ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Batik Material: The Traditional Batik Fabric

Updated on September 4, 2019

Color Batik Explosion Colorful Substances Friendly

Color Batik Explosion Colorful Substances Friendly
Color Batik Explosion Colorful Substances Friendly | Source

Introduction

Traditional batik dye resist technique is synonymous with present Indonesia. It features overwhelming sensory delight with large array of designs and colors. Not to mention the unique smell and brilliant dot shaped patterns.

Top Producers of Batik

Top producers of batik are India, Indonesia, Egypt, and China. Others are Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Nigeria, and Senegal.

  • India
  • Indonesia
  • Egypt
  • China
  • Sri Lanka
  • Malaysia
  • Nigeria
  • Senegal

What is batik?

Batik is the creative art of cloths dyeing using hot wax to cover portions in a dye resist method to produces decorative cloths. The method involves freehand drawing or use of stencil to create patterns.

The hot wax is re- traced over the patterns, dye applied then etching to remove wax. The English translation of an Indonesian word tik reference to familiar dot patterns is batik

Brief History

Wax resist dyed textile was discovered in Egypt 4th century BC, Tang Dynasty China 618-907AD. Other geographical locations with similar designs are Wolof in Senegal and Yoruba people of West Africa.

More ancient forms are found in the Nara Period Japan 645-794 AD, 13th century Indonesia. Modern Highly developed techniques are attributed to Sri Lanka and Indonesia. Native traditional Indonesian batik are found in Java, Papua, Halmahera, Flores and Toraja.

Popular Traditional Indonesian Batik

There are many traditional batik distinct to different geographical locations. Popular with tourists we have inland batik, Javanese, Sudanese, Balinese and Sumatran batik.

Batik Indonesia Traditional People Style Material

Batik Indonesia Traditional People Style Material
Batik Indonesia Traditional People Style Material | Source

Choice of medium

It is important to choose the right medium for the process. The dye method is applicable on ceramic, wood, leather and cloth. Best fabric used in traditional methods are wool or cotton.

  • Ceramic
  • Wood
  • wool
  • Leather
  • Silk
  • Cotton

Design Tools

Wajan

Tools used in the design process are simple and easy to source. Tool include dyes, wax, wajan, cap, canting. Wajan is a small container made from earthenware or iron. It holds the melted wax and placed on a charcoal stove to keep the wax in melted state.

Canting

Canting is a small Javanese thin walled spouted copper container attached to a short bamboo handle. The copper container holds the melted wax used to draw the pattern/design. Delicate designs is achieved with different sized spouts. While some canting have different number of spouts.

Copper stamp

Cap or copper stamp are bent copper wire in the desired design. Most are precise wide copper stripes to provide consistency then attached to the handle. Cap varies in size from 1.5cm to 20cm in diameter.

Cap method

A cloth approximately 30 centimeter square is saturated with melted wax. A cap involves dipping in melted wax then pressing on fabric leaving design of cap. The job is a preserve for men who stamp onto the fabric until the cloth is covered.

Wax

The wax of choice is the beeswax kept at room temperature. Other additives are petroleum based paraffin, resins, animal fat. Wax is placed on areas of design to retain original color.

Dyeing

Once wax is applied to trace the pattern the cloth is immersed in dye bath. The longer it stays in the bath the darker the color.

Tools

Things needed to create the design are the fabric material, hot wax. Others are cotton, plant dyes, beeswax, different dyes, etching tool. Mass produced ones are made with copper block stamps, stiff brush and canting.

  • fabric material
  • hot wax
  • cotton
  • plant dyes
  • beeswax
  • different dyes
  • etching tool
  • copper block stamps
  • stiff brush
  • stencil
  • discharge dyeing
  • wool, cotton, silk
  • canting

How to Make Batik

To produce batik a craftsman or woman first selects the material. Then wash and boils the cloth to remove dirt. The person then uses a large mallet to beat the cloth. Next step is to use a pencil to draw patterns.

Then combine plant resins, paraffin and beeswax to make a dye resist hot wax or simply buy one from the store. Next apply the wax to retrace the patterns. The wax blocks select areas of the cloth when the dye is introduced. It is the placed in cold water to harden the wax.

The covered portion resists the dye while the remaining portion takes the color of the dye. The resist is removed by boiling the cloth and wax is etched off maintaining the original color of the cloth. To create more elaborate designs leave the wax on and repeat the wax and dye process.

Steps – Processing


  1. Prepare the cloth
  2. Use a pencil to draw initial pattern
  3. Apply hot wax to pattern
  4. Dye the cloth
  5. Boil cloth
  6. Scrape the wax.
  7. Dry finished cloth

Traditional Colors

The color choice for traditional batik are basic and simple. Traditional colors favored by craftsmen are red, blue or brown. To achieve Blended effect they repeating dye process for multicolored outcome.

Indonesian-batik and culture

Batik plays a significant role in Indonesian culture and heritage. The cloth has symbolic roles in daily lives of the people. Certain patterns are reserved for royalty, Javanese rituals, and marriage ceremonies. Other cultural significance include garments for bridegroom, bride or family gatherings. The importance of the art is given prominence by the Indonesian government official Batik Day.

  • Reserved for royalty
  • Used in Javanese rituals
  • Common to marriage ceremonies
  • Worn by bridegroom, bride
  • Used in family gatherings
  • Batik Day

Patterns and Motifs

Cultural influence on batik patterns and motifs is found in native Indonesia. Others influences are found Hindu- Buddhist religion, Chinese culture and Madura region of India. European Influence as seen in the colonial era on batik patterns are fairytale, horses.

Indian patterns include images of elephants, jlamprang, peacocks. Chinese influence on patterns is wadasan,lok tjan, cloudy skys, qilin, burung hong. Hindu-Buddhist patterns are semen rama, siddha asih siddha mukti, siddha luhur. Islamic influence include buraq, Arabic calligraphy, besurek. Native Indonesian patterns are lereng, parang, ceplok, banji.

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)