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Ironing Day: Starch

STARCH AND STARCHING To Make Starch. -Starch is a substance contained in various vegetables, as grains, potatoes, etc.

Starch is made from grain by steeping it in cold water until it becomes soft. It is then placed in sacks and pressed in a vat with water. The milky juice which is produced by this process is allowed to stand until it becomes clear, when the starch sinks to the bottom in the form of white powder.

Starch may be made from potatoes by grating them in water and straining and squeezing the mass through thin cloth, as cheese cloth, or a suitable sieve. The liquid is then allowed to stand until the potato starch settles at the bottom. The clear liquid from which the starch has settled has considerable cleansing properties and is especially useful to clean colored silks, woolens, and other delicate articles without injury to their color or texture. The coarse fiber of the potato removed by straining may be used in washing heavy colored woolen articles, as blankets, horse blankets, carriage robes, and the like. These articles should be soaked in water containing salt to set the colors, and afterwards scrubbed with the grated potato fibers and scrubbing brush and water.

Starch may be made from potatoes which are too small for domestic use, and a fairly good quality may also be made from frosted potatoes, although this last may have a slightly darker color. The starch from frosted potatoes may be improved by adding fresh water after the first clear liquid has been turned off, stirring, and allowing it to settle once more, and so continuing until the liquid is entirely clear.

To Prepare Starch. -The amount of starch to prepare for a given washing depends upon the articles to be starched, and must be determined in each family by experiment. The ability to do up starched linen perfectly is one of the most severe tests of the successful laundress. Hence the importance of knowing how to prepare good starch. First mix the required amount of common starch with a small quantity of cold water to the consistency of cream. Carefully rub and beat the starch with a spoon to break up all lumps and insure that the particles of starch are evenly wet through. Thin to the consistency of milk with a little more cold water.

For thick cooked starch add 8 parts of boiling water to 1 of starch. For thin cooked starch add 16 parts of water to 1 of starch. Pour the water while boiling vigorously in a thin stream, and stir constantly to prevent the starch from lumping. Set the starch over the fire and continue to boil it from 3 to 5 minutes, stirring vigorously all the time. If such substances as wax, borax, oil, etc., are used, they should be mixed with the starch while cooking. Bluing should not be added until the starch is cold.

Raw starch or that which has been insufficiently cooked will stick to the iron and make much trouble for the laundress. Cooked starch may be thinned by the addition of cold water.

Cornstarch.

Common cornstarch, such as is used for making puddings, is preferred by some laundresses instead of the ordinary laundry starch. It is about as cheap and in the opinion of many gives a finer gloss and more finished appearance to delicate starched articles. Try this some time when the laundry starch is out and see how you like it. A mixture of the two kinds is also much favored. - Starch with Wax.---For white cuffs, collars, and shirt bosoms melt with gentle heat white wax or a mixture IRONING DAY of equal parts of white wax and spermaceti or a mixture of 1 part of white wax to 2 parts of spermaceti, as preferred, and stir into ordinary starch while boiling. Use a lump of wax about the size of a walnut to a quart of cooked starch, or estimate the amount of wax in the proportion of to of the bulk of dry starch required for the garments. Starch with Borax. -Add 1 tablespoonful of borax to each pint of cooked starch while boiling. This makes the starch go farther by lessening the amount that adheres to each garment. It increases the gloss without giving additional stiffness and tends to prevent the irons from sticking.

Or add 1 teaspoonful of borax to 1 pint of uncooked starch for garments requiring stiffness.

Or mix 1 teaspoonful of borax and 2 tablespoonfuls of dry starch. Rub carefully in a small quantity of cold water and add enough to make 1½ cupfuls.

Starch with Salt.-Add 1 teaspoonful of table salt to 1 pint of cooked or uncooked starch. This prevents the starch from being whipped out of the garments by the wind when drying, and also from freezing in severely cold weather.

Or add 1 teaspoonful of Epsom salts to each bowl of cooked starch while boiling. This will add stiffness and tend to prevent the articles from being scorched by hot irons.

Starch with Soap. - Make the boiling water in which starch is cooked slightly soapy with pure castile or other neutral white soap. This will assist in producing a gloss and will also prevent the irons from sticking.

Starch with Gum Arabic.-Prepare a solution of gum arabic by putting about 2 ounces of the white gum finely powdered in a glass bottle or quart fruit jar and pouring over it 1 pint of boiling water. Cork tightly and shake until the powder is dissolved.

After 24 hours strain through cheese cloth and preserve the clear gum water for use. Add 1 tablespoonful to each pint of cooked starch while boiling. This is especially useful for fine dress goods, either white or colored, as lawns, muslins, calicoes, and the like, giving them much of the body and appearance of new material. Less of the gum water may be used for the finished materials, as muslins, and more may be added for cuffs, collars, and shirt cuffs to increase the stiffness and impart a gloss. Starch with Sugar. - Add a teaspoonful of granulated sugar to each pint of starch while boiling. This assists in giving the so-called domestic finish.