Is canvas too thick to use for batik?


Name: Janine

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Procion mx fiber reactive cold water dye

Procion MX Dye

ideal for batik

When mixed with soda ash, Procion dyes are permanent, colorfast, and very washable. You can easily create a palette of brilliant colors ranging from light pastels to deep, vibrant hues.

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Procion mx fiber reactive cold water dye

Soda Ash

Soda ash fixes Procion dyes to cotton, rayon, or silk at room temperature, with no need for hot water that will melt your wax.

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Tjanting tools (needles)

Tjanting Wax Pens

These tools are for applying wax in fine lines.

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Message: I have been using muslin to do my mixed media batik but I am wondering if regular canvas would be too thick or not for the wax.

Also, is there a way to prevent the yellow of the bee's wax from discolouring dyes?

Is it possible to get good cracks with just parafin?

How does one get the batiked lines to look pure white? Should I bleach the canvas first?

Canvas can be used for batik, as long as it is 100% natural fiber (cotton, hemp, or linen), but the heavy weight and the tightness of the weave do make a difference. I don't like canvas as much for batik as I do lighter fabrics. Your wax temperature will probably have to be hotter in order for the wax to penetrate the fabric, and you may not be able to get details as small as you would on a finer fabric. Try a small project with canvas as a test, to see how you like it, before you decide to use canvas in a large project. Be sure to scour the canvas thoroughly before use, preferably in boiling water, using both Synthrapol and soda ash or washing soda.

It is also harder to get dye to penetrate inside the fibers of the canvas. Dye tends to roll off of dry canvas, and, even when it gets into the fiber, it may color only the outside of the fiber, rather than penetrating throughout. Dyeing just the outside of the individual fibers is called ring-dyeing, and material that is ring-dyed shows wear much more quickly. Pre-soaking canvas overnight in water with a drop of Synthrapol or other detergent before dyeing, is helpful for getting the fabric to dye better, but I'd be afraid to do this with waxed fabric, thinking that long soaking in water, especially with a drop of detergent, may encourage the edges of the wax to peel away from the fabric. Note that the fabric must be absolutely dry before you can apply wax to it. Wax will not stick to damp fabric, even if it's only slightly damp.

The yellow of natural beeswax has no effect on the color of the final product. The color is not a dye and does not become permanent on fabric or affect the final color of the dye.

Microcrystalline wax is a common substitute for beeswax, used primarily because it costs less. You might like the fact that it tends to be whiter in color than natural beeswax. I find microcrystalline wax less convenient to use than beeswax because its melting temperature is much higher, at 175°F, as compared to beeswax's melting temperature between 142°F and 149°F. This makes it slightly more difficult to remove afterwards.

Paraffin wax is brittle, so it is the source of the cracks in batik wax. You will certainly get a lot of cracking with paraffin alone, but you might have trouble caused by getting more cracking than you want. The big problem with using paraffin alone is that the wax is apt to flake off of the fabric entirely in some places when you crack it, messing up the design. Pure beeswax is used without paraffin when no cracking is desired at all. Most batik artists prefer a combination of beeswax with paraffin, so as to get cracking without excessive flaking. You can use ratios anywhere between one part beeswax mixed with one part paraffin, all the way up to one part beeswax mixed with four parts paraffin, or even more.

To get the waxed lines to look pure white rather than yellowish after the dyeing process is complete and the wax has been removed, you must start with bleached canvas. Natural-color canvas is distinctly yellowish in color. It's easier to buy bleached canvas than to get it white enough by bleaching it yourself.

Let me close with a safety warning: never breathe the fumes from hot wax, especially the synthetic waxes. The fumes can permanently damage your lungs. Be careful to use excellent ventilation whenever you work with melted wax. A dust mask provides no protection; a respirator with an organic vapor cartridge is better. I'm sure you are careful about the risk of fire and burns when working with melted wax, but not everyone realizes that the fumes can be dangerous.

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Posted: Friday - January 13, 2012 at 09:37 AM          

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