An economical alternative material for stiffening fabrics into a buckram like material is to use cornstarch. You mix 4 tablespoons *60ml* cornstarch to 1 cup *250ml* water and mix until smooth ilky consistency. Now you have to cook this, either on the stove or in the microwave. Stirring every once in awhile. Cookjust until gelled and semitransparent. It gels just below boiling, sobring to a boil, continue to boil 30 seconds while constantly mixing, then remove from heat. Allow to cool a bit before using. Give it a shot if youre curious.
I actually make something very similar from potato starch to starch my lace and the collar of my national costume. I haven’t tried using it for hats or thicker fabrics and am not entirely sure whether it would hold up.
You would have made a wonderful pioneer! (I mean that as the highest compliment. I am continually amazed at what you're able to do!) Keep it up. I love reading about your adventures!
Thank you so much, Kate! I take my inspiration from my grandparents that were really pioneers in the original sense of the word. There wasn't really anything they couldn't make. I may not have the strength to turn forests into fields or build a house from scratch but I like to think that I have inherited at least something from their DIY attitude!
The video is a bit older but I will leave my advice here for making buckrum. While Xanthan works, it´s not the best. It is closer to a starch stiffened fabric than how actual buckram acts. I know that from personal experience. It acts differnt to gum or glue stiffened Buckram, is not as durable, a bit more suceptible to moisture and also when doing historical stuff, well, not historic. While the Burnley and Throwbridge video is alright, it´s the main reason people seem to believe Gum Tragecanth is the only "historical" stiffener for buckram, while in reality a wide array of gums and glues was used. A very thick starch solution is one (not as often as it is more fragile and very suceptible to moisture), rabbit skin glue was used too and works quiet well and another, the one I am leading up to, is Gum Arabic. Gum Arabic having basically the same processing and properties as Gum Tragecanth, having been used historically for this too, making a historical buckram that is basically the same to the one made from Gum Tragecanth, as both are water soluble tree resins. The best part about it? Gum Arabic is widely aviable and very affordable as it is used as incense and mainly a food additive. So you can just by a half kilogramm bag of it for around 20-30 dollar on amazon. Around 10 dollar if you buy a non food grade version with bad purity, which works perfect for making buckram. (although, I reccomend straining it through a fine sive or cheesecloth to get dirt and foreign bodys out of the solution after dissolving it)
@@withmyhandsdream No problem! And to back it up, most historical sources don´t mention what was used, but generalise it as "Gum´s and Glue`s/Paste´s". That tells you that it´s not just one thing, but many differnt materials. Garsault for example describes Buckram as just "Gummed Linen".
Do you think instead of brushing the gum on you could have stuck the material into the liquid and wrung it out, then hung it? Also, on the one piece that was too floppy for your hat making, could you brush on another layer of the gum? Thank you so much for doing these experiments. I now have a starting point.
That might have worked as well, although the gum mixture was very thick and I could have ended up with too much of it. I might try adding another layer to the floppy one the next time I'm making buckram. It will be interesting to see if it helps! Thank you for your ideas!
@@withmyhandsdream Yeah, it not really getting stiff enougth is a problem with using Xanthan. The main problem is, that Xanthan is a polymerising thickener that absorbs water, so while the mixture is very thick, there actually isn`s all that much Xanthan in it. The thickness also inhibits it from really seeping in between the fibres, and making the mix thin enougth to actually do it will barely leave any Xanthan in the fabric after it dryes, making 5-8 repeated treatments neccesary. Another problem is that it`s not really sticky at all, more slimy and drying quiet powedery, not crystaline, meaning it won`t have the same binding force as an animal glue or tree resin, reducing the lifeexpectancy of the buckram and it loosing it´s stiffening effect pretty fast. It also loves to just suck moisture out from the air. I had actually once mould growing on my Xanthan buckram, when I was still using that method, after a very moist week. Which is another point, mould and backteria can grow on it and feed off it pretty fast. Thats why I, as somone having experimented with it and doing 18th century tailoring on a budged, don`t reccomend it. It´s a nice idea but generally more trouble than it´s worth in the long run. My choice is an actual historical one. Gum Arabic, which was used to make buckram too. And as it´s a tree resin too, with very similar propertys to Gum Tragecanth, it makes a Buckrum that is basically indistinguishable. With the only real difference, that as a common food additive Gum Arabic is widely avaiable and cheap. It can just be ordered on Amazon or Ebay for example. And if you go for non food grade, impure Gum Arabic, you can get it very cheap and it´s perfectly fine, as it´s going to be used as a fabric stiffening agent. The coarse dirt can just be sived out from the solution with a cheese cloth and the stuff that´s not visible like dust or impuritys does not matter, because it´s not going to be eaten.
Honestly, I don’t know. I’m pretty sure that you could replace linen with ramie which is almost identical fibre, but I’m sure you didn’t mean that. You can always try!
I didn't get u r language it's too fast for me could u please type for me ...ingredients what you r used in this video plzzz am requesting you...am not well educated .. I don't know much of English plz try to understand my words ...plzzzzzzz reply me
An economical alternative material for stiffening fabrics into a buckram like material is to use cornstarch. You mix 4 tablespoons *60ml* cornstarch to 1 cup *250ml* water and mix until smooth ilky consistency. Now you have to cook this, either on the stove or in the microwave. Stirring every once in awhile. Cookjust until gelled and semitransparent. It gels just below boiling, sobring to a boil, continue to boil 30 seconds while constantly mixing, then remove from heat. Allow to cool a bit before using. Give it a shot if youre curious.
