Making 300 Year Old SLIME for ✨Laundry✨ Day 

Save 20% on your first Native purchase! Click here bit.ly/nativeabbycox8 and use my code ABBYCOX8 #AD Modern dress is from Voriagh! www.voriagh.com/ & all historical pieces were handsewn by me 😀

I appreciate that slippers were worn by laundresses because of wet feet problems, so Crocs are weirdly more accurate than expected!

The 'i'm learning serviceable skills in case of an apocalypse' 'im just trying to make my lunch' is an absolute mood. The amount of times I've taken over the kitchen/living room/entire house with a project on the go with and my husband walks in, notices the happy little crafting dragon in her messy little cave and just backs away slowly.

I think the Crocs make the outfit.

Abby: I am learning a skill incase of the apocalypse. Me: So does this mean ruffs will come back into fashion if modern civilization falls? Because now I am imagining Mad Max Fury Road with ruffs.

Don’t forget that saturating fabric with starch and ironing it, helps keep stains and soil from setting into the fabric permanently.

With the iron, I would treat it the way we treat marcel irons in hair. Once you remove from the oven, test it on a piece of tissue paper or a perm paper to make sure it’s not too hot. If it singes the paper it’s too hot for delicate fabrics.

My inner 90s kid looked at the amount of work put into goffering and went "I wonder if you could use a hair crimper to do that faster?" LOL

My mother (back in the ‘50s) would always do one load in the washing machine of things that got starched; she boiled up Argo laundry starch (corn) on the stove until it thickened, then gradually added more water while beating, so no lumps. She would then add that to the last rinse in the washing machine, and then dry as usual. After that, the articles (I recall pillowcases and my father’s shirts in particular) would be sprinkled and folded, and placed in a heavy duty plastic bag for at least an hour while the water distributed evenly throughout. Then it was my job to iron them. Back then, I hated it; now, surprisingly I find ironing soothing.

Love the shenanigans you get up to for the sake of recreating history. Between you and Bernadette Banner I'm not only thoroughly educated but have laughed myself silly from your side commentary. Thank you for continuing to put yourself in harm's way fir science and education. Plus you aren't the only one to nearly set you house on fire. I've nearly set my house on fire by turning on the wrong burner on my stove.

watch out, if the wind turns west at more than 3km/h on a full moon the third friday of the month in the summer, it'll turn yellow

One additional point to consider: the powdered bluing ingredients would probably leave you with a dryer starch mixture. The texture might be less gross.

Your shocked expression and $3500 for a f'n headset...oh that's so me and my husband! The amount of time and labor needed for laundry up until the early 20th century makes me so glad that I have wash and wear, baby.

Okay, yeah, it was a hassle and a half, but you gotta admit that that cap does look fantastic afterward

I think the history of laundry is fascinating and doesn't get focused on enough. Like, the popularity of laundry starch, fabric softener, and ironing has been declining for awhile, because fashion trends have moved away from requiring those practices. Then synthetic fabric became so popular cause it was "wrinkle free", but that came with the unintended consequence of micro-plastics from these materials. Washing machines and dryers are convenient, but use a lot of electricity and water, so some people are moving back to hand washing and clothes lines.

Neighbours upon seeing Abby in the yard in an 18th C dress and bonnet: "Honey! She's doing something for the internet again 🤷‍♀"

My mom was a nurse( old school since I am at elderly age ATM) and she would starch her caps. When I was older I would help....Argo starch, I would help rub it in and wipe it off much like you did so the starch was in the fiber. Ironing was her job until I was a teen. One day we washed the front of the fridge very well and plastered those caps to the front and let the hot weather dry them. Some of her colleagues had ruffled caps and used an iron like yours but shorter to make the ruffles. She had the best caps crisp, stiff & white. She looked like the classic nurse...Dad's shirts went to the laundry and came back perfect. I find ironing and starching relaxing and now have no real need to do either. Good work Abby, mistress will not fire you yet. My grandmother used a sugar mixture boiled and dipped things that needed to be crisp in that.....that she brought over from the old country.

