Name: Carla

Message: Hi Paula,
I  have the following question for you. I have recently purchased sarongs that are 100% rayon.  I am getting ready to take a Batik class and was wondering if I could use these rayon sarongs or if silk is the preferred fiber.  
Thanks so much.

Rayon and cotton are very commonly used for batik, more commonly than silk is, in fact. 

As far as the batik class is concerned, what matters is what your teachers are using. If they are using silk dyes on silk, you may need to set the rayon sarongs aside until afterwards, because there are many silk dyes that do not work on cotton or rayon. Any dye that works on cotton will work on rayon, too.

The best dyes to use for batik on rayon or cotton are the cool water fiber reactive dyes, such as Procion MX dye. You can get great results using an ordinary tie-dye kit, in fact. Don't use a hot water dye such as Rit, as the hot water required to properly set the dye will melt your wax before you are ready.

(Please help support this web site. Thank you.)