How to Batik Cloth

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How to Batik Cloth

 

Make a plain shirt or skirt fancy with this easy - but messy - technique.

 

1. Wash and dry fabrics to remove sizing before batiking.

 

2. Start with easy fabrics ' cottons are very good; silks aredifficult. Old, white bed sheets cut into 18-by-18-inch squares are excellent for learning and practicing.

 

3. Draw your designs on the fabric with colored crayons, coloredpencils or water-based markers.

 

4. Make a double boiler using an electric skillet filled with waterand a coffee can.

 

5. Put a pound of clear paraffin wax in the coffee can and melt it.

 

6. Paint over the design with wax. Make sure the wax penetrates thefabric completely ' you should see it on the back of the cloth.

 

7. Remember that everywhere the wax goes, there will be no dye.

 

8. Let the wax cool. You can put the fabric in the refrigerator orfreezer to hurry things up.

 

9. Crumple the fabric to create cracks in the wax after the wax hascooled completely.

 

10. Put on a pair of latex gloves.

 

11. Prepare dyes or inks as suggested by the manufacturer. Use cooldyes so they won't melt the wax onto the fabric.

 

12. Dye the material the first color. Immerse it for about 20 seconds.

 

13. Rinse it in cool water to remove excess dye. If the color isn'tdark enough, dye it again.

 

14. Allow it to dry by hanging it with clothespins over a stainlesssteel sink or an old, folded towel.

 

15. Use hot wax, and paint the areas that you want to remain the samecolor as the first dye.

 

16. Let the wax cool.

 

17. Crumple the fabric again to make cracks in the wax.

 

18. Dye the material the second color.

 

19. Remove the wax, either by scraping it off or by ironing it betweena few paper towels. Put newspaper under the paper towels to absorb the wax and moisture. This can be done while the fabric is still wet.

 

Tips: Dye in a well-ventilated area.

 

Batiking is best done near a sink. Cover the counters with cardboard to protect them from stains.

 

Wear old clothes when batiking.

 

Brush skim milk on the fabric before dyeing; it helps the fabric accept colors more readily.

 

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