How do I mix and apply the starch?

Hand washing:

Stir approx. 4 heaped tablespoons (60g) to 600 ml (1 pint) COLD water in a jug. Stir until dissolved, the mix should resemble milk. The Starch is now ready to use. Pour the jug of starch mix into a bowl/basin of hand-hot water. Stir then immerse items to be starched one at a time. Work through, then squeeze excess and hang out to dry. Control the level of stiffness by adjusting the amount of dilution. As a guide, if the pint of starch mix is used without any dilution, the results will be card-like stiffness. With a whole sink of water the results will be perfect for sheets, shirts and table linen.

Machine use:

Stir approx. 6 heaped tablespoons (90g) to 600 ml (1 pint) COLD water in a jug. Stir until dissolved, the mix should resemble milk. Once the machine has run its wash cycle, pull the drawer out and wait for the final rinse water to fill the drum. Pour the mix into the ‘fabric conditioner’ section of the drawer or into the flow of water. Do not allow the starch to sit in the drawer waiting through the whole cycle, as it will separate and may cause clogging. The mix can also be added straight to the drum, so long as the final rinse water will follow immediately.

For industrial size machines you can use these calculations: 14g (i.e. 1 tablespoon) starch powder per kilo capacity of machine. For example, 12 kilo load capacity = 168g starch powder. Mix starch with enough cold water to ensure it has no lumps. Mix should be like milk – not thick or lumpy.

Tips:

1. It is important to have enough starch rinse water to allow clothes to be moved freely about in it, so that the degree of stiffening is uniform throughout the garment.
2. Turn coloured garments inside out before starching.
3. Starching is always done last of all washing operations, after it has been done the articles should be hung out to dry without further rinsing.
4. A great tip is to hot iron the item whilst slightly damp for the perfect crisp, wrinkle free finish.

*Special use* suitable for cool rinse non-iron fabrics:

Add about quarter of a cupful of cold water to a quarter of a cupful of starch powder, and mix the two into a fine paste.

This paste is then mixed with five cupfuls of boiling water in a pan.

Then boil and stir with a wooden spoon for a few moments to cook the starch until you have a thick smooth creamy mix. This usually happens very quickly.

This can be used immediately (or cooled) and added to the final rinse water, hot or cold. It can also be stored in the fridge and used within 3 days, stir first.

This technique pre-cooks the starch prior to contact with the fabric. This means the starch will perform without the need of additional heat. Non-iron fabric need to be carefully laid out to dry.

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