AndreeBergeron wrote:

I use home made spray. I take a spray bottle, add a shot glass of vodka and 1 or 2 of liquid starch. Then fill the bottle with water. You have to shake the bottle every time you use it. It works great and is way less expensive than the brand name spray. And I don't have the flaking problem.

Erica

When I was a kid...Mom made just enough starch on wash day and we starched, rolled and put the
wash that was for ironing in the 'fridge waiting to be ironed as we had time. Just reg. corn starch..cooked on
the stove and thinned a bit when cooled. No mister/sprayer...just a pop bottle sprinkler ! Can't say I
liked that chore.!! Funny...now I do that with the quilting cotton ..not the sheets ! :shock:

gynconnie wrote:
I love Diane's work! She uses the Corn Starch recipe because she has severe allergies and this has no fragrances added, no preservative or additives.
Just be aware that it needs to be used in about a week or so, or it will turn moldy.

The Sta-Flo has never gotten moldy in my mister bottle, and I sometimes go several weeks between uses.

Good evening to all! Does anyone know where I can buy Sta-Flo in Canada? I couldn't find it at Wal-Mart - it seems as difficult to find as Reynold's Freezer paper, which I buy in the USA when I travel!

Thanks for your help!

Oh, and did anyone ever tried that homemade recipe that has vodka in it? does that really work? I read a few blogs on this, and I don't know if its just a joke!

Andrée

If i want my fabric light to Medium starched, i just put the liquid starch in my washing machine instead of fabric softener... I put as much as the container will hold... And wash the fabric as usual. If I want heavier starching, I'll add the same amount again after the last spin cycle, and just run the washing program from the point where the fabric softener is added ( last rinse), then spin and hang dry.

If I want a really heavy starch, I'll place a large bowl or a bucket with a starch/water mix inside my bathtub, put each length of fabric ( still wet from the wash as I per wash everything, or dry) in the bucket, make sure it is thoroughly drenched, hand wing this and then hang dry inside my bathtub as it will drip quite a bit. In summer this can easily be done outside, the worst thing to happen is that your lawn or pavement might have a few whitish spots until the next good rain.

I iron when almost dry, or spray a little bit of water on the fabric to just moisten before ironing if it dried completely.

I never measure the amount of starch, just like I cook and bake... I don't mind if my fabrics not all have exactly the same stiffness... With spraying it tends to be uneven too, and as I have carpet everywhere where I have enough space to lay out fabric or set up the ironing board, I don't like to work with spray starch too much.

In case you haven't seen it, Diane Gaudynski has a great post about starch:
dianegaudynski.blogspot.com/2010/02/starch.html

That's good to know too Rosemary, thanks.

I also find that super starched fabric is great for just running through the printer without any backing for doing Inklingo on.

I once starched my fabric, and I got those flakes (a can bought at the grocery store ), so I abandonned it, not knowing better. But yesterday, with all the comments, I looked it up on google, and saw a video on it (Leah Day).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwrETCcgMX0
I'll go buy some sta-flo at Walmart and give it a try.

Andrée

Coming late to the whole starching fabric thing I will throw in my tuppence worth here. I find that if I spray the starch and then turn the fabric over and iron it I don't get any flaking from the cans of spray. I am so impatient that I can't even take the time to make up a starch spray.

This is where it is advantageous to have more than one project on the go at once , you can starch fabric, then go and play with something else while you wait .....it is either that or go and do some tidying up

Now....THAT takes patience!

The trick seems to be to let the starch soak into the fabric. I actually have less flaking with the sta-flo mixture. I have tried just cheap cans of starch from the grocery store, and it seems like I get more flaking with those. I learned from a class with Harriet Hargrave that several light coats of starch is better than one heavy coat.

Definitely not patient! This is prep work usually done a day or two before I plan to cut out my patches so they are all ready when sewing time comes.

Janet, do you have much flaking and sticking to the iron?