How to starch a fluffy skirt and dress for a matinee: without starch, in a typewriter and the traditional approach

The secret of the procedure is that in the process of starching a thin film is formed on the fabric that does not allow air to pass through. It becomes protection against stains and dirt. When washing, the barrier dissolves, and so does pollution. It is possible to treat not all clothes with starch, but only cuffs, collars or a tulle skirt.

Why you need to starch

It would seem that starches of clothes are a thing of the past. But this is not so. The process remains relevant today and has four advantages.

1. Volume. The dress will become more magnificent, the volume will hold until the first wash.
2. Freshness and beautiful appearance. Clothing will get less dirty and seem presentable, elegant longer.
3. Less crease. Particularly relevant for strongly creasing fabrics - flax and staple. The product will not wrinkle under any conditions.
4. Correct form. Collar, skirt, cuffs, frills will take the necessary shape.

Professional Tools

Analogs of natural starch solution can be found in hardware stores or where household chemicals are sold. These funds will allow you to starch a baby dress without starch and special efforts, and just as easily refresh your mother’s lace outfits.

• Spray or aerosol. Used for individual parts of clothing, for example, to give stiffness to the collar, ruffles. The product is sprayed onto the desired area and passed through it with a hot iron. Read the instructions. Make sure the product is suitable for the type of fabric. An aerosol costs an average of 100 rubles per bottle of 300 ml (data for July 2017).
• Powder or liquid. Applied for voluminous things: tulle, tablecloths, napkins or lush petticoats from formal dresses. This is essentially a way to starch a dress in a washing machine. After all, the product is simply added to the powder and the usual washing cycle is started. The average cost of a liter bottle of liquid means is 250 rubles (data for July 2017).

How to starch a dress the old fashioned way

Despite a good selection of store starches, the tool that our grandmothers used was still in use. Ordinary potato starch remains the most common and popular substance for giving things stiffness and beautiful shape.

Rice and corn are also used. Any of them fit. And for processing products sewn from mixed fabric, it is even recommended to give preference to rice starch. In this case, after the procedure, to get rid of excess solution, you should wrap the clothes in a white cloth that absorbs moisture well.

Proportions of solutions: table by type of fabric

Depending on the degree of starch concentration in the water, soft, medium hardness and hard starch can be distinguished.The degree is chosen based on the fabric from which the things needing processing are sewn.

Table - Types of starches: differences in types of fabric

Cooking

Having decided on what degree of rigidity is needed (in the table above), we proceed to the preparation of the solution, relying on step-by-step instructions and observing the necessary proportions. Five actions need to be taken.

1. Pour a dry starch solution to the bottom of the pan.
2. Pour the solution with cold water to make a creamy slurry.
3. While stirring, add boiling water. It should be a paste, transparent and viscous.
4. If the mixture is cloudy, you need to boil for about five minutes.
5. Make sure that no lumps appear. If formed, remove or strain through a bag of gauze.

Handling things: 3 steps

It is important that the finished mixture cools down, as things are not immersed in too hot starch solution. Be aware that the temperature should be slightly higher than room temperature. The procedure is carried out in three steps.

1. Immerse the dress in a container with paste. And make sure that the solution is evenly distributed throughout the clothes. To do this, straighten the parts.
2. Take out, carefully inspect the thing. Perhaps there are untouched sites. Then the product will need to be laid out differently in a basin with starch and withstand the extra time.
3. Wring the fabric. But not too much, to avoid the appearance of unglazed creases.

3 drying rules

Drying starched things, as usual, will not work. The fabric will take the form in which it was hung and will not want to be smoothed out. To avoid this, drying wardrobe items that have become familiar with starch, you need to produce according to three rules.

1. Use a coat hanger. Hang the dress on your shoulders and carefully straighten each crease. If this procedure is not carried out, then they will dry incorrectly and “petrify”.
2. Hang at room temperature. Dry only at room temperature. Some advise taking out clothes in the cold. But do not do this - low temperatures can damage starch-treated tissue.
3. Do not speed up the process.. Do not use a hair dryer or heater to accelerate the removal of moisture, otherwise the wrinkles are difficult to smooth out.

Ironing Nuances

It is better to iron slightly wet material. If you didn’t manage to iron your wet clothes, sprinkle “petrified” areas with water and immediately go over them with an iron, following the following recommendations:

• choose the optimal power of the iron - the mode should be average;
• turn off the steam function;
• it is better to iron the dress through wet gauze.

Special Occasion Tips

With starches home textiles, bedding sets and casual clothes, as a rule, there are no problems. But which way to approach the snow-white bride along with and how not to ruin the snowflake costume for children? Consider a few recommendations for such special cases.

