| Show starch affects fabric stiffness and strength the kind of starch used in finishing a cotton fabric not only decides its stiffness but also may affect its strength reports mrs margaret furry textile chemist of uie the bureau of home economics economical Eco nomica who has recently made a series of starch investigations to learn whether starching makes fabrics more durable miss furry tested the breaking strength of plain weave wave cottons ot of different weights which had been finished with starch made from potato sweet potato corn rice wheat cana canna and dasheen as well as aa with four commercial or nio ditled starches j she found that potato canna and sweet potato starch gave fabric the greatest strength and that next in order were corn rice dasheen and wheat starches mod filed starches did not effect the strength of the fabric miss furry found that thai starch that pene artes tho the fabric well gives the least strength and the most stretch whereas those that form a coating over the fabric gave the greatest strength i and the least leaah stretch in ili her study of stiff stiffness ne miss furry found that canna starch had the greatest stiff stiffening ning power with dasheen second and wheat rice sweet potato corn and white potato following in their order each bach of these starches ataro hes gave a characteristic finish and wheat starch a softer more pliable finish cornstarch is the most commonly used starch in this country and can bo be modified fled to give different effects eff ecta many of the commercial starches on the market are cornstarch treated with heat or acid or combined with borix borax wax soap or some softening oil or tat miss furry finds that borax makes stai ch paste pasta thicker gives it greater stiffening power and also helps prevent it from burning under the iron fat soap or ar wax added to starch helps the mixture to penetrate the tha fabric and makes u h softer smother finish ellei to iron |
