All About Batik

Batik is a cloth that traditionally uses a manual wax-resist dyeing technique. Batik or fabrics with the traditional batik patterns are found in Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, China, Azerbaijan, India, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Nigeria, Senegal, and Singapore.

Batik - Native Industry
For the most part, batik is a home occupation of the native, but some districts have be-come quite manufacturing centres. The industry is chiefly under the management of the Chinese with the natives as their workmen.

History Of Batik In Holland
BATIK in America is still a comparatively recent importation; brought here some ten years ago, it was met with absolute incomprehension and lack of interest, but its real merit as a means of decorating fabrics has earned it a place in the industrial art of the nation and year by year it is gaining wider recognition.

European Use Of Batik
In Europe, batiks are chiefly used for interior decoration; table covers, screens and lamp-shades being more popular than costumes decorated by the process.

Batik - Utensils And Materials
BEFORE going into the details of the actual batik process it will perhaps be a good plan to give a description of the necessary tools and their management, wax, and various other essential requirements.

Tjantings
Although much time has been spent and trouble been taken in endeavours to supply a tool which would be better and more practical than the tjanting, it can be safely said that the original appliance has stood up successfully against all competitors and nothing better has yet been made.

The Batik Process
THE first step in the batik process is to prepare the material. This is nothing more elaborate than a thorough washing, which will result in freeing the goods from any artificial loading.

Batik - The Use Of Too Much Dye
A fault with amateur dyers is that they often use a great deal more dye than is really needed. By this, it is not meant, that too much solution is used, but too much of the actual colouring matter.

Batik - The Value Of A Dye Record
A DYE record is an invaluable asset to a batiker; it is very little trouble to make and the time spent on it will easily be saved when future work is to be speeded up or samples are being made.