Bernadette Banner levels of historical experimentation combined with Rachel Maksy levels of chaos.

I know this isn't the topic, but your purple eighteenth century dress is the most perfect color for your complexion, and you look like the most beautiful laundress ever!

15:14 As someone who is pretty terrible at starching without burning said starch, I can say with 98% certainty that you probably only singed the starch and not the fabric; judging by the color. Starch is the devil to work with; even the spray stuff. I'm somewhat grateful it's too hot to wear dress shirts lately, because I'm nearly _obsessive_ about starching my dress shirts. (I had a thrifted ironing board and it broke several times, and I was _irrationally_ pissed off about it and had to buy one new. I'm basically in my own personal hell of being really bad at not burning the starch, but _needing_ my shirts to be all stiff. I guess it's my fault for wearing more white lately lmao) EDIT: Added timestamp.

Once again, I find myself in a weird place where a process that seemed to me as completely normal albeit a bit old-fashioned nowadays became a "fascinating part of history" lmao. I still remember my mum clear-starching older bed sheets & duvet covers, window curtains and even table cloths. It was like only 15 years ago mind you. I think my grandma might still do it on some stuff tbh.

Abby, I seem to recall someone saying (maybe Townsend’s channel, the episode when they interviewed the living history laundress??) that starching actually helped keep white clothes white because soil wouldn’t soak into the cloth fibers because the starch was already there. Water would lift the soil off before soaking into the cloth and releasing the starch for restarching.

At some point egg whites were used for this purpose too, right? I don’t know if that’s specific to the Iberian Peninsula, but what I’ve always heard here in Brazil is that the nuns would clean and stiffen the white part of their habits using egg whites, which meant there was an abundance of leftover yolk, hence the use of yolk in so many Portuguese desserts And great video! Learnt a lot

So your comment about not getting to hung up on the correlation of white clothing against the skin and social standing jogged my memory-in certain regions of Germany, it was a THING for the farmers (the average, ordinary, working hard to feed themselves farmers) to have a perfectly clean, starched white shirt for Sundays or social occasions, always. So yeah, not necessarily only for the upper classes, but definitely something that carried a message.

every time I hear someone discuss an old fashion trend as being a "status symbol" or a "display of wealth" I think that's the exact same way someone in the future might describe long decorative nails. like in reality people just liked them. and you don't have to be rich but it sure does help.

18th century look is THE perfect look 4 Abby!

So in my area's local folk dress here in the Netherlands we had a variation of these 18th century caps until the early 20th century, and they were starched and pleated to within an inch of their lives. (If you google image 'knipmuts' you can see lots of examples). I'm no expert on this and have never done it myself BUT I know people who do, since a few people who had knipmuts-maker as their job are still alive, so I do have some tips: First of all, iron the fabric before pleating it, to really set the starch and get the wrinkles out. Then the first time pleating is actually *not* done with the hot goffering iron. It's done with a kind of wooden frame with metal pipes, and the fabric gets pressed between them (so you take the fabric, put one metal pipe on it, pull the fabric up, put a pipe underneath, pull the fabric down, put a pipe on it, and then make your way through the whole thing like that.) Make sure you do this really tightly. Then tie it all with a string and leave it overnight to set. This way you create really even pleats. Only after all that, you would use the goffering iron to kind of finalize the pleats. With our local headwear, you'd actually take the cap apart and pleat the bits of fabric separately before sewing it all back together (the goffering iron would only come in once everything is back together). Also if you want, I have pictures and videos of the process and tools used.

My anxiety and I would not have survived in those Victorian times. The vagueness of the instructions… I can’t

Not me snort laughing at "this is very dangerous" and the reveal of the pot holder. I love everything about this channel.

I definitely think the crocs made the outfit. I’ve never laughed so hard at someone doing the laundry. Please keep up these videos. I absolutely love them.

Me, watching the pot holder get put over the iron thing: "oh, so this is how she almost burned her house down." Glad you caught it in time!

