How do you starch fabric?
#1
How do you starch fabric?
I need some advice on how to starch fabric to stabilize it for cutting etc. Do you spray the fabric and then iron it while wet or spray it and let it dry and then iron it? How do you prevent it from flaking or making a mess of your iron and ironing board? Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated.
#3
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Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: The middle of an IL cornfield
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I, too, spray it until it's pretty damp and then iron. I try to wait a couple of minutes first, but I'm not a patient girl, so it seldom happens. Flakes mean nothing to me because the quilts are always washed and it always comes out.
#4
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Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Alturas, CA
Posts: 9,393
Any fabric I'm going to work with, I spray starch heavily on the right side of the fabric, put the fabric/s in a plastic bag, and let it sit for a minimum of 2 hours, then I either let it air dry or stick in the dryer for a few minutes, then iron on the wrong side of the fabric. If you do it this way, you very, very rarely will get flaking and your iron won't get all gunky, and consequently, neither will your ironing board. The reason your iron gets all gunky is that the starch hasn't "gotten" into the fabric fibers and you're really only ironing the starch and not the fabric. I also use the concentrated spray starch and mix it 50/50 in a spray bottle, it goes a lot further than the canned starch.
#5
Any fabric I'm going to work with, I spray starch heavily on the right side of the fabric, put the fabric/s in a plastic bag, and let it sit for a minimum of 2 hours, then I either let it air dry or stick in the dryer for a few minutes, then iron on the wrong side of the fabric. If you do it this way, you very, very rarely will get flaking and your iron won't get all gunky, and consequently, neither will your ironing board. The reason your iron gets all gunky is that the starch hasn't "gotten" into the fabric fibers and you're really only ironing the starch and not the fabric. I also use the concentrated spray starch and mix it 50/50 in a spray bottle, it goes a lot further than the canned starch.
I, too, mix my spray starch 50/50 for my quilting fabrics to prepare for cutting. When I finish a block and do the final pressing on it before assembling my quilt I use a light mist of Best Press mixed 50/50 with water
Last edited by eparys; 03-02-2014 at 07:17 AM. Reason: typo
#9
Super Member
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Pacific NW
Posts: 9,559
Best Press is a clarified starch product that contains a surfactant that allows the liquid to soak into the fabric faster. You might find that it's worth the extra cost to you.
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04-02-2011 02:02 AM