Batik Fabric Production

Introduction For anyone who is passionate about textiles with amazing color and texture the chances are good you then have a special love for batiks. You can be captivated by these gorgeous color-saturated marvels. While there always seems to be a place in a batik lover's stash for just a new "Bali" few of us know much around the fascinating, time-honored processes that are widely-used to make our batik fabrics. In order to discover where the batiks in our local fabric store result from, let's take a virtual excursion into an Indonesian batik manufacturing plant.
Batik making is an old art for embellishing batik fabric by using wax, (or other media that will creates resist), and dyes. While batik fabric is stated in India, China, Thailand and in numerous African nations, it is the majority of renowned in Indonesia and Malaysia. In these areas you can find two basic processes used to make batik fabric; Batik Tulis (hand utilized batik) and Batik Cap (stamped batik). This information will focus on the manufacturing of stamped batik.
Stamping Rubber stamping, involves the application of molten wax to cloth while using a metal or wooden seal of approval called a cap, (Pronounced Chap). The cap is often a cookie cutter-like devise that is established in the image of the batik motif it intends to produce. The stamping process begins while using the preparation of the cloth.
Cloth Preparation and Application of Base Colors Raw fabric must first be prepared before it can undergo batik production. The prep involves the elimination of impurities and starch. Often it is done by bleaching the fabric before it finds the batik factory. If the base cloth is heavily starched it can be washed to improve the penetration with the dye to those parts in the cloth left un-waxed. After fabric prep it has been necessary to apply base colors to the fabric before the wax is applied. The base colors fill the surface area inside of the motif positions that are eventually shaped by the wax resist. In situations if the base color must be applied the fabric can often be placed on the factory floorboards.
The Application of wax Following the base colors have been given to the prepped fabric, it's time to apply the wax. Usually the fabric is draped more than a padded table which provides hidden give to the pressure of the stamp. Before it is melted, the wax is in the proper execution of blocks. The wax blocks are slipped into an open pan called a Wajan that sits on top of a small barbecue-like stove. The wax is given to the fabric after it is melted on the right consistency. The batik artisan dips the stamp to the pan until its surface can be covered with molten wax and applies the stamp on the cloth. The artisan must carefully dovetail the wax impression into the ones that have already been created avoiding unsightly gaps in the repeat of the motif.