I think I was 16 when I got told the point of ironing, to get rid of body lice and flea eggs. They lay them in the seams, and can survive a hot wash. Hence why it's still considered a mark of hygiene to have well pressed shirt, with sharp collars.

In Pakistan we still do starching. It's usually done for the traditional clothing for men.

When you use the iron, have another towel on hand. Make sure its thick so it doesn't burn YOU. When you take the iron off the burner, rub it on the towel to cool it down some to reduce scorching. Ive never used one of these, but i have kinky afro-text hair, hot combs on ceramic hot plates was a staple in my childhood. And to prevent it from scorching hair, the towel was used to bring down the temp some before using it in the hair. Note the towel isnt going to be used for anything else once doing this. It will scorch the towel. So keep the towel with the iron when you're done for future use.

I've been starching petticoats, chemisettes, under sleeves, shirts, all manner of "small clothes" for years. I do mine a bit differently, but the result is the same--crisp, smooth things. What's really nice is the starch sort of fills in the crevices in between the threads in the fabric, thus helping to keep the garment clean and when the washing is done, the starch rinses away along with (most of) the dirt. With certain types of garments, like 19th c. corded petticoats, the starch also helps to add structure. I use potato starch per references in The Frugal Housewife by Lydia Child. Rice or wheat starch might be interesting to try. Thanks Abby!

Ach, imagine how many caps and fancy bits got singed the same way with the iron when the laundresses were learning. Fun to realize, "ohhh, that's what happened!" Very cute result when it's freshly starched and ruffled.

They'd heat the ends of the goffering iron tines over a candle flame. When hot enough they'd wipe off the tines with a clean cloth to remove any soot. Then they'd do a tester cloth to see if it was too hot or dirty. Doing it this way would heat the tine ends to just the length needed for whatever it was they were workin on and wouldn't over heat the tines, preventing scorch marks.

I make wheat starch paste on a weekly basis, and by the look and (your reaction to) the consistency of your starch paste I think it wasn't completely cooked. Try 1 part starch to 4 parts water, and keep water on hand if you need it. In a sauce pan or double boiler (or microwave), and stirring constantly, gradually heat the starch and water slurry to 124 deg F. At this point the larger starch granules begin the gelatinization process. You may need to go up to 140 deg F to get the smaller granules to burst. You'll notice the mixture thickening and it will become mildly transparent. At this point, dip a tiny bit of paste onto your index finger, taking care not burn yourself, and pinch your thumb and index finger together. If you find that there is mild tackiness, then the starch is cooked. Pro-tip for mixing the blueing into the starch: mix lightly and then put through a sieve.

“Historical woman singing Hall and Oates while doing laundry” is my new aesthetic.

You are one BRAVE woman! All I can say is thank God for liquid starch off of the store shelf which I used a lot back in the late seventies to iron my Air Force uniforms before they took pity on us and began making them permanent press and, too, thank God the dress shirts were not white! Great job despite the learning curve, Abby!😊

Abby's lucky the smoke alarm didn't freak out. Those things are so sensitive they go off for every little reason.

I'm pretty sure this starching technique is still used for certain folk garments even today because there is just NO WAY with modern stuff you can get that stuff as stiff as it needs to be (think those lacy Breton hats, lol, or certain Chinese pleated skirts, stuff like that)

I love the old tools of the trade however I'm thinking my smallest curling iron would be far less dangerous. 😊 I also recall seeing a video where a former Amish described putting their cap on a full roll of toilet paper in order to perfectly press the rounded back of the cap. The blend of old and new practice is interesting to me. Love your crocks.

