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[Abrowneyegirl]

Many years ago I worked with a woman from India, her family was in the textile business.

I remember her telling me how to properly use starch.  She always hated to see wrinkled linen and fabrics and would tell it was because Americans did not understand how to properly starch fabric.

I can remember:

1- NEVER use spray starch in a can.  Make your own using tapioca pearls.

2- No starch on dry fabric

3- something about adding the starch water to one of the washing cycles.

Can anyone help me?  It has been such a hot and humid summer I am tired of looking like a slept in my clothes at the end of the day and I also love linen and hate the wrinkles.  She always looked crisp and lovely.

I have been Googling all day......

So using the tips here and my notes I did an experiment.

Using the tapioca starch on 4 pairs of cotton ankle pants.

I promptly (as prompt as a busy person can) removed from the washer shook them out and hung to dry.

3 of the 4 pants dried almost perfectly, no wrinkles I did not bother to iron them

the 4th pair need some touch up pressing around some seams.

I wore them this week in 90 + heat with horrible humidity.

They lasted the entire day 10 hours with very, very little wrinkles.  I looked crisp almost all day.  (except for my blouses!- some of them wrinkled quite a bit)

Next, I will try some of my linen clothing.

Thank you for your tips!

[fthunt]

I saw my Mother make starch for our summer lace curtains.  No thanks........I'll keep my spray can.

[ahoymate]

What? India is so different culturally than the USA. Like comparing apples to oranges. I always use spray starch. Google this topic or go to Martha Stewart's book on tips for doing laundry.

[ahoymate]

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@fthunt wrote:

I saw my Mother make starch for our summer lace curtains.  No thanks........I'll keep my spray can.

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Of course. Who wants to make their own starch today? 

[Etoile308]

Have you looked in a large grocery store for liquid starch? 

[SilleeMee]

When I was a kid my mom would use Faultless starch in the box. She would use it on my dad's Army fatigues, hang 'em on the line and then press them after they dried, They were stiff as all get out! like cardboard, omg. They could stand up on their own...lol! I always knew when my dad was putting on a fresh pair of fatigue pants. I could here him push his feet through each pant leg...sounded like a loud RRRRip!

[ECBG]

I use Magic Spray Sizing next to the starch when I press linen.  I get firmness without the linen becoming "hard".

[Kachina624]

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@SilleeMee wrote:

When I was a kid my mom would use Faultless starch in the box. She would use it on my dad's Army fatigues, hang 'em on the line and then press them after they dried, They were stiff as all get out! like cardboard, omg. They could stand up on their own...lol! I always knew when my dad was putting on a fresh pair of fatigue pants. I could here him push his feet through each pant leg...sounded like a loud RRRRip!

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I was in the military in the '60s when we had to wear starched cotton skirts and a jacket in the summer.  They would literally stand alone.  However, the starch surely didn't keep them from becoming wrinkled.  They were a mess at the end of the day.  Hated those things.

[Abrowneyegirl]

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@ahoymate wrote:

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@fthunt wrote:

I saw my Mother make starch for our summer lace curtains.  No thanks........I'll keep my spray can.

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Of course. Who wants to make their own starch today? 

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Making the starch is not hard.  I remember it was put tapioca pearls in a container fill with water let the pearls dissolve.  Add more pearls as needed.

It is the how to use it I can not remember.

Add it to the rinse cycle??  I wish I wrote it down.  

The more I think about it there were a few ways to use the pearl mixture.

The goal was stiff but flexible and to not damage the fibers of the cotton.

[Still Raining]

I still do linen table items the old way.  Also a few shirt collars and all cotton jeans if I want the waist to look good for a belt.

I use the cornstarch rocks dissolved on hot water.

First wash the item, then while still wet, soak in the starch, really dunk.  You can dry it a little or a lot, but in the end you want a uniformity damp item.  So spraying with water is sometimes involved.  Roll it up, wrap and let it sit a bit.

It can not be ironed with steam, it just needs a good hot iron.  They are a lot of work,  it so nice for a special time.