Batik

PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN AND APPLICATION
Lesson 10: Methods of Producing Designs on Textiles: Printing, Dyeing & Painting

Batik

It is a resist dyeing technique. Wax is used as resist to protect the areas where we do not require the colour. Batik is an Indonesian word derived from the word “ambatik” meaning a cloth of little dots. This refers to the tiny drops of hot melted wax used on the design to resist the dye. The tradition is held to have originated in Java, the most populated island in Indonesia. For monochrome patterns the resist is applied once & the cloth is dyed. Polychrome batiks are treated with resist & dyed several times. After dyeing is complete, a final rinse in hot water removes all traces of wax. During the dyeing minute cracks occur in wax, thus leaving in tiny specks of dye. This produce the fine veins of colour on a piece of batik. This crack effect is the unique characteristic of batik work.

In Indonesia a small, spouted cup with a handle is used to apply the wax. As the wax is heated, it melts and the liquid wax is poured from the cup or tjanting onto the cloth. When the wax hardens, it coats the fabric so that the dye cannot reach the fibers. For faster production, a technique was devised whereby the wax could be printed onto the surface of the fabric with a device called a tjap. As in block printing, the design is carved on a tjap block. The block is dipped in wax and block is pressed onto the fabric, and the molten wax is thus imprinted on the cloth. Well-to-do Indonesians look upon the tjap-printed fabrics as inferior in quality, although to the untrained eye they look much the same as those made with the tjanting.

The fabric most suitable for batik is either silk (with acid dye) or mercerized cotton (with reactive or naphthol dye) on which best results can be obtained. The basic two types of wax used are bee wax and paraffin. Paraffin wax is white in colour, hard and slightly fatty; the adhesive that gives batik a ‘crackle’ effect. Bee wax is relatively soft, yellowish in hue will not crack hence provide solid coating.

Methods of creating different design effects in batik

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Last modified: Tuesday, 31 January 2012, 6:44 AM