A Stiffening Experience!

The end result is a very stiff basket. I placed the basket from my first attempt in water with a mild detergent and let it sit overnight. After washing and rinsing the basket I put it in the washing machine on spin to remove most of the water. Upon examination I noticed little flakes of glue fibers which, of course, had to be removed. I used a piece of packing tape to remove a lot of the glue fibers and picked some off by hand. The basket still felt somewhat stiff but the color was back to white; thank goodness! I made another batch of the sugar mixture and repeated the process. Now my basket is nearly dry and I am very satisfied with the sugar stiffening process.

Overall, the sugar mixture was a lot more fun to work with and did not smell near as bad. The bottled stiffening agent smelled like glue and I had to spray most of it outdoors. My hand tired of the little pump bottle too. Also, the commercial stiffener yellowed really fast and when I tried to wash it out so I could re-stiffen it with the sugar/water solution the basket did not respond very well.

There are many ways to stiffen your crochet projects. I believe this decision is based on personal preference and I definitely prefer the sugar/water solution over the commercial stiffener I purchased. Before this project, I recommended commercial stiffeners. However, after trying the commercial stiffener along side the sugar solution I am totally convinced that the sugar solution is the way to go.

Visit the following page for the sugar water recipe that I used along with a few other tips and techniques on Starching and Shaping Your Crochet Work: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Lane/...

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