That device that almost burned your house down reminds me of old school hot comb heaters. Turn it on, put the hot comb in, and try not to burn all your hair off. My mom and grandma would use a paper towel to test the comb. If it burned the paper it would burn your hair. Maybe a similar method would work for the tongs

Bookbinding tip for the goffering iron; when using finishing tools to put gold onto leather, brass tools are heated on a small stove (I currently use an aluminum top lab stove) and are then cooled to the correct temperature by putting the hot tool on a pad of wet cotton on a plate until it gets the right "sizzle" sound. There is quite a bit of trial and error until you can judge the temp by sound but this definitely dips the temperature so you won't burn the material as readily. Also, the cotton pad is weird looking so you'll get lots of questions about it... Also, wheat starch paste texture can be improved greatly by running it through a mesh strainer or stocking. You can also use that process to easily mix in pigments by running it through a few times with your colorant. This process will work out any lumps of undercooked starch. If you hate this process, you would hate making paste papers...

Oh my, you know you’re old when you knew exactly what the blueing was and remember it being used on laundry day. 😂

Oh wow, my parents still soak their bedsheets in potato starch gloop before taking them to linen pressers (they are less and less now in Poland). Their bedsheets are the smoothest and so well pressed! Plus smell heavenly!

That would be me! Placing something on the hot dangerous thing to protect my clumsy self and almost burning the house down!!! 😂 As my husband can attest to me doing... And all family and friends can attest to my clumsiness... 😅😂😂😂😂

Interestingly i recently watched a video on the Lost Trades channel about an elderly lady showing how to use starch like this to press incredible pleats into the sleeves and ruff collars of the traditional white linnen shirts of her village. Highly recommend

As someone who uses wheat starch for paper mache for my job, I recommend whisking the starch to prevent lumps cuz the lump are disconcertingly nasty as someone with textural issues. I get a cup slowly stream into the liquid while whisking vigorously. If to many lumps are there I strain it through a sieve. We don’t heat the mix for paper mache however heat tends to make starches gel up faster. But yes wheat paste is always that gloopy texture.

When I grew up, Friday was laundry day for my grandmother. She had a process, first, wash the sheets in a slow washer. She drained the water, and then cooked a pot of water on the stove, added starch, stirred it vigorously, and then added the water to sheets to it. She ran the washing cycle again, fished the sheets out and put it through the wringer before hanging the sheets to dry outside. Her sheets were so crisp and immaculate, but as a child I didn't care for that. I cared that I was there to help her. I did love the vigorous stirring she did before wringing out the water, with a large wooden spoon. It was awesome.

Huh! My grandma did the wash/ starch every 2 weeks and taught me. She was born 1898 and I learned sooo much from her.

As someone who’s been hand washing everything lately, I definitely prefer the citronella smell of Zote laundry soap to Fels Naptha which looks like what you’ve got. It’s definitely a lot of work doing everything manually but the results are kind of amazing and it does make you appreciate little details like this because of the labor that goes into it.

Bluing is interesting, it is actually fine iron particles. It works on white haired old ladies to remove the yellow tinge .😊

The ruffles are GORGEOUS, but dear lord the time needed for it!

I remember in the 1950's, every Saturday, we would hang crinolines on the clothes line and pour liquid starch over them. Nice stiff crinolines but they would scratch legs so had to wear an underskip. Good old days! ❤

I think in Poland we used potato starch, at least that's what my great grandma used. You could also use it to create wallpaper glue... or mix it with some mushed up fruits and sugar and serve warm as dessert (its called "kisiel"). Such versatile product.

Abby I get a certain amount of chuckle out of watching a woman dressed in chemise, corset, and historical garments, taking nice swig from her plastic Starbucks cup. Thank you for being a modern woman underneath it all!

LMAO your reaction to the Apple VR headset price. My partner did the same thing to me, I guessed 2k at first, still about spit my drink out when he told me the actual price!

Eeep! That brought back memories of school. My domestic science teacher used to wear white, spotted muslin aprons, that were always starched to the point where they could probably have stood up on their own.

I'm totally vibing with the crocs. I did many job interviews over Zoom during the pandemic and I was dressed for interviews, hair done, make-up done, ... and wearing my comfy slippers because why not? They're never going to see my feet.

