Batik Info

Batik, pronounced 'Bah-Teak' is a technique used on textile. The fabrics are hand-dyed using wax as a dye repellent.

Melted wax is first applied to the fabric to outline the areas that are to be free of dye.  There are many methods that can be used to apply the liquid wax.  The most common way is to brush it or directly pouring the wax onto the fabric.  The molten wax is left to cool, it hardens and penetrates into the fabric.  The fabric is then soaked in dye.  The wax prevents dye from penetrating onto the fabric and therefore keeps those areas of fabric in their original color.

In Malaysia, there are two major batik types: -

a) Hand Drawn Batik

- designs are drawn on fabric with hot liquid wax, using a metal object called "canting", then with a brush to paint the dyes within the outlines.  With the brush, shades and multi-hued designs are created.

b) Block Printed Batik

- instead of using the "canting", a copper block or a wooden stamp with artistically patterned bottom is used.  The block is dipped into wax and printed onto the fabric, which will then be dip-dyed.  The wax will then be removed and batik with a single color is produced.  For multi colors and more complex block-printed batik, different blocks are used and de-waxing has to be done many times.

Many types of fabrics can be used including cotton, rayon, voile and silk.  The patterns are usually floral and geometrical motifs, arranged in an assortment of layouts, depending on the current trends.