Steam and Starch
Ironing Update: Starch and Steam
Crisp but Not Crunchy Clothes with Home-Made Starch
I have a long, old-fashioned cotton skirt with embroidery and a cotton lining that hangs inside it. It seemed that both layers needed some more body. I iron all my husband's shirts without starch, so I had none in the house. He calls this my "Romanov skirt" and those ladies certainly had theirs starched, back in the early 1900s. I asked him to look up a recipe for ironing starch on the internet, and he came up with a standard formula. One cup of very hot water and a tablespoon of cornstarch, stirred until dissolved and put into a reliable spray bottle was what he recommended, and it worked very well. I have also spray-starched a couple of blouses with the aforementioned mixture, and had great success.
The New Elegant Survival Iron
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| The Elegant Survival Iron, by Shark One of the pictured spray bottles contains plain water and a little bit of orange flower water; the other spray bottle holds my starch and water formula. Both of these concoctions are useful for ironing clothes. The first spray gets the wrinkles out, and the second one puts body into natural fabrics. |
The Shark Euro-Pro is the best iron I have ever used. Its extended steam feature and heavy construction ensure an efficient ironing experience. The iron is also very pretty, and has a high-quality look.
©M-J de Mesterton 2011
