mercredi 24 septembre 2014

Cornstarch to stiffen thread

While looking for a good way to stiffen thread for rigging and antennae ran across this site that suggests using cornstarch.

Thread Crochet and Snowflakes

The instructions say to simmer 1 tablespoon (or about 15 ml) of cornstarch in 1/2 cup (or around 118 ml, maybe a 125 ml measuring cup will be OK) of water until transparent. It won't get clear, but you will see the milky appearance reduce some what. I simmered it for around 10 minutes.



Tried it out on some silk thread and some regular sewing thread(polyester maybe?) to see how it works. It turned out good. The thread did not get rigid like thin wire, but a length of around 7"(or around 18 cm) had only a slight droop when held horizontally. I treated the thread twice, allowing it to dry between treatments. The first treatment was with the hot mixture, the second was with a cooled down mixture.:)




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