What Is Best Press Spray Starch?
Best Press is a starch and sizing alternative used as an ironing spray when you press fabric. This version comes in the Linen Fresh scent in a gallon refill size — a 1-gallon plastic bottle meant to keep your pressing station stocked through many projects without running back for a small bottle in the middle of a quilt.
According to the product description, Best Press has been a best seller for years, and it was developed to solve the familiar frustrations of ordinary spray starch. With Best Press, there is no flaking, clogging, or white residue on dark fabrics. It also includes a special stain shield that protects fabrics, and it helps resist wrinkles — so pressed pieces stay smoother while you work with them.
Why Quilters and Sewists Use It
Pressing is not a finishing step in quilting; it happens at almost every stage. You press yardage before cutting, press seams as you piece, and press finished blocks before assembly. A spray that leaves flakes or a white film can undo that work, especially on dark fabrics where residue shows up most.
That is why the no-residue claims matter here. A pressing spray that does not flake or leave white marks lets you press dark backgrounds, borders, and binding with the same confidence you bring to light prints. The wrinkle resistance also helps pieces hold their press while they wait to be sewn, instead of relaxing back into creases on the cutting table.
The gallon refill size suits quilters who press often. If Best Press is already your everyday spray, buying it by the gallon keeps a refill on hand for the smaller spray bottle you use at the iron.
How to Use It, Step by Step
- Start with the refill. Use the gallon bottle to refill your spray bottle, then set the gallon aside in storage. Work from the spray bottle at your ironing surface.
- Lay the fabric flat. Place the yardage, block, or seamed unit flat on your ironing board, smoothing out folds with your hands first.
- Mist lightly and evenly. Spray a light, even coating over the area you are about to press. You are dampening the fabric to help the press take, not soaking it.
- Press, do not slide. Set the iron down, press, then lift and move to the next section. Pressing in place gives you a crisper result and avoids stretching bias edges or distorting a block.
- Check dark fabrics as you go. On dark fabric, press a section and look at it in good light. Used as directed, Best Press is made to leave no flaking or white residue behind.
- Let it cool flat. Leave the pressed piece flat for a moment before stacking or sewing it, so the press sets and the wrinkle resistance can do its work.
Practical Tips
Press before you cut. A smooth, stable piece of yardage cuts more accurately than a wrinkled one. A light mist and a good press before the rotary cutter comes out pays off in strips that stay true.
Use it at every piecing stage. Press seams as soon as they are sewn, and give finished blocks a final press before assembly. Consistent pressing is one of the simplest ways to get seams that nest and points that line up.
Keep the spray bottle filled. Top up your working bottle from the gallon refill before a big pressing session, so you never have to stop mid-project.
Care and Storage
Store the gallon bottle upright with the cap closed, with your other pressing supplies, so refills are quick. Keep your filled spray bottle at the ironing board, and check it before large projects so you can refill in advance rather than mid-press.
Project Ideas
Reach for Best Press when pressing yardage before cutting a new quilt, flattening pieced blocks before assembly, pressing dark backgrounds and borders where ordinary starch might show, and giving a finished quilt top a final smooth press before it goes to the longarm or under the machine for quilting.
Shop the Best Press Spray Starch Linen Fresh Gallon Refill Size at Linda's Electric Quilters.
