Quilt Fan

Hello:
We found potato vodka. Mixed 8 to 1...... no difference in fabric body, mixed 4 to 1...... no difference in fabric body. Have not tried it undiluted. Has anyone used the grain vodka? What is wrong???

And is there a reason sizing is not good? Can it be made in batches rather than using spray can?

MamaHen

I use Best Press, Magic Sizing, Faultless Spray Starch, what ever I think I need at the moment. For me it is too much of a pain to try & make something when there are just as good if not better cheaper products on the market.

tessagin

I myself am leery about mixing alcohol and heat. I purchased the Best Press and just diluted it with distilled water, a little at a time. I did 4-1. 4 being water, 1 being BP. put in spray bottle works just fine. Try your own formula. You may want to go 50-50. 4 ozs. water to 1oz. BP. Your call.

Tartan

Theoretically the starch from the potatoes in the vodka are supposed to starch the fabric. I have not tried it so I don't know. I make up my own starch solution when I need it with corn starch. It works well but doesn't keep. The next time I go to the US, I want a big jug of the laundry starch.

Peckish

Hmmm. If you read the other thread currently active on the board about homemade Best Press, the info presented there states that the starch from the vodka does not stay in the liquid, it turns into alcohol. The yeast eats the starch and the by-product is alcohol. Also, if you're using the recipe posted in that thread, it's incorrect. It's missing starch. You can use a product like Sta-Flo, or cornstarch. There are several recipes on the web, here's a couple published by a couple of nationally known quilters.

http://dianegaudynski.blogspot.com/2010/02/starch.html - a corn starch recipe.

http://www.marklipinski.com/Tulip%20Tips/TTcontent.html - a liquid starch recipe. Scroll down to tip #1. He also has a "lavender linen water" recipe as tip #3, it is the same as the recipe the OP tried to use as starch.

I believe that the vodka acts as a preservative to stabilize the starch so it doesn't go bad.

I'm with the earlier poster - I've got better things to do with my time, the cost of starch is relatively low in comparison to the hassle of actually making and storing a homemade version.

Onebyone

Me too! If a bottle of spray or starch breaks the budget I have more to worry about then making my own.

Prism99

There are two basic differences between starch and sizing. (1) Starch is made from organic products -- potatoes, rice, corn, etc. Sizing is made from chemicals. (2) Starch can be made strong enough to make the fabric very stiff, whereas sizing has limited stiffening properties. This is why sizing is often used for ironing cuffs and collars -- gives a crispness without making the fabric so stiff it is uncomfortable to wear.

Personally, for quilting, I prefer starch because it can stabilize the fabric much more than sizing can. I do not like spraying fabric as I iron -- too much work for this lazy quilter. Plus, I have the beginnings of osteoarthritis in the joints of my hands (and remediated carpal tunnel syndrome); in my opinion, repeated spraying puts unnecessary stress on my hands and wrists. I think it even could result in a repetitive stress injury. This is why I limit using spray starch to preparing the top before quilting. It is also one of the reasons I do not prewash my fabrics unless necessary; the manufacturer's sizing in the fabric eliminates the need to starch the fabric. For backings, I heavily starch the fabric before sewing into a backing. For this I use a 1:1 solution of Sta-Flo liquid laundry starch and water, "paint" the solution onto the yardage with a large inexpensive wall painting brush until the fabric is saturated, wait a couple of minutes to make sure the fibers have absorbed the starch, toss in the dryer, and iron with steam.

Edit: If I wanted to make my own spray starch solution, I would simply use Sta-Flo and dilute with considerably more water. Sta-Flo contains preservatives, so the mixture should not spoil. The only thing about spraying with this (as with all spray starches) is that after spraying you need to wait a minute or so to allow the fabric fibers to absorb the starch. This is *especially* true if you are using unwashed fabric, as then the manufacturer's sizing will slow down the ability of water to penetrate the fibers. This is one of the disadvantages of using spray starch at the ironing board, in my opinion. I don't like to wait, so typically I will try to spray starch the entire area first. Starch reactivates with water so, even if it dries, a steam iron will reactivate any dried spray starch on the fabric.

Years ago I made spray starch from cornstarch (the powdered kind you use in cooking) and water. That has no preservatives in it and therefore will not keep indefinitely. I could keep it at most two weeks if I kept the spray bottle in the refrigerator; a week if left out on the ironing board. In both cases, mold would develop because of the absence of preservative.

Edit2: I do wonder if homemade Sta-Flo spray starch might clog the nozzle of a sprayer. Maybe it doesn't if made weak enough?

TeresaA

Vodka is ethanol and water, which is distilled. The end product is essentially captured as it evaporates and re-condensed into liquid. The original starch may or may not be completely consumed, but it will not exist in the end product.

If you want inexpensive starch, go buy some Niagara or Magic Sizing, about $2-3 at the grocery store. They work great and are probably less expensive than Vodka (which serves no purpose other than maybe to keep the lavender oil in suspension). Also, the alcohol itself will evaporate over time, leaving water and lavender oil.

Scissor Queen

What's wrong is alcohol is not starch. The process of fermentation changes starches to alcohol.

ManiacQuilter2

I agree. I really like Magic Sizing but my local Walmart doesn't carry it. The super store does and also carries Niagara in a non aerosol spray bottle. So when I am at the super Walmart, I always stock up with as much as I can carry. I have the worst luck with the spray can of Niagara. Always seem to not spray evenly.