Starching Again
02-19-2021, 08:21 PM
#11
Super Member
Join Date: May 2017
Location: Sunny Florida
Posts: 4,424
I hang the piece on a large hanger or over a shower curtain rod. Spray the fabric until damp with the sta flo. Let it dry, you can put in a dryer but I just do something else. Then iron after it’s s dry.
Last edited by Rhonda K; 02-19-2021 at 08:23 PM.
02-20-2021, 03:34 AM
#12
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: South East, PA
Posts: 342
I mix the liquid starch and water in a spray bottle and use that to make my fabric pretty wet and then iron it. I love working with the "stiff" fabric. I challenge you to stretch a bias edge when you do it this way!
02-20-2021, 07:25 AM
#13
Super Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Carroll, Iowa
Posts: 3,416
I find spray starch flakes when I press the fabrics so went to using the vodka recipe but didn't find that to be as stiff as I'd like so add Sta-Flo to it. I make it by the gallon and keep the leftover in my fridge downstairs. I also picked up an old wringer washer top, the wringer section. Made a stand for it so it could sit between the 2 sink tubs, then installed a rod above to hang the fabrics on hangers over the sink to drip dry until I'm ready to press them. At times I'm starching anywhere between 1yd to 5yd pieces so the wringer saves my hands. Its not a pretty setup but its functional.
02-20-2021, 08:03 AM
#14
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 4,285
My first thought was like what Snooze2978 is doing with an old wringer washer, but it will have some wrinkles, too. Are you drying it over a rod/drying rack, clothesline or dryer? I have heard that even with a dryer one should shake out the clothes before putting them in.
I think that it would help to iron while it is slightly damp, before it has dried completely. When I was a kid, we would sprinkle the dried clothes with water and roll them up and put in a plastic bag overnight (do not leave any longer as they will get nasty). That would make them uniformly damp and easier to iron the next day. Have you used steam while ironing? I know that many have said that they never put water in their steam irons as the irons eventually have a tendency to spit. The suggestion then was to spray water with a fine mister. I have a mister that I got from a beauty supply store that has a really fine spray. I use that instead of steam and seems to work quite well.
Hopefully you will find a solution that will work for you.
Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.
Last edited by OurWorkbench; 02-20-2021 at 08:05 AM.
