BATIK

Batik is a method of dying cloth by applying warm beeswax, mixed with paraffin, resins and fat, to it to repel the dye. The cloth is usually cotton but can be silk, The pattern is left unwaxed. When the cloth is put into the dye, the waxed parts aren't dyed and are left uncoloured. The wax is then removed by gently washing it in warm water. The cloth is rewaxed and dipped into a different dye, so that there are more and more colours. If there are three colours, the cloth is dyed six times, three times on each side.

Generally lighter colours are dyed first to enable overdying with darker colours. Sometimes the dyes seep under the waxed borders and create interesting spider webs and attractive fuzzy outlines, which are so attractive.