A resist –dyed fabric that has an intricate , colourful pattern. Selected areas of the fabric that is to be dyed are treated with wax, aprotective resist material , in a prede-termined pattern. When the fabric is subsequently dyed, the areas protected by the wax remain undyed. Theresult is usually a pale-coloured pattern against a darker dyed back-ground. Sometimes the wax resist is made to crack on purpose, so that the dye will seep into the unprotected areas underneath , producing a characteristic ‘veining’ pattern.
Any fabric may be batik dyed, but cotton and silk fabrics are probably the most frequently used. The wax resist in the form of a pattern is applied to the (usually) ini-tially white fabric , using a brush or a tjanting – a metal tool from which the hot liquid wax is poured. After dyeing , the wax is removed by ironing, by boiling the fabric or by applying a solvent. The result is white pattern againsta coloured ground. More com-plex patterns may be produced with further applications of wax and further overdyeings using different colours. The batik process has been used since antiquity. The best known batiks come from Indonesia, particularly batik-effect fabrics are also mass-produced by printing. Other resist-dyed fabric that can have similar effects to batik include chine fabrics, ikat and tie-dyed fabric.
See also DYED FABRICS, RESIST-DYED FABRIC.
End user: lightweight summer clothing, curtain, wall hangins and artworks.