I actually make something very similar from potato starch to starch my lace and the collar of my national costume. I haven’t tried using it for hats or thicker fabrics and am not entirely sure whether it would hold up.
You would have made a wonderful pioneer! (I mean that as the highest compliment. I am continually amazed at what you're able to do!) Keep it up. I love reading about your adventures!
Thank you so much, Kate! I take my inspiration from my grandparents that were really pioneers in the original sense of the word. There wasn't really anything they couldn't make. I may not have the strength to turn forests into fields or build a house from scratch but I like to think that I have inherited at least something from their DIY attitude!
If you want your buckram stiffer just brush on more layers and let dry between applications 😉
The video is a bit older but I will leave my advice here for making buckrum. While Xanthan works, it´s not the best. It is closer to a starch stiffened fabric than how actual buckram acts. I know that from personal experience. It acts differnt to gum or glue stiffened Buckram, is not as durable, a bit more suceptible to moisture and also when doing historical stuff, well, not historic.
While the Burnley and Throwbridge video is alright, it´s the main reason people seem to believe Gum Tragecanth is the only "historical" stiffener for buckram, while in reality a wide array of gums and glues was used. A very thick starch solution is one (not as often as it is more fragile and very suceptible to moisture), rabbit skin glue was used too and works quiet well and another, the one I am leading up to, is Gum Arabic. Gum Arabic having basically the same processing and properties as Gum Tragecanth, having been used historically for this too, making a historical buckram that is basically the same to the one made from Gum Tragecanth, as both are water soluble tree resins.
The best part about it? Gum Arabic is widely aviable and very affordable as it is used as incense and mainly a food additive. So you can just by a half kilogramm bag of it for around 20-30 dollar on amazon. Around 10 dollar if you buy a non food grade version with bad purity, which works perfect for making buckram. (although, I reccomend straining it through a fine sive or cheesecloth to get dirt and foreign bodys out of the solution after dissolving it)
Thank you for this! It is very good info!
@@withmyhandsdream No problem! And to back it up, most historical sources don´t mention what was used, but generalise it as "Gum´s and Glue`s/Paste´s". That tells you that it´s not just one thing, but many differnt materials. Garsault for example describes Buckram as just "Gummed Linen".
Do you think instead of brushing the gum on you could have stuck the material into the liquid and wrung it out, then hung it? Also, on the one piece that was too floppy for your hat making, could you brush on another layer of the gum? Thank you so much for doing these experiments. I now have a starting point.
Also, your final measurements were 3 teaspoons of gum to 500 ml of water, is this correct? Did you use warm water or room temperature?
That might have worked as well, although the gum mixture was very thick and I could have ended up with too much of it. I might try adding another layer to the floppy one the next time I'm making buckram. It will be interesting to see if it helps! Thank you for your ideas!
I don’t remember exactly. I don’t think that the temperature matters in this case.
@@withmyhandsdream Yeah, it not really getting stiff enougth is a problem with using Xanthan. The main problem is, that Xanthan is a polymerising thickener that absorbs water, so while the mixture is very thick, there actually isn`s all that much Xanthan in it. The thickness also inhibits it from really seeping in between the fibres, and making the mix thin enougth to actually do it will barely leave any Xanthan in the fabric after it dryes, making 5-8 repeated treatments neccesary. Another problem is that it`s not really sticky at all, more slimy and drying quiet powedery, not crystaline, meaning it won`t have the same binding force as an animal glue or tree resin, reducing the lifeexpectancy of the buckram and it loosing it´s stiffening effect pretty fast. It also loves to just suck moisture out from the air. I had actually once mould growing on my Xanthan buckram, when I was still using that method, after a very moist week. Which is another point, mould and backteria can grow on it and feed off it pretty fast.
Thats why I, as somone having experimented with it and doing 18th century tailoring on a budged, don`t reccomend it. It´s a nice idea but generally more trouble than it´s worth in the long run.
My choice is an actual historical one. Gum Arabic, which was used to make buckram too. And as it´s a tree resin too, with very similar propertys to Gum Tragecanth, it makes a Buckrum that is basically indistinguishable.
With the only real difference, that as a common food additive Gum Arabic is widely avaiable and cheap. It can just be ordered on Amazon or Ebay for example. And if you go for non food grade, impure Gum Arabic, you can get it very cheap and it´s perfectly fine, as it´s going to be used as a fabric stiffening agent. The coarse dirt can just be sived out from the solution with a cheese cloth and the stuff that´s not visible like dust or impuritys does not matter, because it´s not going to be eaten.
Can we make buckram with another cloth except linen?
Honestly, I don’t know. I’m pretty sure that you could replace linen with ramie which is almost identical fibre, but I’m sure you didn’t mean that. You can always try!
Buckram is cotton. You can use starch, although there’s a trick I’m looking for. There’s NO buckram to be found.
Use a whisk to break up clumps. If you don’t have one, stir briskly with a fork. Spoons are for serving, not mixing.
I didn't get u r language it's too fast for me could u please type for me ...ingredients what you r used in this video plzzz am requesting you...am not well educated .. I don't know much of English plz try to understand my words ...plzzzzzzz reply me
I am mixing xanthan with water. You can also use gum tragacanth.
@@withmyhandsdream it was not available for my area . Can I use normal gum