How to do It: Stiff Starch Grandma's Way

[Orgetorix]

Steam press?

Anybody have/use a steam press? Do they work well? I've been curious about them for a while now.

 

[dhermann1]

Great job, Scotrace, but some how I'm visualizing this whole process as a Robert Benchley film, (The Sex Life of the Polyp, How to Sleep, etc.) featuring that all American hero, Joe Dokes. I just see you wrestling with this inanimate object with a (malevolant) mind of its own. Actually, at this point in my life I have the nice little Chinese lady on the corner do my shirts. (Light starch, hangar).
This also reminds me of Marine Corps boot camp at Parris Island. At a certain point in your training you were considered worthy to put starch in your utility cover (fatigue hat). We used a bottle of liquid starch, and a stretcher. Some of them came out sharp, but considering that this was young guys aged about 18 or 19, a lot of them came out looking like over iced layer cakes. lol

 

[Nashoba]

Better late than never....

Anybody have/use a steam press? Do they work well? I've been curious about them for a while now.

I don't know if you're still curious about these or not but I have one that I use for my business. I make Marine Corps Guidons and I use it to fuse the letters to the background of the flag. I have used it to press some clothing articles as well and I really do love the thing. It was my husband's idea to buy it and I can tell you that it really does cut pressing time in half. You have to be careful with the settings though it take some experimenting to get the temperatures right, I scorched a couple of things when I was first playing with it. I got mine for about $150 and that was a couple of years ago. It was an investment that I felt and still feel was well worth it.

 

[Orgetorix]

Thanks!

 

[virtualk]

I love the look!

I love the look of cleanly pressed shirts on men. I like my shirts that way also, maybe a little softer.
Thank you for such a great tutorial Scotrace!

 

[scotrace]

You're welcome! Glad you enjoyed it.

The heck of it is, that iron died last week. The cord split and SPARKS flew! Burned a hole the size of a quarter in the ironing board cover!

 

[jamespowers]

You're welcome! Glad you enjoyed it.

The heck of it is, that iron died last week. The cord split and SPARKS flew! Burned a hole the size of a quarter in the ironing board cover!

Time to buy the wife a new ironing board cover for Christmas.
Make mine heavy starch. I just took a few into the local dry cleaner. I suggest you do the same to prevent the occurence of a new hairstyle.

 

[Lincsong]

The title of this thread reminds me of one time I stayed at my Grandma's for a week and she starched my jeans. Talk about itchy and scratchy!lol

 

[PeeWee]

Great thread...I love starch in my shirts and khakis, but have to admit I don't do the starching myself. I just say heavy starch when dropping them off at the cleaners. I do all my own ironing otherwise

 

[MississippiLong]

One of the first broadcasts was made by the nazis... broadcasted trough germany but also beamed into space, as all tv broadcasts are.
So images of dancing girls, men in uniform and lots of swastikas will be some of the first things aliens will see if they ever receive those broadcasts... oh dear

fftopic:

I'm a space nerd....our broadcasts begin to breakdown just a few lightyears away...way before even our closest star...so no aliens watching Vh1....unless they are ON MARS!!!!

 

[nobodyspecial]

Any chance of relinking the photos? The photos did not come up, my guess is you moved them links in the past year.

 

[Highlander]

I like the thread, and how informative!

Currently I use "Stayflo" or whatever the liquid is from the store and mix it 1/2 and 1/2 with water in a garden spray bottle (About 32 oz). But, it isn't even like discussed here, I'll try it.

My question is now, HOW about Khaki pleated pants? Do you guys starch them? My local clothier said to just spray the pleats with water then press hard and let the crease sit. He said starch breaks too bad on the pleats otherwise?

Any input or ideas??? Maybe there's another thread I have missed?

Also, how about pressing dress pants???

 

[Milsurp]

Did this thread originally have pictures? I'm not seeing any, and my imagination is set on low today.

Is it OK to use this process on colored shirts or will they look all white and chalky from the starch?

 

[gandydancer]

Starch, an interesting subject.

I prefer light starch in the body of my shirts and medium in the cuffs and collars. Back when I was in the military I had to take my fatigues off base to get them starched medium without ironed in wrinkles, the base laundry insisted upon extra heavy with the wrinkles.

My mother taught me to soak in a bucket of starch, run them through the wringer on the washing machine, and roll them up in a towel to be ironed the next day. That was until she got an automatic washer and dryer, then nothing got starched after that. I have tried the spray on stuff and do not like the results much. I think I am going to the bucket and drip drying in the shower.

The thing that damages laundry is heat. Moderate starch should actually make clothing last longer, as it keeps the dirt from working into the fibers. The starch will then wash out along with the dirt. The fact is that fabric comes from the mill with super heavy starch, that is what sizing is.

So, who starches and presses their bed linen these days?

 

[Marzipan]

So intriguing!

This will come in very handy for my project! I hadn't even thought about starching!

I'm a real 50's housewife for a year and still have lots to learn! Thanks for the tips!


www.my50syear.blogspot.com:)

 

[jamespowers]

Did this thread originally have pictures? I'm not seeing any, and my imagination is set on low today.

Is it OK to use this process on colored shirts or will they look all white and chalky from the starch?

I have my colored shirts and hawaiian shirts heavily starched. I don't know if they used the same process but it doesn't hurt them a bit in the years I have been doing it. [huh]

 

[Lincsong]

Black shirt look chalky with starch.

 

[jamespowers]

Black shirt look chalky with starch.

You are going to the wrong place if that is the case. Mine never come out that way. Try Fashion Cleaners.

 

[Warbaby]

I like your avatar, Mr. Powers - looks like one of my pals...

 

[jamespowers]

I like your avatar, Mr. Powers - looks like one of my pals...

Is that you Butch?