Name: kara
Message: Hi I have been looking for directions on how to use an Tjanting tool. I am new at Batik and slowly learning . I am an art teacher in Flagstaff Arizona and I have a mixed media class next semester which starts in January 2005. I ordered some Tjanting tools from Dick Blick after I saw then in the book . I have seen similar home made tools used that look like this , but their mouths are larger.

Here is my question . How do you get the wax into the Tjanting tool and transfer it to your material without spilling it? I have purched individual lamps for the students to use in groups of two. The flame is constant . Do you shred pices of wax stick them into the whole provided by the Tjanting tool then heat and then use? I have watched a movie were a lady used what she called a birds nest with paper towels. Do you have any ideas how a whole class of thirty could batik. I have tried the was main dipping pot , lots of problems . wax dring before they got back to table paint brush not offering a thin enough line, and students pouring wax down the drain. Yes this did happen. I have purched 35 Tjanting tools hoping we could have better sucess. Thank you

I cannot advise you on how to use lamps for your students to melt the wax for their tjantings, because I was never successful in batiking that way. I am also concerned about the fumes that will be creates when paraffin is melted above the flame, as unduly high temperatures result in fumes that are bad for the lungs.

In order to find out how to use the lamps, you will have to try some one-step batik experiments yourself, using your lamps to melt the wax, applying it to fabric, dyeing, and washing out, to see whether or not it will work with your equipment. It will probably work better with thin fabric than thick, so that the wax does not have to be as hot to penetrate through the fabric.

In my experience, the wax has to melted and held at the correct temperature, which is between 225 and 240 degrees Fahrenheit, before it is ever placed into the tjanting. Note that this is *above* the temperature of boiling water, so a double boiler does not work as well for this purpose. Some people do advise the use of a double boiler, but I do not know how they get around the problem of having wax that is too cool and fails to penetrate the fabric. If wax is heated too much above the required temperature, possibly at 250 or 270 degrees Fahrenheit, it will smoke, producing lung-damaging fumes, or burst into flames which cannot be smothered with water. However, if the wax is not heated hot enough, it will not penetrate the fabric, and the batiking will be unsuccessful. A good choice would be the smaller "mini"-electric skillets, 7" across, instead of the more standard 12" across.

Pure beeswax melts at a lower temperature (120 degrees F) than paraffin (145 degrees F), which in turns melts at a lower temperature than microcrystalline (sticky) wax, a synthetic substitute for beeswax (which melts about 175 degrees F). Melting may be less of a problem if you avoid the synthetics and use mostly beeswax. Of course, beeswax is more expensive than the alternatives. Pure beeswax or its substitutes are used when no "crackle" effect is desired; they are mixed with paraffin when crackle is desired.

To get the wax into the tjanting, you dip the end of the tjanting into a container of melted wax. I was unsuccessful at batik until I acquired a thermostat-controlled electric skillet. Until then, my wax was melted when I applied it to the fabric, but it was not hot enough to penetrate adequately. I was never successful with attempting to heat wax in a tjanting. You must do the waxing of the fabric on the same table as and right next to the wax-melting skillet, as the tjanting with wax in it cools quickly. This would require a separate electric frying pan to be placed in the middle of each work table.

Even if you buy an electric tjanting, the wax still must be melted before it is placed in the tjanting - see <http://www.dharmatrading.com/html/eng/1650-AA.shtml>.

I must say that I am petrified at the idea of a roomful of teenagers around a number of electric skillets full of melted wax. If an electric frying pan were flipped over, the potential for serious burns would be horrifying. The electric frying pans must be placed in such a way that they cannot be flipped over, even if the electric cord is tripped over. The wax must be heated hot enough for the wax to penetrate the fabric, but not allowed to get hot enough to smoke.

If you use wax pots instead of lamps, each tjanting or brush should have masking tape wrapped around one part of the handle, over and over, to make a ledge on its handle to prevent it from sliding down into the wax when it is left to heat. I can all too easily imagine an impulsive person grabbing for the tjanting or brush after it has slid down into the hot wax, thus permanantly damaging the hand very badly.

Please be careful of fumes. See ProChem's list of precautions on their How to Batik Using MX dyes page at <http://www.prochemical.com/directions/MX_Batik.htm>.

Be sure not to tell your students to use all-purpose dye. A student recently wrote to me with problems because her teacher had told her to use all-purpose dye for her batik, so the dye faded and bled from one part of the design to another. All-purpose dye requires the use of heat to become permanent on the fabric, which means that the wax would melt. It is essential to use room temperature dye, such as Procion MX type dye or other fiber reactive dye. Never attempt to batik with Rit or Tintex dyes, which are all-purposes dyes and thus unsuitable for use with wax.