It’s happened to all of us, you’re in the middle of ironing and cutting all of your fabric for a new quilting project and you run out of starch. 

If you prewash your fabrics like me, you’ll know there’s absolutely no getting out those wrinkles without some starchy help. 

Instead of stopping work on your project and running to the store to buy more, did you know that you could easily make a DIY homemade quilting starch in 5 minutes and get back to your quilting quicker?

Today we’re talking Quilter’s Moonshine recipes.

What is Quilter’s Moonshine?

No it’s not intended to be drank, quilter’s moonshine is nothing more than a homemade recipe for quilting spray starch. 

If you get a chance go to google search quilter’s sewing rooms. Head to the images tab, you are likely to see stacks and stacks of quilting fabric. 

Yards and yards and yards. And the longer it sits in storage, the more it will come out covered in stubborn wrinkles that will need help to get out before you can use it.

There are a couple different recipes for Quilter’s Moonshine, but the easiest only use two ingredients: 

• A natural source of starch
• Water

Starch can be found in a few different places, while the water is used to simply dilute or dissolve the concentrated starch source. 

Why bother starching quilting fabric with Quilter’s Moonshine

When quilting, the more consistent your blocks are in size, the easier your life will be when assembling the quilt down the line. 

Starching your quilting fabrics will remove as many wrinkles as possible and help keep the fabric super stiff when you go to cut your quilt pieces out of it. 

The flatter your fabric is when you go to cut your pieces, the better chance you have at getting identical quilting pieces. Even if you have the perfect 1/4” seam allowance, if your pieces aren’t cut as identically as possible, you will still end up with a little bit of bulk to work in during assembly.

So needless to say, many quilters tend to go through starch like its water.

There is definitely more than one reason you might consider making your own starch. 

I know I’ve been on a kick lately to avoid using chemicals whenever possible in the house. It seems like every time I mop, the puppy seems to follow behind and lick up all the weird smelling stuff I put on the floor. (I know, she’s weird haha)

Instead of stressing about quarantining her while I clean, or freaking out that she might have licked something she shouldn’t, using natural, chemical-free products is one of my favorite ways to alleviate the concern, not to mention keeping fewer chemicals around is never a downside. 

Now all I have to do is get the pup to just stop licking my shiny clean floor…

Once I found out how easy it was to avoid any preservatives or potential additives to store bought starch, I knew I was going to be all about it. ESPECIALLY when the homemade stuff is only two ingredients!

So whether you are are in a pinch, strive to keep things as natural as possible in the house hold, or prefer to keep a smaller carbon foot print by avoiding plastic bottles, a DIY Quilter’s Moonshine recipe is the perfect solution.

How to make liquid starch with corn starch

[mv_create key=”2″ type=”diy” title=”Quilter’s Moonshine (Using Cornstarch)” thumbnail=”https://quiltingwemple.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Quilters-Moonshine-4.jpg”]

Out of Cornstarch? How to make liquid starch using vodka instead

[mv_create key=”1″ type=”diy” title=”Quilter’s Moonshine (Using Vodka)” thumbnail=”https://quiltingwemple.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Quilters-Moonshine-3.jpg”]

Starch FAQs: Why and how do we even use it?

The difference between laundry starch and normal corn starch

Oddly enough, it’s a pretty short answer. Laundry starch can be made with corn starch, but it can also be made with other types of starches, potato and wheat starches for example.

Instead of specifying exactly what type of starch based ingredient is being used in each laundry starch, its just easier to call it “laundry starch”.

Especially if the manufacturer happens to use more than one starch source within the same bottle. 

How and when to stiffen quilting fabric with Quilter’s Moonshine

Different people have different ways of going about actually starching their fabrics depending on your purpose and how much benefit you personally see from it.

The most common ways to use Quilter’s Moonshine fabric starch:

• Soak the entire length of yardage in a bucket of starch wring it out, and hang it to dry
• Mist the fabric with starch followed immediately by ironing.

Soaking your fabric entirely will often get you fabric that is so stiff it can essentially stand up on its own. This is a pretty big commitment in starch requirements but it will give you fabric that will have no wrinkles, and will not stretch during the cutting process.  

If you have a ton of yardage you are doing at one time, and find this level of starching beneficial, doing this in bulk is the way to go. 

Using the vodka recipe above will probably be your best bet here since you can buy it super cheap and in large quantities. 

If soaking your fabrics and then letting it dry is too much of a chore though, a much simpler process is just misting the fabric before ironing. 

This is my go to process. I don’t find that my fabric stretches significantly during cutting so I personally don’t go the extra step to soak the fabric in starch.

I just generously mist the fabric as I’m ironing sections and it seems to work out well. 

No matter how hardcore you use it, applying some form of quilter’s moonshine starch goes a long way in getting out stubborn wrinkles that have a high potential of affecting your cutting accuracy. 

Does fabric starch wash out?

Yes, most definitely. 

The starch is simply used to get cleaner cuts in the beginning of the quilting process, however once the quilt is finished being made, washing it will remove any spray starch left in the fabric and return the fabric to its softer more comfy self again. 

Since quilter’s moonshine is made with all water soluble ingredients from your pantry, the second it hits your washing machine it’ll come right out. 

Why use vodka? 

Vodka is made from potatoes and carries natural starch in it. If you are in a pinch for some laundry starch or prefer to make it at home in bulk, vodka is a great economical source of starch that many people often have on hand that can be used. 

For the recipe, the quality of vodka does not make a difference. You can buy the cheapest stuff you can find and be good to go when it comes to homemade quilting starch!

Want more great quilting tips? Be sure to sign up for the Quilting Wemple email list below and get immediate access to the the free pattern vault!