How to quickly and efficiently starch a medical or chef's hat?

A clean and dense headgear of a certain shape is not only a convenient device, but also an indicator of accuracy, and, therefore, the professionalism of a cook or medical worker. To always maintain it in perfect condition, you need to know how to starch the cap, how to properly prepare it and carry out the final stage of processing.

The procedure itself is quite simple, but there are several nuances, compliance with which will allow you to get the perfect result. To influence the fabric, you can use a gelatin solution or PVA glue, but you can’t achieve a better result than using traditional starch.

Tip: It is strictly forbidden to starch medical and cook caps with sugar. The headgear will attract the attention of insects, which is unacceptable in both cases.

Fabric preparation and starching procedure

First of all, the product must be washed and cleaned of all stains. Especially persistent formations will help to cope with hydrogen peroxide. Just apply the composition to the dirt and leave the cap in the sun. After the stains disappear, we erase the item and proceed to its starching:

1. For a liter of water we take a tea, tablespoon or two tablespoons of potato starch. In the first case, the fixation will be soft, but doctors and cooks use it very rarely. In the second case, it will be possible to achieve an average tissue density, in the third - the maximum possible stiffness.
2. We put starch in a glass or enameled container, gradually pour cold water into it, constantly stirring the composition. First you need to pour so much liquid so that the mass resembles thick sour cream. Boil the rest of the water and slowly pour into the resulting product, stirring it thoroughly. After this, some people prefer to boil the solution for three minutes until it becomes clear.
3. In a slightly warm product, we lower the cooker's or medical cap, we achieve its uniform impregnation, but do not soak for a long time. Then we take out the product and squeeze it lightly, moving our hands from top to bottom. Twisting the fabric is strictly forbidden, from such an aggressive effect, creases will go on it, which will be difficult to straighten.
4. The last step is drying the item, which implies a certain specificity.

The cook’s cap is very tall, often of complex shape, it is recommended for him to prepare a drying mold in advance. It can be made from cardboard fastened with tape. It’s enough to put the headdress of a health care provider on a glass jar of a suitable size.

We wait until the product dries completely and only then remove it from the mold. Exposure to artificial heat is allowed; it is best to use a hair dryer with a supply of warm air.

Features of working with hats

When working with a cap of a cook or a paramedic, you need to take into account the features of hats and professions, otherwise the end result will be far from ideal:

• Often, cook caps are tall and elongated. Keeping this amount of tissue in position is possible only with the maximum possible fixation. It is necessary to study the matter very carefully, if during the procedure even a small area will go unnoticed, the hood will go and the manipulation will have to be started again.
• If the maximum rigidity was used during processing, then the product does not need to be ironed. The average degree of processing from subsequent ironing will only strengthen and the thing will take a more accurate appearance.
• Chef's caps of an irregular shape (with waves in the upper part) require the preparation of two types of composition, hard on a flat part and medium on a curly one. In this case, first the product is completely immersed in the medium solution and squeezed out. Then part of the subject is immersed in a strong solution and again wrung out. Then you can start shaping and fixing.
• For ironing hats, you can use only powerful irons with a steaming function, this will avoid the formation of folds and creases on the fabric.
• Today, in addition to traditional starch, special detergents with a fixing effect, profile fixative sprays, liquid starch can be used to treat hats. The end result and the principle of working with them is about the same, but it takes much less time to manipulate.

If the cap begins to lose its density and shape, do not just subject it to reprocessing, especially partial. First, the product will have to be washed, otherwise a uniform distribution of the composition cannot be achieved. Do not worry that the fabric will suffer from such frequent exposure to starch, the natural product does not adversely affect the fibers.