It is often surprising just how many different uses products hidden away in kitchen cabinets do have. Things like baking soda and white wine vinegar can be used when cleaning, but corn starch also has a number of additional uses including as an aide to ironing.

Corn starch is predominantly used to thicken sauces and gravy but can also be a substitute for laundry starch. Few people like to iron but those that do iron recognise that anything that makes the job easier can only be a good thing, and so many manufacturers now make laundry starches. If though there is some corn starch lying around the home then there is no need to go out and purchases a bottle of laundry starch spray.

-Making Corn Starch Laundry Starch

To make a laundry starch made from corn starch is an easy undertaking, and starts with getting some corn starch. There is a slight preference to use organic starch as it is not contaminated with chemicals, but any corn starch that is to be found in a kitchen cupboard is fine.

Most people make their laundry starch by mixing a tablespoon of corn starch with two cups of cold water. The correct mixture though comes about through experience, and some people make use of more corn starch in their mixture.

The resulting mixture can then be poured into a spray bottle, and is ready to use. For best results the spray bottle should be quickly shaken before the corn starch mixture is sprayed on the laundry.

The corn starch mixture can also be put into the fridge for future use, although it will need to be stirred and warmed up before it can be used on the ironing again.

If there is a large amount of ironing to be done then a bath of corn starch can be made. Clothes are then dipped into the bath, allowed to dry slightly, and then ironed as normal. With this method though people tend to go for warm water rather than cold, as there is a belief that the warmer the water the less stiffness caused by the starch.

The corn starch spray doesn't just have to be used on the washing, and many people will also spray directly onto the ironing board cover, believing that the corn starch will help lengthen its working life.

There are a number of other uses that corn starch can be used for but as a laundry starch it does the job well.

Learn more about this author, Tim Harry.
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