Has anyone come across a starcher as an occupation?

[Doris49]

Me too.  I have learned so much about starchers and hecklers.  If I ever come across an occupation in my family history research, that I have never heard of, I will definitely know where to come for the answer.  Thanks everyone 

[Rena]

Good woollen  cloth would not be actually starched,starch is made with boiling water ,diluted and the cloth would have to be immersed.
The front of suits for example would have a lining of quite stiff material , not fused to the wool cloth but as an interfacing, buckram was a frequent choice.
It would be basted ( slip stitched)to the wool material.
The same with the front of woollen top coats.
Cotton, and linen would certainly  be starched  as for example tablecloths and napkins.
Poor quality suits were not so well made  and  an old trick was to rub soap on the wrong side of cheap suiting, to give it some firmness but it did not last long.
Viktoria.

Thanks for that Victoria.  I just couldn't find the grey cell that held the method of thickening the woollen cloth.  Well the brain train has finally now arrived and I've remembered it was Fullers Earth for wool. I'm still missing another word that was used by the dry cleaner when (s)he asked if you also wanted "-x-"  which cost extra)

"Fulling, also known as tucking or walking (Scots: waukin, hence often spelled waulking in Scottish English), is a step in woollen clothmaking which involves the cleansing of cloth (particularly wool) to eliminate oils, dirt, and other impurities, and to make it thicker."

"Fullers earth. A hydrous silicate of Alumina, now called Montmorillonite or Bentonite. In lay terms a finely divided and strongly absorbent CLAY, used in cleansing WOOLLEN CLOTH before applying SOAP, hence the terms 'Fulling' and 'Fuller'. This action was possible because of the affinity of the alumina to grease."

[ainslie]

Retexturing, or Textone as used by one large multiple.

[Skoosh]

My old Rayburn up north is insulated with fullers Earth! 

Skoosh

[Rena]

My old Rayburn up north is insulated with fullers Earth! 

Skoosh

I used to use it on baby's bottom as an "insulation" against urine 

[Maiden Stone]

I used to use it on baby's bottom as an "insulation" against urine 

Also used as cat litter. It was recommended to me for young kittens; supposedly less harmful if they ate some - no hard bits to choke on. Messy though. Paws and faces needed wiping after each toilet visit. "Now wash your paws."  Heavy too.

[Viktoria]

Hereabouts “ Lant “ was collected, that is a polite name for urine.
The woollen cloth was put in vats of lant and soaked ,then pounded by big wooden hammers in the fulling machines.
It thickened the cloth,removed the lanolin grease from the sheep’swool and so allowed dying .
Then it was stretched on  tenterhooks and the nap was raised by teasels set into frames.
Wonderful museum at Helmshore Lancashire does the whole process .
Ammonia can be used but people actually sold the contents of chamber pots!
Can you visualise the wonderful scarlet  facecloth velour used for Guardsmen’s uniforms.
The museum was closed as an economy but I believe it is open again.
There was a collection point at the top of Bury  New Road in Ramsbottom...,just after leaving the motorway.
I think Fuller’s Earth was a more pleasant replacement for urine .
In the islands where Tweed was produced it was a home industry,no machines etc.
Women worked at tables to condition the cloth, make it soft and this was done by putting it on a long table and it would be turned and rolled and    squozen  by the women.( is there such a word as squozen?)
I am sure I have seen on an old film that they also trod the cloth in wide wooden vats but most references to waulking show the tables where the women worked the cloth.
Harris Tweed did have a distinctive smell!
 I had forgotten about Fuller’s Earth.
Viktoria.

Genuine Harris did have its own distinctive smell!

[Skoosh]

Urine also used for bleaching linen so collected round the doors. How much for a chanty (chamber pot) full & how did the piss-taker know it wasn't watered? 

Here Charles Tennant invents bleaching powder in Glasgow & the urine Cart hit the buffers! Did very well for himself, his descendants led the life of Riley on Mustique!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Tennant

Skoosh.

[Maiden Stone]

Listening to Hilary Mantel talking about the 3rd book of her Thomas Cromwell trilogy on Radio 4 this morning, I learned that a reason for King Henry marrying Anne of Cleves was to secure supplies of alum for dyeing cloth. Two other states with large supplies of alum had fallen out with Henry because of the English Reformation, so it was essential to make an alternative trade deal.