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Starching or Sizing??? any suggestions??

Starching or Sizing??? any suggestions??

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Old 12-14-2010, 09:26 AM
  #41  
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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
I wasn't keen on the Best Press either. It just didn't seem to do the job. I will continue to use sizing.
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Old 12-14-2010, 09:30 AM
  #42  
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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
are you actually using cornstarch like we cook with or the old timey starch that my mother and i used to use?
Cornstarch for cooking.
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Old 12-14-2010, 01:13 PM
  #43  
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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.
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Old 12-14-2010, 05:41 PM
  #44  
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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
What memories! I'm in the process of writing a series of articles about my earliest days of quilting, when I was about 6. I remember mixing the cornstarch and dipping my finger in the mixture and rubbing the seams and edges of the Sunbonnet Sue before pressing. I hated that I had to wait until after supper before we could do that, but it was summer time, and there was no fire in the stove to heat the irons. Ironing could only be done after breakfast, or after the supper dishes were done. My mother had an electric iron and used liquid starch - But Granny, Ah, yes, corn starch and irons on the wood stove.
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Old 12-14-2010, 06:48 PM
  #45  
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Does Best Press come with no scent? or is it all scented?
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Old 12-14-2010, 06:56 PM
  #46  
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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
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Old 12-14-2010, 07:06 PM
  #47  
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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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Old 12-14-2010, 07:10 PM
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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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Old 12-14-2010, 07:25 PM
  #49  
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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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Old 12-14-2010, 08:25 PM
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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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