Wax Batik in Sri Lanka

Handmade wax Batik

                                       In Sri Lanka

  

 

Order like this design, 

Please contact us.

Binara Batik,
Ampara,
Sri Lanka
email -  binara.batik@gmail.com

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                                   Process

 Sri Lankan Batik is made using pure cotton or silk fabric, and each step of the process is still done by hand. The design is traced on to the fabric, and thereafter the colouring process begins – the areas of the design which need to retain the colour that is on the fabric is covered in hot wax, and then the fabric is dyed (it’s a three bath process: the first is a chemical one to help the fabric absorb the colour, the second is a salt bath to ensure the colour is retained and finally the coloured dye). This process is repeated for each colour, and usually they start with the lightest colour (white) and progress to the darkest (black). Once the dyeing process is complete, the fabric is put in boiling water and the wax easily removed. The unique “veins” of colour found in Batik is created when the dye seeps into the fabric during the dyeing process – this can happen naturally or is crumpled by hand to allow the veins to become part of the design.

The uniqueness of Batik as an art form is in this wax-application process unlike the block printing method, hand made batik produces a unique design each time, even if the same design is being repeated. The wax is applied using different tools depending on the intricacy of the wax work required – from the fine-nib copper tint to a broader nib, or small brushes, and even a home-made coarse brush of coir rope for the sections which need splatters of wax “spots”.

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