• Wedding Dress. The top can not be touched if it is made with a corset without sleeves, flashlights. And in order to starch a fluffy skirt with starch, in this case you will need a hard solution. Do not wait until the fabric dries, and immediately go over it with an iron (through gauze). Moreover, you can starch a dress for a celebration with a different degree of pomp. If you do not want an obvious “ballroom” effect, then process not all the lower skirts, but through one.
• Children's New Year's dress. If you are wondering how to starch the petticoat of a children's dress, proceed by analogy with a wedding outfit. However, pay attention to the elements in the upper part of the product (ruffles, bows, shuttlecocks). They quickly lose their appearance and also need to be treated with a paste. Here you can act pointwise or soak a suit in a solution in its entirety.
• Cuffs and collars. To starch cuffs and collars, a hard solution is also used. To make it work even better, add sodium boric salt. A tablespoon of the product must be dissolved in 200 ml of boiling water. However, the solution must be allowed to infuse for at least two hours. Dip into the paste only those items that need processing.

3 types of products that cannot be starch

Please note that not all things can be starch. You will not achieve the desired result or hopelessly ruin the fabric. Three types of products can be attributed to this category.

1. Underwear. It will no longer allow moisture and air to pass through, which means it will become less comfortable and hygienic.
2. Things are black and dark shades. After processing, white spots may remain that cannot be removed.
3. Synthetics. Such products do not initially breathe, and after starch they cease to pass air at all.

Alternative methods

In addition to potato starch, there are other natural remedies that can make things “crisp”. These alternatives include the following.

• Sugar. Sweet powder is most often used to shape knitwear. Prepare the syrup in the proportions of eight tablespoons of sugar per 1 liter of water. The procedure is the same as with potato starch, but you don’t need to iron things, since the sole of the iron will stick to the surface of the fabric. Therefore, the product must be shaped in the drying process, carefully smoothing all the folds.
• Gelatin. A jelly-like substance can be used to starch dark and bright tones. To prepare the mixture, dissolve a tablespoon of gelatin in the same amount of water. When the particles swell, add more liquid, bringing the volume to 250 ml. The mixture should cool, but do not wait long, otherwise the slurry will just freeze. Things after such processing turn out harder than after bathing in potato starch. Therefore, it will be useful to add half a teaspoon of glycerin.

4 more nuances

To make the fabric shine after processing with starch, you can add half a teaspoon of table salt or a drop of molten stearin to the paste. There are 4 more ways to improve the starch process.

1. For whiteness. You can freshen up the appearance of white products by adding a drop of blue to the starch solution.
2. For shine. Things will become as if just bought, if you prepare a paste in the following way. Take borax (sold at the pharmacy), talcum powder and starch in a ratio of 1: 3: 5. Mix with the right amount of water. Dip a napkin made from natural fabrics or cheesecloth into the mixture. Iron the product through it. Shine after such a procedure will not disappear even after a few washings.
3. For easy ironing. To make starched things easier to iron, you can add milk to the solution - two teaspoons per 1 liter of water.
4. To keep the color. So that colored things do not shed, you need to immerse them in starchy pulp, the temperature of which is not higher than room temperature.

Now you know all the secrets of how to properly starch a skirt and dress. If you like how things look after processing with a paste, you will have to do the procedure after each wash. But you will look your best.

Reviews: “It’s better not to starch, but to“ gel ”

I use the German starter Superform in spray can - very pleased. And it keeps its shape well, and there are no divorces.
I starch them daughter ballet tutu from several layers of guipure.
The only manufacturer does not recommend using it for certain types of silk fabric (natural or artificial), acetate and viscose materials.

Moeri, http://2006-2009.littleone.ru/showthread.php?t=21768

It is better not to starch dark things, but to “gel” - then there will definitely be no spots. Pour gelatin with water, and when it swells, heat the mixture, constantly stirring, until the gelatin is completely dissolved. For 2 teaspoons of gelatin, you need 1.5 cups of water. After the solution has cooled, dip a cloth into it. No need to squeeze, dry on the shoulders at room temperature.

Tatyana, http://ostirke.ru/kak-stirat/kak-nakraxmalit-plate.html

Of course, I don’t deal with starching of dresses, but I’ll tell you about hand-knitted things. The fact is that I am fond of knitting various vases, baskets, etc. In my hobby, starch cannot be dispensed with. And most importantly, after you lower the vase into a solution with starch, you need to give it the desired shape, for this I put my product on a bottle or glass vase until it dries completely.

Darina, http://ostirke.ru/kak-stirat/kak-nakraxmalit-plate.html