make your own Heavy Starch
#53
Super Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Just north of Cajun country
Posts: 1,011
If you don't have time to iron all your fabric you can put it in a ziploc bag
and put it in the fridge for a day or two or in the freezer for long period.
I've never used the freezer myself but that's what Anita Grossman said in
her article about starch. I like to put my starched fabric overnight in the
fridge regardless of time. It helps distribute the starch more evenly.[/quote]
This is what we did in the OLD DAYS when everything was ironed. If you didn't want to startch then you just sprinkled with water, rolled clothes up and placed in frig. Worked really well. But now days I iron very few things. Much easier and better IMO.
and put it in the fridge for a day or two or in the freezer for long period.
I've never used the freezer myself but that's what Anita Grossman said in
her article about starch. I like to put my starched fabric overnight in the
fridge regardless of time. It helps distribute the starch more evenly.[/quote]
This is what we did in the OLD DAYS when everything was ironed. If you didn't want to startch then you just sprinkled with water, rolled clothes up and placed in frig. Worked really well. But now days I iron very few things. Much easier and better IMO.
#54
Super Member
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Central Willamette Valley, Oregon, USA
Posts: 7,695
Originally Posted by jaciqltznok
Originally Posted by clem55
My mom always made laundry starch that way, and while I am not positive, I think she used to add a small piece of something called bluing. It made the whites and colors brighter. She made her own lye soap for laundry too!!
#55
Starch - Last week, I got in a pair of men’s denim shorts that had a large tear in the seat by one hip pocket. The shorts had been washed and starched heavily, and were a challenge to turn through my machine to do the mending. I was afraid that I was going to break them! I felt like I’d been in a wrestling match when I was done.
Sugar - Years ago, back in the 70s, us young “cowboys” would put a “reasonably priced” (cheap, because we were always broke) felt cowboy hat into the bathtub, run water on it while we smunched the heck out of it to get the water to soak through the felt, and then applied regular table sugar with our hands, rubbing it in until it wouldn’t take any more. Then we’d give it a rough shaping and put it up on the pickup radio antenna to drip dry for a bit. While we were waiting for it to drip, it was a good time to rinse out the tub, especially if it wasn’t your tub. Then, we’d wear it to finish drying it, and every once in a while for the next few hours we’d give it another more specialized “shaping” to eventually get just the right block. Once it was nearly dry, we’d brush the excess sugar off with a shoe brush, and give it a quick wipe with a wet rag. Walaa! Your hat was formed for that personal look, fit your head like a glove, and would stay that way for a long time (if you didn’t break it first). Put the personalized outer band and the special hat pins back on it to make the statement that you wanted to be known for, and you were good to go.
Of course, your hat attracted every bee in the county, so you had to keep moving. And don’t dare swat at them with the hat or you could break it. And should you get caught in a rain storm, the shirt you were wearing was probably history. It would have lots of stains on it the same color as your hat....
CD in Oklahoma
Sugar - Years ago, back in the 70s, us young “cowboys” would put a “reasonably priced” (cheap, because we were always broke) felt cowboy hat into the bathtub, run water on it while we smunched the heck out of it to get the water to soak through the felt, and then applied regular table sugar with our hands, rubbing it in until it wouldn’t take any more. Then we’d give it a rough shaping and put it up on the pickup radio antenna to drip dry for a bit. While we were waiting for it to drip, it was a good time to rinse out the tub, especially if it wasn’t your tub. Then, we’d wear it to finish drying it, and every once in a while for the next few hours we’d give it another more specialized “shaping” to eventually get just the right block. Once it was nearly dry, we’d brush the excess sugar off with a shoe brush, and give it a quick wipe with a wet rag. Walaa! Your hat was formed for that personal look, fit your head like a glove, and would stay that way for a long time (if you didn’t break it first). Put the personalized outer band and the special hat pins back on it to make the statement that you wanted to be known for, and you were good to go.
Of course, your hat attracted every bee in the county, so you had to keep moving. And don’t dare swat at them with the hat or you could break it. And should you get caught in a rain storm, the shirt you were wearing was probably history. It would have lots of stains on it the same color as your hat....
CD in Oklahoma
#56
Super Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Port Lavaca, TX
Posts: 1,276
Originally Posted by jaciqltznok
Did you know that you can make your own heavy duty spray starch for under .20 cents ?! Here's a simple, do it yourself recipe.
1/4 c. Corn Starch
1/2 c. Cold water
1 qt Boiling Water
Dissolve the cornstarch in the cold water, stirring well. Pour dissolved starch mix into boiling water, bring to boil, cook 2 minutes over medium heat. Remove from heat, cool. This makes a Heavy Starch, great for laundry or crafts.
****If you plan on storing this for any length of time, add 1 Tbs. of Lemon Juice as a preservative. It will prevent spoilage/mold.***
1/4 c. Corn Starch
1/2 c. Cold water
1 qt Boiling Water
Dissolve the cornstarch in the cold water, stirring well. Pour dissolved starch mix into boiling water, bring to boil, cook 2 minutes over medium heat. Remove from heat, cool. This makes a Heavy Starch, great for laundry or crafts.
****If you plan on storing this for any length of time, add 1 Tbs. of Lemon Juice as a preservative. It will prevent spoilage/mold.***
Just like our grandmas did!
A word about it, wash it all out when the quilt is finished
though, because buggy little critters like it eventually.
#57
Originally Posted by jaciqltznok
Originally Posted by clem55
My mom always made laundry starch that way, and while I am not positive, I think she used to add a small piece of something called bluing. It made the whites and colors brighter. She made her own lye soap for laundry too!!
I wonder if dry starch in a box is still out there? Bleah, Mom used to make me mix it up. I do worry some about the old starch recipes making fabric attractive to insects if the items are stored. Mom would also starch doilies with sugar water--if that didn't attract vermin at my house the pups would probably slurp 'em.
#58
Originally Posted by e4
Boiling cooks the starch so that it swells - like making gravy. It may still separate a little bit, but usually not much. This actually works better than just using cold starch - usually gives a smoother, stiffer finish and doesn't flake as much. Letting the fabric set for a while will allow the starch to penetrate better. Just remember, bugs like starch so you really shouldn't store fabrics pre-starched unless you know you are going to use them fairly soon.
#60
Originally Posted by Happy Linda
Originally Posted by Glassquilt
Another starch - not heavy
1Tbs. Elmer's School Glue
3 C. Warm Water
1Tbs. Elmer's School Glue
3 C. Warm Water
Sorry I didn't answer sooner - lost internet connection Thursday.
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