bearisgray

I learned all the above "the hard way" -

jmoore

This has been an interesting thread...I guess I have not been letting the starch soak in long enough.

citruscountyquilter

I spray my fabric with a 50/50 solution of starch/water. I use a plastic dishpan to keep the overspray in check. I bought a spray bottle at Sally's Hair Supply that has a fine mist. Once I have sprayed both sides I roll it up and put it in a plastic bag to mellow, much like we did back in the day when we sprinkled clothes to iron. I go do something else and when the starch has had a good time to absorb I then press the fabric. No flakes or gunk left on the iron this way.

misseva

I spray one side and iron on the other.

Rose_P

Several people have mentioned the problem of starch on irons, and this is sort of aside from the main point of this thread, but I wanted to share that at least part of the problem is with the iron. I got a new Rowenta a few weeks ago because my old Singer iron had started to sputter rust. I never, ever had a problem with starch coating the Singer, but in less than 2 months, with the exact same style of use and brand of starch, the Rowenta is the one on the right! Both irons have stainless steel, and they were in a similar price range. I never had to clean the Singer. I like Rowenta fine so far, but I'm not happy about having to clean it all the time.