Professional waistband of a men`s pants.

[Schneiderfrei]

Clearly I shall have to get some cheap vodka!

[mysewingpleasure]

HaHa, I really enjoying being able to become a member and learning so many experts sharing their experience. I absolutely agree that different people around the world have their own traditional methods and cultural legends. We used to make starch out of corn starch or potato starch, my mom would suck my dad's shirt in, I cannot remember how she treated it afterwards. it would look shiny and stiff. I guess it would have made my dad look more "handsome" and "rich".....

I wonder Hendrick's starch can be used other than stiffing collar and cuffs.... or thickening soup??

Theresa, do not forget to share your result with the vodka-starch, i hope Schneiderfrei can patiently wait before he gets drunk with the cheap vodka!

[jeffrey]

Clothing starch can be made with a mixture of corn starch and borax. You just decide how heavily you would like to starch your clothes, add the correct amount of corn starch a tablespoon of borax and boil the mixture for approximately 10 minutes. You can easily find a recipe for homemade clothing starch online. Some recipes will suggest potato or rice starch but corn starch is easier to find,

[theresa in tucson]

The tricky part with the home made is that it cannot be stored for any length of time as it spoils, at least that is what the quilter's boards say. 

And being old enough to remember how it was done, I can answer how the starched garments were handled after they were dunked, hung out and dried.  My mother would take them off the line and sprinkle them with water.  You could buy a sprinkler head with a cork stopper that would fit in a glass soda pop bottle.  Then the clothes were rolled up tight, put into a plastic bag and set aside until the sprinkled water had permeated  the entire garment.  Then they were ironed.  Ironing days were the only time my mother ever watched the soap operas.

[posaune]

My mother used  rice starch. You put it into water, heat and stirred till the starch was disbanded (word??). This potion you add into the last water when you rinsed  bed linen, tablecloths, blouses, shirts, Summer dresses - you name it. Today you use something to soften.
For the shirts you put on the starch mix at collar and cuff with a dapper before you ironed the shirt.  This starching was done that it would not take the dirt as quick as a lumpy fabric. You did not change as often as today.
Lg
posaune

[Greger]

disbanded (word??) dissolve is probably the word you would choose.

Starch was used for the front of the shirt.

[jeffrey]

The tricky part with the home made is that it cannot be stored for any length of time as it spoils, at least that is what the quilter's boards say. 

And being old enough to remember how it was done, I can answer how the starched garments were handled after they were dunked, hung out and dried.  My mother would take them off the line and sprinkle them with water.  You could buy a sprinkler head with a cork stopper that would fit in a glass soda pop bottle.  Then the clothes were rolled up tight, put into a plastic bag and set aside until the sprinkled water had permeated  the entire garment.  Then they were ironed.  Ironing days were the only time my mother ever watched the soap operas.

I do prefer rice starch myself. I find that it dissolves more easily and evenly. The borax acts as a preservative. I make starch every 2 months and I do not have an issue with spoiling. I also use a plant mister to spray it on my fabric/clothing. The nice part about homemade starch is that you can start out with a very heavy solution which is good for heavy starched collars and also good for acting as a temporary bonding agent for non fusible interfacing. If you want a lighter solution mix in some more water and it can be used for misting.
  I'm not pushing homemade starch on anyone, it is just part of my routine that I tend to find satisfying and I thought it might be interesting to others too. I also like knowing what is in the starch. It is unscented unless I choose otherwise and the only preservative in it is natural.

[theresa in tucson]

Thanks for the tip on using borax with the rice starch, Jeffrey.  I will need to look around for a source for the rice starch, probably in the health food grocery.  I think borax is readily available.

[mysewingpleasure]

Jeffrey, What is a rice starch? I would like to have a try, I think it makes more sense to just freshly make enough for every garment/shirt I am planning, because I won't make a lot of shirt at one time.

[Schneiderfrei]

I expect arrowroot and potato starch are also fine enough to make a good result.

The old commercial types would simply have been cheap to make.

[jeffrey]

Rice starch is just like cornstarch. Only finer textured in my opinion, which makes it a little easier ti dissolve.
I have never tried arrowroot but I do know that potato starch works very well. When I was a wee child my grandmothers used to make small batches of starch with their left over potato remnants. (Am I dating myself? HA)
I am a huge proponent of adding the borax though. It does extend the starches lifespan.

[Hendrick]

I never used rice based starch. Just never had the opportunity to buy it... i got my starch from "Volendammertjes" an age old company in Holland. It is potato based and well solluble but once mixed it gets stiffer with time. Ibagree that adding borax is important because all starches tend to colour when they oxidise or get exposed to light ( uv ). Anyway, I am fully stocked for years and like Jeffrey I like to mist it on. I never make shirts but putting a bit of starch on cotton linings (waistband facings etc) makes it easy to pre iron before sewing....

[mysewingpleasure]

Mmmm, I learned that there are pros and cons now,otherwise I will make a mess - baking without a recipe...disaster!
I think I will stick to the shore bought instant ones is a bit safer. Modern science makes life pretty good.
Thank you for sharing your experience, very much appreciated.