Linen is naturally stiff! If you boil all the starch out of it, it will STILL go stiff when you press it. The best way to treat it for hand towels is to press and sew, them dampen down, tumble dry, and fold flat while hot WITHOUT pressing. You'll get a softly rumpled look rather than hard creases, and it will be more absorbent. NEVER use fabric softener on towels: it 'varnishes' them so the fibres shed the water rather than soaking it up.
Hi everyone!
I've been given a sewing job to do by our parish: they want me to take a very old altar cloth and cut it into smaller pieces to make usable handtowels. The cloth I've been given is pure linen and very old but still in superb condition. The problem is that it's been starched and starched and starched within an inch of its life! I've washed and rinsed and agitated the blessed (!) thing, but it's still stiffasaboard and able to stand up by itself!
Can anyone help me with a method of getting the starch out of the cloth? AFAIK, the starch used has been the old fashioned 'starch' starch (not the modern spray-on stuff). You can almost *see* it in the fibres of the cloth, it's so thick! Is there some substance that will repel or dissolve starch (aside from good, honest water, that is)?
Looking forward to helpful replies... ;-D
This linen is way past stiff, Kate! It's almost petrified! LOL! I've been soaking it and rinsing it and it's gradually losing its load of starch. Hopefully, it'll wind up soft enough to do the nice hem-stitching I was hoping to achieve...
I wonder if you soaked it for a day or so in a large volume of water, give the starch time to disolve and space to dissapate
liz young
Have you tried boiling it? That's how the starch got in there in the first place.
Use real soap, not a modern detergent, when washing in very hot water.
Joy Beeson
Take the cloth and soak in warm with a gentle enzyme detergent or pre-soak. Something without dyes and perfumes, and labelled "sensitive" should fit the bill. No not use Napisan or anything else containing bleach or bleaching agents. Best vessel for this is a large Styrofoam hamper like one takes drinks along to picnics, it will keep the water warm for a longer period of time (enzymes work best at body temp which is around 100F). If you do not have such a vessel take a large clean pot (stainless steel is best or copper) and soak on top of the stove, turning the burner on every now and then to keep the water "warm".
Corn based laundry starches are difficult to remove when they have built up, thus it may take several soakings with enzymes to fully digest the starch out of the fabric. Do not use harsh detergents or soaps as they not only will not remove starch fully, but can damage the fabric as well.
If one or two soakings do not remove all the starch, launder the cloth and allow to air dry, pressing while quite damp, then continue on with your project. Future launderings will remove the remaining starch over time. Just make sure all and sundry understand not to starch the items further.
FWIW good quality linen does not require starching, nor should it be. If linen is laundered and ironed properly it is naturally smooth and crisp. Problem is many people do not know how to iron linen; linen must be ironed quite damp with a very hot iron to achieve best results. Merely steam ironing dry linen will not produce the same results as "dry ironing" damp linen.
Linen being a smooth fibres naturally sheds dirt and stains as well, this again makes starch not necessary. The only time one hears of linen being starched is when it is being used for things such as nurse's caps, nun's coifs or any other type of apparel which requires stiffening.
Candide
InspirePoint website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.