Stiffening of stars 'n' snowflakes

[Horsy]

Hi.  I made a star out of a beautiful green silk & bamboo yarn; it is shiny, soft, etc.  Of course it has  been discontinued, they discontinue only the loveliest yarns... After I starched it and let it dry, it lost some of its shiny-ness and doesn't look that hot, somehow.   

So, I got lucky and kind of by happenstance found a youtube video showing a woman discussing this very issue.  She paints the back of her little creations with a stiffener (Aleene's?) with a small paint brush, then examines the right side for any stiffener which might have dripped through,  and removes those.  Then she puts it to dry.  The minidoilies came out real nice, retaining their sheen.  Looks like, with my shiny yarn, I'll have to do the same.   Any opinions?  What has been your experience in this matter?

Edited November 10, 2023 by Horsy

[ReniC]

I've only stiffened cotton thread projects like doilies, angels, snowflakes, stars, butterflies, etc. In (many) years gone by, I've made doilies, scarves, runners, etc. out of "shiny" thread. I think some were rayon if I remember right and rayon can still be purchased through thread companies and probably yarn shops. I did not stiffen anything for just that reason of losing the sheen. I did however block everything in the shiny thread with rust proof pins and a misting bottle of water after they were pinned down and never put anything in the clothes dryer. They always came out beautiful, but they did need blocking each time they were washed. Hope this helps.