Hermes2020
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I have started a batik wall hanging project that will use some vat dyes I have collected over many years.
Since I haven't seen any posts on Creative Spark that explain the technique of batik art, I will describe my steps in making this piece in detail. If anyone here would like try this fascinating art form, I would be happy to give some advice. For reasons I will explain, I only use a class of dyes called vat dyes, but for most artists the more common direct dyes and reactive dyes will be easier to buy from art supply shops.
Batik is the technique of painting designs onto cloth with hot wax before dyeing the cloth. The waxed parts resist the dye and only the unwaxed parts are coloured. This is additive, so if a yellow fabric with a waxed design is dyed blue, the waxed pattern will be yellow, while the unwaxed areas will be dyed green. Careful planning of the waxing and dyeing steps is necessary to get the desired results. If the design contains complementaries like red and green, the situation is more complex, and it is then necessary to remove the wax from some parts and applying in other areas in some of the dyeing steps.
Many conventional dyes one can buy off the shelf require high temperatures, which means that one has to use higher melting point waxes like candle wax and beeswax. I intend using soy wax, since it is easier to remove from the cloth. Soy wax also crackles much less than other waxes. I don't want too much of that typical batik crackle effect in this piece. The type of soy wax I use starts melting quite low at 50°C, which is why I have chosen a type of dye called vat dyes. The vat dyes I use work at room temperature in a dye time of only around 15 minutes. They are used industrially for things like beach towels, since they don't fade in sunlight and are not removed when the article is washed in boiling water. I have a collection of 61 colours from two companies, ICI in the UK and BASF in Germany. BASF have more recently sold their dyes business to another company.
Vat dyes are big molecules that are insoluble in water, which is why they are so stable. Conventional dyes are soluble in hot water and most fade badly when washed in hot water. Vat dye molecules contain moieties that can be reduced easily, thereby making the molecules soluble in water. The soluble form of the dye attaches itself to the fabric fibres at low temperature. Interestingly, the soluble forms are sometimes dramatically different in colour to the insoluble form. For example, some yellows are a dark blue in the dye bath. When the cloth is removed and exposed to the air, oxygen in the air oxidises the molecules bonded to the fibres back into the insoluble form. This takes only a few minutes and it is fun to watch the colour develop like magic when the cloth is hung up.
Here is my procedure, that works very well for me, to prepare the dye bath. For convenience, I treat all the dye colours the same, while commercially there are slightly different procedures for different dyes. I find that 100g of cloth needs between 2 and 3 litres of water to work well. The required weight of dye is mixed with a bit of warm water before adding a room temperature mixture of sodium dithionite and sodium hydroxide, both at 10g/litre. The sodium dithionite reduces the dye molecules in a fast reaction that takes around 5 minutes. Once the bath is ready, the cloth is added and gently moved around in the bath for 15 minutes. The amount of dye powder is dependent on the depth of shade I want. I have prepared standard test samples of cotton, each 100 x 100mm, using a dye bath strength of 1g dye per litre. The standard dyeing time is 15 minutes. The number 1 under the name of the dye signifies the 1g/litre dye concentration.
The design on the wall hanging will be 1200mm square, with some additional generous borders to allow for finishing. I have chosen a very fine, high thread count, quality Egyptian 100% cotton fabric that is sold for sheeting. Although the piece I will work on is quite big at 1400 x 1470mm, it weighs only 260g. I had to use two work tables side by side to lay out the fabric, as shown here from above and next to a chair to give an idea of the scale.
That steel ruler is 600mm long.
I shall be posting progress updates as the project develops.
Since I haven't seen any posts on Creative Spark that explain the technique of batik art, I will describe my steps in making this piece in detail. If anyone here would like try this fascinating art form, I would be happy to give some advice. For reasons I will explain, I only use a class of dyes called vat dyes, but for most artists the more common direct dyes and reactive dyes will be easier to buy from art supply shops.
Batik is the technique of painting designs onto cloth with hot wax before dyeing the cloth. The waxed parts resist the dye and only the unwaxed parts are coloured. This is additive, so if a yellow fabric with a waxed design is dyed blue, the waxed pattern will be yellow, while the unwaxed areas will be dyed green. Careful planning of the waxing and dyeing steps is necessary to get the desired results. If the design contains complementaries like red and green, the situation is more complex, and it is then necessary to remove the wax from some parts and applying in other areas in some of the dyeing steps.
Many conventional dyes one can buy off the shelf require high temperatures, which means that one has to use higher melting point waxes like candle wax and beeswax. I intend using soy wax, since it is easier to remove from the cloth. Soy wax also crackles much less than other waxes. I don't want too much of that typical batik crackle effect in this piece. The type of soy wax I use starts melting quite low at 50°C, which is why I have chosen a type of dye called vat dyes. The vat dyes I use work at room temperature in a dye time of only around 15 minutes. They are used industrially for things like beach towels, since they don't fade in sunlight and are not removed when the article is washed in boiling water. I have a collection of 61 colours from two companies, ICI in the UK and BASF in Germany. BASF have more recently sold their dyes business to another company.
Vat dyes are big molecules that are insoluble in water, which is why they are so stable. Conventional dyes are soluble in hot water and most fade badly when washed in hot water. Vat dye molecules contain moieties that can be reduced easily, thereby making the molecules soluble in water. The soluble form of the dye attaches itself to the fabric fibres at low temperature. Interestingly, the soluble forms are sometimes dramatically different in colour to the insoluble form. For example, some yellows are a dark blue in the dye bath. When the cloth is removed and exposed to the air, oxygen in the air oxidises the molecules bonded to the fibres back into the insoluble form. This takes only a few minutes and it is fun to watch the colour develop like magic when the cloth is hung up.
Here is my procedure, that works very well for me, to prepare the dye bath. For convenience, I treat all the dye colours the same, while commercially there are slightly different procedures for different dyes. I find that 100g of cloth needs between 2 and 3 litres of water to work well. The required weight of dye is mixed with a bit of warm water before adding a room temperature mixture of sodium dithionite and sodium hydroxide, both at 10g/litre. The sodium dithionite reduces the dye molecules in a fast reaction that takes around 5 minutes. Once the bath is ready, the cloth is added and gently moved around in the bath for 15 minutes. The amount of dye powder is dependent on the depth of shade I want. I have prepared standard test samples of cotton, each 100 x 100mm, using a dye bath strength of 1g dye per litre. The standard dyeing time is 15 minutes. The number 1 under the name of the dye signifies the 1g/litre dye concentration.
The design on the wall hanging will be 1200mm square, with some additional generous borders to allow for finishing. I have chosen a very fine, high thread count, quality Egyptian 100% cotton fabric that is sold for sheeting. Although the piece I will work on is quite big at 1400 x 1470mm, it weighs only 260g. I had to use two work tables side by side to lay out the fabric, as shown here from above and next to a chair to give an idea of the scale.
That steel ruler is 600mm long.
I shall be posting progress updates as the project develops.
