Make Your Own Pressing Spray and Save $$ — a Tutorial
A hot iron alone doesn’t always get all the creases and wrinkles out of your fabric — even when you use steam. (I speak from bitter experience.) Pressing sprays like Mary Ellen’s Best Press really do help smooth out stubborn wrinkles, but they aren’t cheap! In fact, they are so pricey that I rarely buy them, even though I know they work.
Luckily, there’s a better option: making your own pressing spray. The recipe is simplicity itself. The ingredients are inexpensive items you can find at the grocery store, and the cost is a small fraction of what you’d pay for commercial sprays.
Supplies List
Here’s what you’ll need:
- Spray bottle(s). This recipe makes a bit more than a gallon of spray, so you’ll need more than one bottle to hold it all.
- Optional: essential oil such as lavender to add a pleasant scent. If you decide to add scent, use sparingly.
- One gallon of distilled water.
- One cup cheap vodka (the cheapest you can find).
- One-half cup liquid starch.
Mix the ingredients together in a large bowl or pail, then pour into the spray bottle. Voila! You’re ready to press your fabric.
Free Printable Pressing Spray Bottle Label
Homemade pressing spray makes a wonderful (and inexpensive) gift for anyone you know who quilts or sews. I loved the idea of giving it for holiday gifts so much that I designed this label to put on my spray bottles.
We’ve made a free sheet of six 3″ x 4″ labels you can use for holiday gift-giving. Download the sheet here, print it out on plain 8-1/2″ x 11 paper or on an 8-1/2″ x 11″ sticky label, then cut out the labels and glue or tape to your bottle.
Thanks to Joanne from the Everyone Deserves a Quilt blog for the original recipe.
what a great product ,, I purchase a bottle ,just to see if I would like it ,, I felt it was alittle more than I wanted to pay ,, but ,I am woman ,, so ,,I love it , I could tell the difference on the fabic right away ! I had to go buy another bottle !!! yes and paid $7.95 plus tax ,, I felt that if I had to keep using this product ,, there had to be a web site to see what’s in it ,, and ,I am pleased that you have allowed the public to see your recipe ,, I am going to make ,, and hopefully , use it all the time ,, Thank you !!Lorna ,, or Nana ,, God Bless
I’m so excited about this recipe.
IMy Best Press is almost gone. I wondered if there was a recipe for it. Yea!!! There sure is. Can’t wait to go shopping to get supplies and also to share this with my 3 sisters.
My problem- I never bought vodka before!!
If anyone asks, Carol, just tell them you need vodka to do your ironing.
This.one I did not about. I make it a the distilled water and just vodka. I will be trying this in a smaller volume to see if I will like it. Thank you for sharing
I’m definitely going to try this recipe as you have said it’s expensive to buy the already made . Thank you for the recipe !
Hi Christine Thanks for the spray recipe. I will be trying it for sure. I also have made the large gift bags for the girls. they now used as laundry bags.
Thanks, Marjorie. I’m so glad to know someone finds these suggestions useful!
I have a recipe for homemade starch. It calls for one gallon distilled water, half cup of corn starch and 4-6 drops of lavender essence. No vodka necessary.
Thanks, Jean. Do you use your starch in a spray bottle?
Hi, I like my patchwork really stiff for freehand machine quilting and I use undiluted liquid starch in my spray bottle.
And the vodka may be to help speed drying.
D.
Interesting, Diane. Do you have any problems with starch clogging the spray nozzle?
I think it is because vodka is made frome grains or potatoes which contain starch.
Can I use the powder starch to make my own liquid starch needed for this recipe, since I have not seen liquid starch on the shelves here in Sasolburg, South Africa.
Regards from a lovely rainy Sasolburg, South Africa
BABS
I haven’t tried this myself, but I would think you can, as long as the starch dissolves in the other liquids in the mixture. Let us know how it turns out.
Yes you can, Babs. I use very hot water at first and wisk. Then make sure its blended so you do not feel any granuals.
The vodka is used for drying speed. The starch is cooked out during the making of vodka.
I made a batch using rubbing alcohol and I see no difference. Depends which is the least expensive..
Colleen
Columbia River Gorge
Stevenson Wa.
Why would one need to add Vodka? Is it for keeping the ingredients blended?
Thank you
I don’t actually know, Judith. I would guess either to preserve the ingredients or thin them out. I got the recipe from other quilters and just followed their instructions.
Vodka is made from potatoes, and potatoes are a starch.
Vodka is distilled, though, so I don’t think any of the starch is left by the time it gets to us.
Is there a reason that it has to be cheap vodka? Can’t I just use what I already have?
If you have expensive vodka you’d like to use up, it will work just as well as the cheap stuff. I don’t keep vodka around, so I had to buy some, and the cheap vodka works fine for this mixture.