your fabric in that . Wring it out and line dry. Then iron with steam. Should work. You could also put it in the dryer.

Starch should help. If this were uncut fabric, I would suggest a different method but, since it is a quilt top already pieced, spray starch is what you should use. Spray the fabric, wait for the fabric fibers to absorb the starch (at least one minute but may take longer), then iron. You can allow the starch to dry if you are able to iron with steam; the steam will re-activate the starch. You may have to starch and iron several times to get it to stay smooth. If your humidity is extremely high, you may have to re-iron occasionally just because the humidity will soften the starch; however, as long as the starch remains in the fabric, ironing with steam will re-set it.

If you are planning on basting this quilt (as opposed to quilting with a longarm, in which case basting is not needed), I would recommend getting cotton or wool batting (not polyester) and using 505 spray to baste. This will help ensure that the top will stay flat until you are finished quilting, and will also help to make sure that the top adheres to the batting even though the top is starched.

Edit: The above assumes that your fabric has already been pieced and/or cut into pieces. If you are dealing with fabric before it is cut, I would recommend something different for the starching process.

Some fabric simply has bad manners.

Starch might be a temporary fix -until the item is washed the next time.

I think of starch as temporary scaffolding for fabric.

I've had really good luck lately with spraying the starch, waiting a minute for it to soak in, then spraying water on top of the starch, then pressing. I tend to starch the living snot out of misbehaving fabric. I use non-aerosol Niagra - my kids love the scent.

I agree with Peckish, and I use powder starches to mix with water to my liking, much cheaper than buying aerosol starches. Unwashed fabric takes a little longer to absorb before ironing, and sometimes I spray starch a couple of times for more stiffness. It makes cleaner cutting and does help with sewing on the bias.

I, too, agree with Peckish. However, I use the liquid Sta-Flo starch mixed 50/50. For really badly behaving fabric, you could simply 'paint' the fabric with full strength liquid starch, then press. That should beat it into submission.

You can also try white vinegar and water. There's lots of info on Google about this, here is one:
http://blog.megannielsen.com/2012/08...-with-vinegar/

I also starch my triangles when I press them because I oversize. Yes, I have found that starch can be your friend. I agree with Peggy. Good Luck!!

Thanks for all of the replies! My two grandsons just arrived so it will be several weeks before I can get back to the project, but hopefully I can get it beaten/starched into some kind of submission then....