Description
A trigger bottle instead of an aerosol can
Faultless sells this as a two pack of non aerosol spray starch in 22 ounce trigger pump bottles, described as an original hold ironing enhancer. The company dates itself to Kansas City in 1887, and starch is one of the oldest laundry products still in ordinary domestic use.
The format is the point. Traditional spray starch comes in an aerosol can, and the trigger pump alternative changes three things. There is no propellant, so nothing is shipped that is not product. The spray pattern is wetter and coarser than an aerosol mist, which suits heavy cotton and suits fine fabrics less. And the bottle can be squeezed empty, whereas an aerosol usually has product left when the propellant gives out.
Who this suits is anyone who irons cotton shirts, table linen or uniform clothing and wants a crisp finish, and who prefers a pump to a can. The listing also frames it as a wrinkle release aid, describing it as helping the iron glide and straightening wrinkles, which is a slightly different use from stiffening a collar and is worth separating: starch adds body, and the glide benefit is a side effect of the surface film.
The claims, the certifications and the contradiction
This listing carries an unusually heavy stack of environmental language and one flat contradiction, and both need setting out plainly.
The environmental claims are Faultless’s own: more than ninety seven percent nature based and biodegradable ingredients, packaged in a bottle described as one hundred percent recyclable, and the product described as an eco friendly starch spray and as ozone friendly. Biodegradable is a term with technical definitions tied to specific test methods and timeframes, and no standard or test is cited here. Ozone friendly deserves particular scrutiny: it refers to the absence of ozone depleting propellants, and those were phased out of consumer aerosols in the United States decades ago, so it distinguishes this product from essentially nothing on sale today. Recyclable depends entirely on what your local program accepts. None of this makes the product worse, but none of it is information a shopper can act on either.
The contradiction is more useful to know about. The product description says the starch has a fresh lavender scent. The feature bullet on the same page says “Fragrance Free Formula”. Those cannot both be true, and the listing does not resolve it. If you are buying specifically because you want an unscented starch, or specifically because you want the lavender, confirm with the seller before ordering, because the page tells you both things at once.
Faultless also states the product is guaranteed not to flake, which is a manufacturer guarantee rather than a tested result reported here, and describes it as removing tough wrinkles. No ingredient list appears anywhere on the listing.
The quantity figures do not add up
The title reads 22 ounces, two pack. The description ends with the note “22 oz.” on its own. The specification block gives an item weight of 1.38 pounds, which is roughly 22 ounces. Two 22 ounce bottles of a water based liquid would weigh close to three pounds before packaging. So either the weight field describes one bottle while the title describes two, or the pack is not what the title says. Check the quantity with the seller if it matters. Amazon ranked this listing seventh in Starch and Anti-static Sprays when the data was captured.
Fabrics it suits and fabrics to keep it off
Starch belongs on woven cotton and cotton rich blends: dress shirts, uniform shirts, table linen, napkins, pillowcases and lightweight cotton trousers. Linen takes starch too, though it usually wants a lighter application.
Keep it away from several things. Wool and silk are protein fibers that do not take starch well and that are damaged by the heat needed to set it. Polyester, nylon and other synthetics glaze or scorch at starch setting temperatures, so keep the iron low and accept a weaker result. Elastane and stretch blends should be left alone, since stiffening a stretch fabric defeats the purpose. Dark fabrics show starch residue as pale specks more readily than light ones, so apply lightly on navy and black.
Keep overspray off the iron itself. Starch that bakes onto a soleplate becomes a brown film that transfers to the next garment, and cleaning a soleplate is a tedious job. Spray the garment, not the iron, and never pour any starch product into an iron’s water reservoir.
Using it, storing it and the safety points
A trigger pump delivers more liquid than an aerosol, so use less than instinct suggests. Mist the garment lightly, let it absorb for a moment rather than ironing it soaking wet, and press. Work collars, cuffs and plackets first while the soleplate is at its cleanest. Build up in two light applications rather than one heavy one, since a heavy coat is what causes flaking and white residue at folds.
Store the bottles capped, upright, at room temperature and out of reach of children. Do not decant into an unlabeled bottle and never into a drink container. Starch based products can spoil, so do not keep an opened bottle indefinitely and do not top it up with water.
Avoid eye contact when spraying at chest height, which is where an ironing board puts the bottle, and wash hands after a long session. Do not spray it near a hot soleplate or an open flame, and ventilate a small laundry room. Never combine it with any other laundry or cleaning product in the bottle or on the fabric, and never add bleach to a starch mix. Chlorine bleach must not be mixed with an acid or with an ammonia based cleaner anywhere in the home.
One practical laundry point: do not store garments starched for long periods. Starched cotton in a closet is known to attract insects such as silverfish, and damp starched fabric mildews. Starch before wearing, not before storing.
Cost structure and the alternatives
Compare starch on ounces of product rather than on can or bottle count, because aerosols and pumps hold very different amounts. A 22 ounce trigger bottle contains more product than a typical aerosol can and none of the weight is propellant, so the cost per press is generally lower with a pump. What you give up is the fine even mist an aerosol produces, which matters on fine cotton and matters less on a work shirt.
A concentrate takes the cost argument further still. A liquid starch you dilute yourself, such as the Linit liquid starch, gives you control over stiffness and costs the least per garment, at the price of mixing and labeling a bottle. Within the same brand, the Faultless laundry starch spray multipack is the direct comparison.
If crispness is not really the goal and the actual complaint is static or a limp hand feel, starch is the wrong lever entirely. A dryer sheet such as the Snuggle dryer sheet or the Laundry Sauce dryer sheet addresses that without any ironing step. The wider starch and anti static spray listings cover both routes.
Who should buy this and who should not
Buy it if you iron cotton regularly, you prefer a trigger pump to an aerosol, and you want a ready to use starch with no mixing. Two bottles is a sensible quantity for a household that presses shirts weekly.
Do not buy it if you need a fine even mist for delicate cotton, where an aerosol still has the edge. Do not buy it for wool, silk, stretch fabrics or knitwear. And confirm both the fragrance and the quantity before ordering, because this listing states two contradictory things about the scent and its weight figure does not match a two pack.
