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BATIK PROCESSING TECHNIQUES
Historical NoteIn the Western World, the Industrial Age led to the creation of a middle class, but in its wake destroyed much of the craftsmanship that could no longer compete with modern machines. Mass produced goods have increased the variety of goods you and I can purchase when compared with our ancestors, but the quality, beauty, and perhaps even soul of a machine produced good can never truly compare to that produced by craftsmen. Although "craftsmanship" is probably an ill-used term when speaking of the batik process, the term is used to convey the relation of craftsmen-produced goods relative to mass, machine-produced goods, to those unfamiliar with Southeast Asian cultures. First of all, batik process in Indonesia was traditionally a village activity, and a family enterprise. Labor in the process was differentiated by sex as well as age. The 'bringing to life' of the motifs on cloth with hot wax using a canting was reserved for married women in their reproductive years. Specific colors were representative of specific areas. The introduction of a cash economy on Java in the Nineteenth Century forever changed this. Today, batik is produced in shops. The dyes used on the cloth is typically imported. Cotton may be found domestically, but silk is imported. Foreign goods and influences have shaped batik for centuries, but these influences are clearly more immediate and marked today. Batik tablecloths and scarves are now as common as kain panjang (long cloth), kain sarong (tubular cloth) and selendang. Men produce cap and dye the fabric; and the young women produce tulis. It is rare to see anyone associated with these batik shops actually wearing batik. Western fashion has replaced traditional dress with a few exceptions: batik shirts sometimes found on middle aged men in Java; selendangs; and the kain panjang of women in the desa (villages) and the sawah (rice fields), and those worn by jamu vendors (jamu is a tonic made of medicinal herbs) throughout the island. Handling the canting with the little finger extended looks confusingly similar to the way an upper middle class person in England may have been trained to hold a cup of tea. The correlative image is disconcerting the more you know about the person that is connected to this hand that holds the canting. The pace of work is slow and precise. It requires concentration and a steady hand. A single Batik tulis can take weeks to produce. Eight girls all around the age of thirteen or fourteen years old can be seen producing this batik tulis in the patio of another shop just past the entrance. They impart on the cloth a part of themselves with each drop of wax they carefully apply to the cloth. Certainly more change has occurred in the last century and a half in the batik process than in the preceding several centuries, but even in this twilight a traditional art form retains the essential beauty and spirit that makes cultures unique.
Steps of Batik Processing Here we will deal with the basic methods of the batik process, so that the beginner will be able to experiment later. BATIK CAP processing starts with the application of wax using a CANTING CAP (stamp) which has a design on it. BATIK TULIS starts with a design on paper. Then that design is copied onto the cloth. The next step of the process, is for klowong (wax) to be applied with a CANTING. A CANTING may have multiple tips or just one and the diameter of the hole through which the wax is poured also varies depending on the needs of the design. The kain (cloth) is then dyed and boiled to remove the wax. The wax is also removed with a special knife, called a CAWUK.
Design Process The outline of the pattern is blocked out onto the cloth, traditionally with charcoal or graphite. Traditional batik designs utilize patterns handed down over the generations. It is very seldom that an artisan is so skilled that he can work from memory and would not need to draw an outline of the pattern before applying the wax. Often designs are traced from stencils or patterns called pola. Another method of tracing a pattern onto a cloth is by laying the cloth on a glass table that is illuminated from below which casts a shadow of the pattern onto the cloth. The shadow is then traced with a pencil. In large batik factories today, men usually are in charge of drawing the patterns onto the cloth. Click here to see the step-by-step process of making batik.
