Starching bed linen

[katepilar]

Does anyone still starch bed linen? I havent met anyone in the UK who does? Was is norm in the olden days or is it something that never was very common? Just curious.

No, most people buy poly cotton now which doesn't need ironing. I buy 100% cotton because poly is too hot for me, but I don't bother ironing it let alone starching. Starching would definitely improve the appearance and feel though. I used to use that spray starch on uniforms and that works quite well.

No, but I've been thinking about doing so. I only see spray starch around though! Is there something I can add to the wash?
How did they do it in the 'olden' days?

I dont remember sheets being starched but do remember people used Reckitts blue which was like a bag of blue stuff not sure what it was but it was boiled with the sheets
used to use starch Robin spray on my dads and late husbands shirt collars

Wouldn’t it make them less comfortable?

I dont know about nowadays but my mum used to send our bedlinen to a laundry, forerunners of launderettes and/or everyone owning a washing machine. Our sheets and pillowcases arrived ironed, starched, fragrant and folded. Heaven to sleep in on the first night.

I don't think I would like my bed linen starched, but when I win the lottery I am going to have a million thread cotton ironed and changed every single day (by somebody else, obviously!). What bliss!

It's amazing sleeping on properly done sheets 🥰

Hotel sheets are usually starched aren't they?

The "Blue" was supposed to make whites look whiter. They add it to the powder now. It stops the yellowing that comes with age.

I have only recently read about spray starch, here on MN. That isnt the real thing, its different substance that works to similar efect. I am used to starch powder type of thing, that you mix with cold water. The original starch had to be boiled though. You can pour that into a washing maschine /I never worked that out, wasnt happy with the result/ or let it soak in a bathtub /which is what I learned from my mother/.

I dont know, I dont stay in hotels ;)

I thought starching sheets went out with the 1950s?! Who honestly has time nowadays? I certainly don't iron bedlinen.

We used to too. It was bliss!

Jackie Kennedyhad her sheets changed not only daily but in the afternoon too, after her nap -

https://www.traditional-starch.co.uk/

I have always used Robin starch using a weaker solution for bedsheets than for table napkins.

the above link looks very similar to the products I have used in the past.

Beware of using too strong a solution I once starched the napkins until they were like boards!

@SOxon I hadn't even thought of that!

Why would anyone like stiff, starched sheets? Just clean and fragrant is enough for me!

When I googled I found something called Simpli Starch on Amazon, or Kershaws Traditional Laundry Starch.

Have you ever slept in starched sheets?

They aren’t really stiff (unless something has gone very wrong) they just hold their shape and feel very soft and smooth.

Yes, many, many years ago, on the days when mum boiled them in the copper, then starched them. Lovely to see crisp and white, but not as comfortable as the ones I use now!

Why would someone want to sleep in fragnanced sheets, full of artificial chemicals? To breath that in all night?

My old Uni Halls of Residence used to starch our sheets. They would remain stiff for days!

FWIW I don't think I've spotted starched sheets on hotel beds, though they are nicely pressed.

OMG I've spent years wondering why my late mother's (very ordinary) bedlinen was always so consistently smooth and silky, I still have some of it and no amount of ironing ever makes my sheets and pillowcases as nice as hers. Even the high thread count stuff, that just feels like tarpaulin and you can't iron the creases out.

This thread has just made it hit me - she probably starched them didn't she, in fact I think I remember seeing starch powder in the cupboard when I was a child.

How does one starch ones bedlinen these days? Spray or powder? I really wanna try it!

They shouldnt be stiff or scratchy. Perhaps she starched them too much? Or starched them and not ironed/pressed them?
But I understand its also a personal preference, thats fine ;)

@JiraffDeSaki Have a look here, if you want to try the traditional starch https://www.traditional-starch.co.uk/about/faqs/

You need to get the amount right, otherwise you can end up with and item hard enough to stand it up. Happened to my uncle once with his nightie :D Also note, you need to iron, thats when the items become smooth and shiny.

Also, if you cant get the creases out while ironing, you need to spray the fabric with water. Just as you iron is usually good enough. The oldfashioned way, from the days before the steam irons, is to spray it, roll it up and leave for perhaps a couple of hours. At least thats what we used to do when I was little (not UK).