Batik is a process using ‘resists’ for making designs on a fabric. The conventional Batik process has a resist or a physical block in some form or the other to prevent desired areas on the fabric from being penetrated by dye. Generally wax is used as a resist in Batik. The block printed areas where resists are in place, come out as un-dyed areas in the dyed fabric and could be coloured differently in repeat wax dye process. This can be repeated several times at the same place or different places with wax-dye process time and again for every subsequent colour change. Batik can be done with various types of dye & wax on cotton, silk and other natural fabrics. Cotton is easy to work with and generally gives best results. Repeated waxing and dyeing over the same place gets newer overlapping results. The idea in multi-layer colouring is to start with lighter shades of the dye and proceed to deeper ones. Here care is taken that wax resist is neither light nor heavy since lighter would mean possible penetration of dye onto resist area and heavy would mean the wax will not resist properly and could cause patches or dye spreads when removed. Batik is a process of decorating cloth by covering a part of it with a coat of wax and then dyeing the cloth. The waxed areas keep their original color and when the wax is removed the contrast between the dyed and undyed areas gives the pattern. One of the significant features if this art is that is very simple and can be done by anyone. Colorful batik prints grace the home furnishings with elegance and style. History The history of Indian batik can be traced as for back as 2000 years. Indians knew resist method of printing designs on cotton fabrics long before any other country had even tried it. Indian cotton and dyes were very popular. The indigo blue was one of the earliest dyes to be used. The elaborate process of dyeing and waxing was one of the hitches that caused the art to decline. Batik tapestries were elaborate illustrations of the art, culture, and traditions of the days of the yore. Batik Technique: The art of batik is a three-stage process of waxing, dyeing and dewaxing. There are also several sub-processes like preparing the cloth, tracing the designs, stretching the cloth on the frame, waxing the area of the cloth that does not need dyeing, preparing the dye, dipping the cloth in the dye, boiling the cloth to remove wax and washing the cloth in soap. The characteristic effects of the batik are the fine cracks that appears in the wax, which allow small amounts of the dye to seep in. Batik wax exercises an important function in the process of batik printing. Proper usage of wax results into an impeccable batik work. 30 percent beeswax and 70 percent paraffin wax are generally applied. During application wax should be overheated or it will catch fire. The common batik fabrics that make for excellent batik prints are cambric, poplin, voiles and pure silk are used. Natural colors derived from barksof trees, leaves, flowers and minerals were used. The rarer but finer Pen Batik saris The rarer type of Batik is Pen Batik. Fine designs are made on the fabric using ‘Tjanting’ tools. Molten wax at a certain temperature is carefully put on the design lines with Batik dropper pen. A lot of care has to be taken since too thin a layer could give way to colour dye through surface cracks. Temperature of the wax is normally kept between 200 and 230 degrees. In the former or conventional method vats or tubs with boiling water are used to melt away the wax. In the latter a small tub with hot water is generally preferred. After the entire resist dyeing process is over, and the wax has melted away in hot water, a neatly dyed plain or designed fabric is available.
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