How to Starch?

[onceiwasaturtle.livejournal.com]

Hi!

I've been shuttle tatting for several years, but have never made anything that would need to be starched until now. My grandmother recently requested I make a bookmark for her, and I just finished it -- but it needs to be stiffened! I looked around online to see what I could learn about the different ways to starch things. What I've come up with so far is:

1) Sugar solutions may attract bugs.

2) Spray starches normally used in laundry will flake off and (after a very long time) cause yellowing.

3) There are starches made especially for fabric and needle crafts, but the sites did not mention where to buy them. (JoAnn's and/or Michael's?)

4) The only instructions I could find for wheat/corn/rice starch looked complicated and needed a bunch of kitchen equipment I haven't found yet. (Recently moved and still unpacking.)

5) Apparently you can use an epsom salt solution, and it looks pretty simple. (link)

Does anyone have any experience with sugar solutions? I was just going to use that because of course I have sugar in my kitchen! But my parents and grandmother live in an area with a large ant population and I don't want them trying to make off with this bookmark or ruining it in some way.

How about epsom salt solutions? I'm really curious about this one!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated and I'm sorry if this has been discussed already. I did look back through the entries a little way without seeing anything.

Thanks!
~ Liza

Comments

[ubbercatta.livejournal.com]

I buy a spray starch from Michael's. Unfortunately I don't remember what the name is. But it is a pump spray-on. I haven't had any issues with it.

[onceiwasaturtle.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[msmcknittington.livejournal.com]

I use cornstarch for my crocheted doilies. You need a saucepan, a spoon and a stove, though you could probably use a hotplate.

Put about a cup of water on to boil. While it's coming to a boil, add a couple tablespoons (2-4) of cornstarch to a quarter cup of water and stir it until it's blended. You don't want any lumps. When the water is boiling, add the cornstarch and water to it and stir until it's thick.

You can also just add the cornstarch straight to the boiling water, but you tend to get lumps then. They're not a big deal, it's just that you have to pick them off the doily before it dries. Otherwise you have lumps in your doily.

I haven't had any problems with bugs using this, and my grandma has been doing the same since . . . er, the 1940s probably.

[onceiwasaturtle.livejournal.com]

Excellent! The other instructions I found required things like a strainer and a double boiler, so this is much appreciated. Thank you!

[http://users.livejournal.com/_diane/]

I've tried pretty much every other option for stiffeners, and this method is my favorite. It gets the tatted item much stiffer than anything else.

[onceiwasaturtle.livejournal.com]

Perfect! Extra-stiff would be good for this pattern. Thanks!

[teikasmom.livejournal.com]

I use common white glue and water-not quite half and half for a bookmark. Just gives it a little body.

[onceiwasaturtle.livejournal.com]

Great -- thanks!

[amphipodgirl.livejournal.com]

Plaid makes a fabric stiffener called Stiffy: http://www.plaidonline.com/productDetail.asp?itemID=1550 I've bought it at Michaels. I don't know how it performs over long spans of time.

[onceiwasaturtle.livejournal.com]

Wonderful! Thanks!

[wosny.livejournal.com]

Pamela shows her technique for stiffening here
http://tatsakoolchallenge.blogspot.com/2008/12/no-10-sweet-rose-and-how-i-stiffen-my.html
and from the replies I'm guessing you can buy the product in the USA...
best luck

[onceiwasaturtle.livejournal.com]

Visual instructions and everything! Thanks!

[tartancravat.livejournal.com]

I've used hairspray, that works fairly well.

[onceiwasaturtle.livejournal.com]

Cool! Thanks!

[aspiemama.livejournal.com]

You know, I have always used laundry starch. I just saturate the item, blot it on a paper towel, and then iron it in. It is only when you don't let the starch soak in that it flakes off. I don't know about yellowing, though. I don't keep much of my tatting.

[onceiwasaturtle.livejournal.com]

Oh! Thanks for the tip!