Learning About Starch

The other day I walked down the laundry aisle in Wal-Mart to pick up dryer sheets, and two items caught my eye and stopped me. The first was this...



This was interesting to me because I had never seen it before in my life. Yet, I had just recently read an article here http://www.icanteachmychild.com/2011/02/make-it-homemade-liquid-laundry-soap-1/ that tells you how to make your own laundry soap -and this soap was a key ingredient. The recipe looks cool. One day I want to try it, when I have space to store the batch that it makes.

The second thing I saw was this:



I have never used starch. I have never seen it used. But Professor NO wears dress shirts every day and some of them could use some help in the stiffness department. After reading the directions on the back, I decided to pick it up and try it out.

Of course, one should never embark upon new adventures (especially with the husband's dress shirts) without surrounding themself with wise counsel, so I turned to Facebook. After all, I have 500 friends there... surely some of them know about starch! And they didn't let me down. Numerous people weighed in with pros and cons and tips of the trade. I also learned about alot of people who don't iron at all. :) I found out that opinions vary quite a bit and there is no one consensus about the worth of ironing with starch. However, I DID learn one valuable detail.... it can flake. Now, mind you, the majority of Professor NO's shirts are white, so this information is somewhat irrelevant. But I do iron other things at times, so I filed it away for a time when I needed it.

 Well, within a few days, that time came as I pulled out..... dark pants! However, by this time I'd already figured out how to outsmart the system and I promptly turned the pants inside out. If any flakes showed up, no one would see them. The plan worked great. I finished ironing, all was crisp and smooth AND I didn't see any flaking anyway.

Then I turned the pants right side out and discovered one teensy weensy little problem.... See, when you try to press creases into the front of pant legs while they're inside out, they turn into nice crisp inward-pointing dents when they are right-side out. And they are very difficult to re-iron. So much for outsmarting the system. Apparently I don't always connect all the logic dots in life.. But the Professor and I got a good share of laughs out of it all and I am now one more step down the road to being a seasoned housewife. Live and learn. :)