One of the things about the batiks I make is that I use cold water dyes, without fixatives, which essentially means that they're delicate and not colourfast.
That in itself is not a problem - its art, its like working in watercolours.
But, I've been reading about how people make clothing with batik, and decided to try it out, just to know. Bought the soda ash, did the batik, a simple idea of tree silhouettes, dyed it in 2 colours, let it dry.
Then ironed it out, and took my biggest pot, and boiled it.
What they never talk about on the internet is how to get the wax out of the water, or how to get the cloth out of the boiling water without taking some of the floating wax with it.
To cut the story short - I made a MESS!
(then spent 2 hours cleaning up)
But, I now have my first batik shirt!
I ran it through a wash cycle.. ironed out the few granules of wax still clinging on. (I think I'll have to get it drycleaned to get it completely clean).
That in itself is not a problem - its art, its like working in watercolours.
But, I've been reading about how people make clothing with batik, and decided to try it out, just to know. Bought the soda ash, did the batik, a simple idea of tree silhouettes, dyed it in 2 colours, let it dry.
Then ironed it out, and took my biggest pot, and boiled it.
What they never talk about on the internet is how to get the wax out of the water, or how to get the cloth out of the boiling water without taking some of the floating wax with it.
To cut the story short - I made a MESS!
(then spent 2 hours cleaning up)
But, I now have my first batik shirt!
I ran it through a wash cycle.. ironed out the few granules of wax still clinging on. (I think I'll have to get it drycleaned to get it completely clean).
I kept out of the college dye rooms as they were so fraught. As a result use only instant dyes. Love this shirt and its lovely colours.
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