Batik Printing - Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh
The cloth is initially rolled on a beam, 100 plus meters of cloth is rolled on a beam and cleansed. Bleach is done for about four hours to give the cloth a white wash. Hypo liquid an effective whitener of cloth is used. The cloth is washed and dried under sun for two hours. The dried cloth is folded according to the needed lengths. The sizes vary according to the material it is going to be used as finally-the sizes for bedsheets, dress materials, salwar suits and other products depend respectively. The liquid that is used to wash cloths and give it a white shine is referred as hypo-liquid and is used according to the quantity of the cloth otherwise the cloth might tear when the quantity of that liquid is more.
The beginning of designing is with wax, the design is got on the cloth with the help of butter paper. The design is first traced on a butter paper and pierced with dots. That paper is placed on the cloth and a light color is spread on the paper, the color settles on the cloth in a dotted format and acts as guide line to begin with wax.
The wax is melted in a pot. Bee wax and paraffin wax are used, they are melt together and with a help of tjanting tool the wax is transferred on to the fabric. A special type of table with a bed of sand is arranged. The fabric is placed on a sand table to avoid the spread of the wax lines. Outlines of the patterns are marked with Tjanting or stylus made of coconut husk. The Batik Printing is an ancestral work and is passed on from generations. People have been in this work for more than hundreds of years, initially working with vegetable dye and adapting to melted wax methods. The manufacturing of Batik printing is taken to a new level. In those days there were only two colors that were being used. Currently number of desired colors can be obtained by multiple dyeing.
The cloth has to be first treated, it is washed and bleached in the beginning. The cloth is allowed to dry and folded to needed lengths. The designs are marked on the cloth with the help of butter paper. The wax outlines are given with help of Tjanting. Flow of pen-like (Tjanting) tool along the designs is very artistic. The designs are marked on the cloth, the cloth is placed on the sand table so that the wax doesn’t spread while printing and also the wax doesn’t become sticky like on the plane table. The colors are filled in the gaps. These colors when dipped in acid solutions get there original colors. Blocks are used to print, the wooden blocks are dipped in the melted wax and pressed on the cloth. Once the filling of colors in the required gaps is done, it is dipped in acid solution to obtain the real colors. Multiple dyeing happens when two or three colors are required, the colors are blocked with melt wax and process is carried out. After all the colors, the base color for the fabric is given. The colors are achieved and only the dyeing of a base color is left. The fabric is dipped in the base color solution and washed in water. The process of dewaxing takes place only after attaining a base color. The cloth is dipped in a hot water solution and the wax gets melted. This way the patterns formed with wax, after dewax looks nearly white and looks beautiful. The patterns that are used are florals, human figurative, depending on demands of the clients the designs are achieved. Large areas of the cloth are sometimes covered entirely with wax and once dry, the fabric is crushed, to break the cooled wax. After dyeing, this gives the typical cracked effect characteristic of Batik.
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