I'd test out new (old!) laundry techniques on my handkerchiefs, I think. Less stressful if ruined! The goffered cap was lovely, but definitely a special finish! I starch my son's chef whites, I make a runny paste with cornflour and hot water (not boiling!) and add it to the conditioner drawer of my washing machine and put it on a rinse cycle.

The laundry spanking made my day 😂

Abby, I must say that your ruffles done with the offering iron are lovely. Maybe try a tiny curling iron (electric) f you don’t have very excellent homeowners insurance? My grandmother used to have her living room covered in crocheted doilies and antimacassars that were ironed to crisp ruffled perfection. She tttold me that they sometimes used a sugar solution rather than a carbohydrate-based starch to make the ruffles extra crisp. I was a child in the ‘60’s when she said this but considering that she was born circa 1906… . Do any of you other ladies remember sing told anything like this?

I know my mother was so happy when my father got them a washing machine. No more hours spent in the wash house with the fires going to get the copper kettles boiling for the laundry and then switching out the irons on the top of the boiler while she ironed everything. This was in the mid 1940's in England.

The laundry starch (we called it gaogao) is still available in my country. The brand name is Liwayway. I used it as an alternative glue to make papier-mâché.

i'm so surprised you busted out that little furnace to pre-heat the goffering iron - i'm not sure what it's actually used for, my exposure to it is that it's a tool that flameworkers use to pre-heat glass because it gets up to 700-900F

Not sure how many of us will be starching our delicates come the apocalypse, but I'm here for it anyway. Certainly more involved than the spray starch my husband used to use on his army uniform.

There's a reason we call corn starch+water mixture oobleck

Wool, a nice thick wool pad instead of the polyester pad. Test it like you would an iron to help prevent scorching, a drop of water should hiss and skittle.

now I want to feel the starch mixture 😂

Abby looks great back in 18th century garb. Actually seeing the processes people did that we have automated away is so interesting. I can understand the division of people into the servants and the served. I wonder if any of the higher ranked servants had servants?

This is ADHD abby at full blast! Misunderstanding of instructions, hating the texture of the starch..... relating too much......😂😂😂

I’ve had good results using an electric hair crimping iron. I used spray starch on damp linen …🙄🥰loved watching you play with the slime - definitely challenging for folks with sensory play issues🫣🤣

That laundry starching would be 100% my alley. I love it. I way prefer doing laundry than any other chore. I will now find all my whites that need starching and go to town on that recipe.

Mum and I use some diluted vodka in a spray bottle for starch. Works just as well as the stuff in the can. I know potato peels were a common source of starch back in ye day. Not as much work, but still a nod to historical laundry.

I'm familiar with the feeling of that slime! Wheat starch and water is how you make wheat paste. It's still used in preservation picture framing even nowadays

LOL my favorite line hands down was "I'm learning serviceable skills in case of an apocalypse." LOL Hilarious!

Glad I’m not the only one thinking about my apocalypse skill set.

I'm starting to see the potential that electronic hair styling wands could have on my linens.

My mom in the 60s would starch my dad's chef hats. She would use blue tablets that she would boil. After they dried iron them they stood up so nicely. I would heat her childhood iron on the stovetop to heat it so I learned to iron they way she did.

This is actually super interesting. I love hearing about "oh there is actually a point to this!" It reminds me that people have always been people 😁

"Business on top, party on the bottom" 😂😂 that absolutely caught me off guard for some reason. This video was ✨A M A Z I N G✨. 11/10 recommend. Also, the bluing dye makes SOOO much sense. I'm a person that wears religious clothing that's white on the regular. Let me tell you, white clothes against your skin get dingy really fast. Cleaning with bluing agents helps a ton in restoring the whiteness of the clothes because it cancels out the yellow. Who knew elementary color theory applied to laundry 😂

You'll be delighted to know that I involuntarily joined you on the "doo doo, doo doo. Doo doo, doo doo" at the end. Also, SO COOL that the clear starching works so well! Quick question: does laying it on the grass accelerate the drying or was it just a better option than putting it on the pebbles?

