How to Harden Ribbon

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Things You'll Need

  • Towel

  • Scissors

  • Ribbon

  • Liquid spray starch

  • Ironing board

  • Iron

Making ribbon hard helps the ribbon hold its shape.

Ribbon is used to embellish clothing and home accessories. It is also used in creating hair bows. However, some ribbon has trouble keeping the desired shape. Instead of standing up, it droops and looks floppy. Ribbon hardened with a liquid starch keeps the shape when made into bows and it will lay flatter when used in projects like scrapbooking or card making. Spray starch is easily available in laundry supply aisles of the local grocery.

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Step 1

Lay the towel flat on the work surface. The towel protects the work surface from being sprayed with starch.

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Step 2

Cut the ribbon to the length needed for its desired use and lay if flat on the towel.

Step 3

Spray the starch evenly over the ribbon until damp. Turn the ribbon over and spray the other side.

Step 4

Transfer the ribbon onto the ironing board and smooth it out until the ribbon is flat.

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Step 5

Iron the ribbon with a low to medium setting until dry. This will only take a minute. Be careful to not scorch the ribbon by over ironing.

Step 6

Check the hardness of the ribbon. Apply a second application of starch, followed by ironing, if a harder ribbon is desired.

Tip

Test the spray starch on a sample swatch of ribbon before hardening the entire piece. This will help you see how the ribbon responds to the starch and heat.

Harden ribbon bows by spraying them with starch or hair spray and then dry them with a hair dryer on the lowest setting.

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