I'm of an age during which most men did time in one of Uncle Sugar's armed forces.
I did my time with the Air Force; all of it on the ground.
Before the Air Force I was a Civil Air Patrol (CAP) cadet (Miami Composite Squadron 2, if you please).
As a cadet and later as an E-grade airman I was expected to have sharply creased shirts and trousers - "pants" in my time meant underwear, "skivvies." Back in the day when "gay" meant "happy." Times and language move on.
Anyway, "back in the day," my CAP khaki (summer) uniforms were batch starched.
Skip ahead several decades.
Now, if you want starched clothing, you have two choices:
Choice 1: Take the clothing to a laundry and insist on starch.
Choice 2: Wash your own clothing and then spray on starch from a spray can.
Choice 1 is, for me at least, foolishly expensive.
Choice 2 is, for me at least, both expensive and environmentally contra-indicated; the aerosol in the can and the fact the can can't (isn't supposed to be) tossed into the trash (since any residual aerosol could cause the can to explode). Besides, I'm never satisfied with the stiffness of the garment.
I remember from my youth - Civil Air Patrol days - that we used to buy starch. Just add water and voila! - starch-stiffened clothes with sharp creases.
I even remembered a product name: Argo.
Since I do my own ironing - and sometimes my wife's, too - I decided to try an find out how to make my own starch. It turns out that it's pretty easy, and there are a number of "recipes" on line.
All said to use ordinary ol' corn starch. The best, I learned from the WWW, is "organic" corn starch.
While I do the ironing - I want things "just so" - the Spouse does the shopping, so I challenged her to find "starch."
While she was out shopping, I was ironing. Today's batch included two pairs of trousers. Aligning the seams, and keeping them aligned while the trouser legs are pressed, can sometimes be difficult. If only I had the stretchers.
Since I already was poking around the Internet, I decided I'd look for pant stretchers. That wasn't my first search string, but it was my last.
Back in the days when I was in Civil Air Patrol, I lived in a house a short bike ride from Miami's airport; it had clothes lines in the back yard. Under Florida's summer sun, 30 minutes on the line and everything is dry.
Today I live in a short bike ride from Hollywood's airport, but the local homeowners' association won't permit clothes lines - at least not ones that can be seen from the street. I have a portable, single-rod "thing" in the garage on which I can hang hangers. Being portable, it might temporarily be relocated out of sight in the back yard - "just for 30 minutes."
While neither Publix not Winn-Dixie advertised starch on their Web sites, the Spouse did find several corn starch options at Publix.
Since corn starch is used in sauces and other edibles, she bought one with a kosher label. Cost: $1.25 (no tax).
I intend to commander the garage sink to mix the starch and water; the sink's next to the water heater so I get almost instant scalding water. It's a nice, deep sink so I can easily immerse my shirts and trousers, and it's a short "across-the-garage" walk to hang them on the "thing's" rod.
One thing I learned using shirt laundries - starch builds up.
I told the intake clerk that I wanted heavy starch. When I collected by clean shirts they were wimpy. I complained, I was told that each time the shirts were washed and starched, the starch would get stiffer. Washing does not remove all the starch.
My #1 son, a policeman, uses spray starch on his dark blue uniforms. His only concern, and it is a justifiable concern, is that corn starch might leave a residue - white "specks" that will stand out on the blue uniform. According to one source, organic starch is less likely to leave behind evidence of its use. (I told him I would try it on my dark trousers first.)
Assuming - always a dangerous thing - that my kosher corn starch will do the job on my shirts and washable trousers, I will be a happy camper.
Meanwhile, the easiest recipe for laundry starch I found is:
Requirement
* Corn starch
* Measuring cup
* Bucket or deep sink
Process
- Into bucket or sink
- 1/2 cup corn starch
- 1 cup of cold water
- Boiling water to strength
* 6 quarts for light starch
* 4 quarts for medium starch
* 2 quarts for heavy starch
* Immerse clothes so all surfaces are covered in the starch solution.
* Hang clothes to dry
* If you use "pant" stretchers, insert them into the trouser legs before hanging the garment to dry.
Iron with a steam iron or sprinkle the clothing before pressing.
Excess solution can be saved, but be sure to shake it vigorously and thoroughly before using.