Health and safety, HEALTH AND SAFETY!!! Abby! Although I love how chill your husband effectively is about you almost burning the house down and/or incinerating yourself...

Lol at the hot iron 😂 I’m black and growing up my mom would use a hot iron comb to straighten my hair (sounds extreme but this is pre-flat iron, and hot combs are still used in black salons today). You can test the heat of the iron by using a few paper towels! Set the iron on a few paper towel first; if it iron burns the paper towel, it is absolutely too hot for your fabrics (or in my case, hair)!

If I could like this video multiple times I would. The sidebar commentary was 😂 . “It’s laundry time BLANKS !!”

I love historical experiment day with Abby!

My Aunts used to do this. Thankfully when I came along my grandmother was too old to enforce this and my aunts let me get away with just folding and putting away, instead of washing them in an outdoor washer. You had to draw up water and in the winter bring it up from the spring and heat it on the stove, then hang it to dry, if it was winter beat the ice off to get the clothes and bring them in to hang around a fire. Then you would wet them and blue the whites and iron them, I had an electric iron, but my aunts did not. And that heater you used is a Marcelle (sp) curling heater for curling hair. Most people I know who used them would test it on a paper towel to make sure they did not burn the hair. Great Job!!!

Things I learned today: (1) I will NOT be starching during or after the apocalypse, (2) OMG Apple wants WHAT for VR tech and Abby likes to live on the edge, the burning edge. Love these tutorials, they make me appreciate the 21st century (unlike my current events news feed 👀).

The whole trying not be burned but failing at it through other means is such a mood. Though with me, I sometimes forget I've hurt myself until days later (and yes, I have accidently set a papertowl on fire in the oven because I forgot I had papertowls to soak up oil on fries to keeping them warm in said oven....) Me: *doing okay until burns arm on hot pan* Ow.... *shoves it under water and continue cooking* Also me several days later: *looks at burn* ..... Oh did I do that? Mom: you burned yourself on the pan several days ago doing tacos. Me: OH YEAH! Okay..... This has also happened with bruises when I've ran into shelves in stores and smacked myself with my roller bookbag into my achillies' Heel..... >_> Overall, I couldn't help but snicker at you going "ew" the whole time with the starch slime because that looked kinda fun actually. I could make it go 'squish' and fall out of my hands with glee. And then proceed to forget and get all over my face while I work on the starching..... (This has happened with Charcole, Pastels, printmaking inks and paints......)

The finished ruffles are so nice and neat. I would say that this was a good first attempt.

Abby you are my fashion ICON with your 18th century outfit and your yellow crocs. I love it!

I watched you lay the laundry on the lawn and thought two things: you need some lavender and rosemary bushes for the laundry and you don’t have two toy poodles and four nosy chooks to mess the laundry on the lawn up. I loved this video. I do quite a bit of hand washing, silk and my beloved cashmere sweater. I have used starch but spray starch - excellent stuff on linen, makes school shirts looks perfection and you look like the perfect mum. Napisan is great for whites. Your content just makes me happy, so happy. Thank you ❤❤

Your expression when he told you the price of the VR headset is something that resonated with me on a visceral level. I don't think anyone has ever expressed what I was feeling so perfectly haha

If you ever use that iron again, maybe soak a sponge and (lightly) press the freshly heated iron into it. You can get a better idea of just how hot the iron is at the moment by judging just how aggressively your sponge starts to sizzle. Then you can figure what kind of noise means "just cool enough to not leave instant scorch marks" and what noise means "not hot enough to set a proper ruffle".

Thank you for making me appreciate spray starch. In a can.

Absolutely loving ✨ ye old timey craft gremlin phase ✨

“Because why would I wear real shoes for this? I wouldn’t. I’m going to be comfy.” That’s a life motto, right there. Also, I really like the juxtaposition of the super modern refrigerator and the historical fit. That’s a vibe.

"I'm learning serviceable skills in case of an apocalypse" is how I'm responding to any craft criticism from now on