Waxing Once the design is drawn out onto the cloth it is then ready to be waxed. Wax is applied to the cloth over the areas of the design that the artisan wishes to remain the original color of the cloth. Normally this is white or cream. Female workers sit on a low stool or on a mat to apply the wax with a canting. The fabric that they are working on is draped over light bamboo frames called gawangan to allow the freshly applied wax to cool and harden. The wax is heated in the wajan until it is of the desired consistency. The artisan then dips her canting into the wax to fill the bowl of the canting. Artisans use the wax to retrace the pencil outline on the fabric. A small drop cloth is kept on the woman’s lap to protect her from hot dripping wax. The stem of the canting is held with the right hand in a horizontal position to prevent any accidental spillage, which greatly reduces the value of the final cloth. The left hand is placed behind the fabric for support. The spout does not touch the fabric, but it held just above the area the artisan is working on. To ensure the pattern is well defined, batik is waxed on both sides. True tulis batik is reversible, as the pattern should be identical on both sides. The most experienced artisans normally do first waxings. Filling in of large areas may be entrusted to less experienced artisans. Mistakes are very difficult to correct. If wax is accidentally spilt on the cloth, the artisan will try to remove the unwanted wax by sponging it with hot water. Then a heated iron rod with a curved end is used to try and lift off the remaining wax. Spilled wax can never be completely removed so it is imperative that the artisans are very careful. If the cap method is utilized, this procedure is normally done by men. The cap are dipped into melted wax. Just under the surface of the melted wax is a folded cloth approximately 30 centimeters square. When this cloth is saturated with wax it acts like a stamp pad. The cap is pressed into the fabric until the design side of the cap is coated with wax. The saturated cap is then stamped onto the fabric, leaving the design of the cap. This process is repeated until the entire cloth is covered. Often cap and canting methods are combined on the same piece of cloth.
Better quality batik may be waxed utilizing canting in one part of Indonesia and then sent to another part of Indonesia where the cap part of the process is completed. On better quality cap fabric great care is taken to match the pattern exactly. Lower grade batik is characterized by overlapping lines or lightened colored lines indicating the cap was not applied correctly.
Dyeing After the initial wax has been applied, the fabric is ready for the first dye bath. Traditionally dying was done in earthenware tubs. Today most batik factories use large concrete vats. Above the vats are ropes with pulleys that the fabric is draped over after it has been dipped into the dye bath. The waxed fabric is immersed in the dye bath of the first color. The amount of time it is left in the bath determines the hue of the color; darker colors require longer periods or numerous immersions. The fabric is then put into a cold water bath to harden the wax. When the desired color has been achieved and the fabric has dried, wax is reapplied over the areas that the artisan wishes to maintain the first dye color or another color at a later stage in the dying process. When an area that has been covered with wax previously needs to be exposed so that it can be dyed, the applied wax is scraped away with a small knife. The area is then sponged with hot water and resized with rice starch before it is re-immersed in the subsequent dye bath. If a marble effect is desired, the wax is intentionally cracked before being placed in the dye bath. The dye seeps into the tiny cracks that create the fine lines that are characteristic of batik. Traditionally, cracks were a sign of inferior cloth especially on indigo color batik. On brown batik, however, the marble effect was accepted. The number of colors in batik represents how many times it was immersed in the dye bath and how many times wax had to be applied and removed. A multicolored batik represents a lot more work that a single or two-color piece. Numerous dye processes are usually reflected in the price of the cloth. Nowadays, chemical dyes have pretty much replaced traditional dyes, so colors are endless and much more liberally used.
Prada or Gold Cloth For special occasions, batik was formerly decorated with gold lead or gold dust. This cloth is known as Prada cloth. Gold leaf was used in the Jogjakarta and Surakarta area. The Central Javanese used gold dust to decorate their Prada cloth. It was applied to the fabric using a handmade glue consisting of egg white or linseed oil and yellow earth. The gold would remain on the cloth even after it had been washed. The gold could follow the design of the cloth or could take on its own design. Older batiks could be given a new look by applying gold to them. Gold decorated cloth is still made today; however, gold paint has replaced gold dust and leaf.
Batik Washing Harsh chemical detergents, dryers and drying of fabrics in the sun may fade the colors in batik. Traditionally dyed batiks should be washed in soap for sensitive fabrics, such as Woolite, Silky or Halus. Fine batik in Indonesia is washed with the lerak fruit which can be purchased at most traditional markets. A bottled version of this detergent is also available at batik stores. Be sure to line dry batik in a shady area and not in direct sunlight.
Batik from the shop of Sugeng Madmil in Trusmi. click
this image to go to opening page
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