what kind of starch do you use to starch your dry jeans?

[mike501xx]

I starched my apc standards yesterday. I had washed them twice a couple of years ago and didn't wear them too much. I wanted to try to make up for these machind washings if I could and get them back to close to a new "raw" look and feel. Warning: I like stiff jeans. I used Linit liquid starch mixed with water in a 50/50 mix. A few days before, I hand washed and rinsed my apc's in Dr. Bonners unscented soap and hung to air dry inside out. Once dry, I wore for a couple of days. Then I mixed the Linit with water i50/50 n a plastic dish washing pan. I let my jeans soak in the starch for about a half hour. Then I hung them using a coat hangar in the waist to dry. They came out awesome but again I like stiff jeans. I tried them on this morning and they feel like cardboard but I know they will soften with wear. I know I am going to have some nice combs and whiskers.

[Unique-]

is it actually use for ironing clothes?

sorry but may i ask whats the point in starching your jeans? and how? yeah i new to this denim stuff. =/

[H.Bosch]

http://www.superfuture.com/supertalk/showthread.php?t=12729

[chambo2008]

i use Dr.Beckmann spray starch stuff is good smells nice aswell from asda for £1.05 for 400ml can....

[blm14]

starch + warmth + heat = bacteria paradise. It's really not worth it.

[chambo2008]

starch + warmth + heat = bacteria paradise. It's really not worth it.

for real?? i have never had probs, lots of people use/advise it

[blm14]

I've worked in labs, and those three ingredients are literally the exact same things you use for bacteria cultures. Agar + warmth + moist environment.

[chambo2008]

i have used it on my shirts never had a problem (rip/ tear etc) maybe i wash them more often but my skulls are fine after 4months.......

[blm14]

nonetheless, it promotes bacteria growth.

I'll just say one more thing: All the classic old jeans that everyone on here covets were created through wear that did not include the addition of starch. I've seen TONS of great fades on here that did not include the use of starch. Take away: Starch is not necessary to obtain good fades. And since it potentially could make your jeans smell and weaken the fabric, why bother?

[salaami]

starch + warmth + heat = bacteria paradise. It's really not worth it.

nut sweat+dead skin flakes+body gunk+natural bacterial skin flora=germ utopia as well. if one person uses a lil' starch, and the next doesnt, and they wear the same jean equally hard for the same time period, one wont smell worse than the other. starch isn't the antichrist, just dont go extremo on it. like only after soaks and washes. if a dude goes and buys jeans of the rack, and wears them for a year straight without soaking, whats the harm in that? so hot soaking and then light starching is the same thing yet the shrinkage is out the way. spraying your combs every day before you leave the crib is another issue entirely. if anyone thinks that their 3,5,7 month old unwashed jeans are @all 'sanitary', you need a new weedman. thats why i ''flash-boil'' the crotch of my jeans every month or so. turn the jeans inside out, pour boiling water on the crotch, hang dry. follow up w/lysol if you feel like it. shaving your nuts/pubic hair also helps cut down on germs.

[chambo2008]

wow.............. interesting

[MARTONe]

I have been debating whether or not to starch my jeans for about a week now. I even bought a can of starch, but on the back it says that after you spray the starch you should iron the material. Is that really necessary? from what I have read from all the other post you don't have to...

I don't even know if anyone will answer this. This thread seems to have been dead for a while. Either way, any help would be appreciated!

[coleslawyum]

Don't do it. Starch is terrible for clothes especially cotton. They only starch the jeans from the beginning because its easy to pack that way. Why not just give it a cold soak and hang dry? That'll give them the crispiness you are looking for.

[almostnice]

starching is soo 2006.

just wear the shit out of your pants.

[MARTONe]

A cold soak you say. Very interesting. But will that have any effect on the indigo? Sorry for the uninformed questions, as you can probably tell by my join date, I am new to the raw denim process. My friend referred me to SuFu to learn about denim.

[fashof]

Does anyone know more about spray sizing? I heard that spray sizing is not suppose to be AS harmful but does that mean it is still somewhat harmful to clothes? Starch stiffens fibers which cause them to get weak but sizing is suppose to do the same job just not as strong. So is spray sizing somewhat harmful or 100% safe for clothing?

[seadog]

I like the heavy and crisp feel and look of starched jeans, so I starch them after washing or rinsing, with cornstarch. It is good for the creases too.

The thing is, the denim is very crisp straight after starching, but once it has flexed, the crispness is gone, though the denim still feels heavy.

I'm wondering about adding something a little flexible to the starch, so that they retain the crisp feeling longer, and stay stiff even after flexing. Kind of approaching the 'stiff but flexible' feeling new jeans have.

At the moment, I'm wondering if guar gum or gelatin would have the required properties, anyone got any experience of either of these, or any other suggestions?

[Guest rusholmeruffian]

FFs. Do you think cowboys used to starch their jeans ?

[smittybat]

Some cowboys still starch their jeans and iron a really sharp crease into them.

http://www.ehow.com/how_7315098_permanent-creases-wranglers.html

[Paul T]

FFs. Do you think cowboys used to starch their jeans ?

As the previous post points out, yes, cowboys did and do starch their jeans. It's not just for creases - which not all cowboys like - it's because the starch forms a dirt screen; the jeans get less dirty. That's one of the reasons starch has been used for centuries after laundering cotton - altho the main reason it's used in processing new jeans is to make the fabric easier to cut, etc, and, when actually milling the denim, starch or other sizeing is used on the warp threads to make them stiffer and ease the looming process.

[seadog]

FFs. Do you think cowboys used to starch their jeans ?

I think that not too long ago, all the laundry got starched, whatever it was.

For the first ten years my grandmother was first married, before she got a washing machine in the late fifties, all the washing would be boiled in the washing copper, then dipped in starch, then hung up to dry, and when it was almost dry, it would be ironed.

As far as I know, she wasn't even a cowgirl.

[Ronnieguy]

Sizing is not Starch