batik tips

[Janine]

Can anyone who does batik answer questions and give tips here?
My first question is, is it possible to use those electric wax pots meant for body waxing to melt wax to do batik?

[Armstrong Industry]

I think it should be O.K., batik is usually just parafin wax. The only thing is you should not go back and use it for body wax after. I used an old crock pot that I found at the thrift store to melt my wax, and only for wax.
The main part I did not like about Batik was getting the wax out of the fabric after. You can iron most of it out between brown paper, but I made clothing and usually the only way to remove every bit of wax was to dry clean.
I use gutta/serti techniques to hand paint my silk fabric now.

[Judy Sall]

I have used a cheap deep-fryer with thermostat to melt my wax. And I use soy wax, so the melt temperature is lower, and it does wash out with hot water, leaving no stiffness in the fabric. Great stuff!

Judy

[Susie Monday]

My experience is that the electric pots do not heat the wax hot enough. Get an electric skillet from the thrift store and watch it carefully until you know the thermostat is working. Wax fumes are toxic -- the wax should not be smoking. You might also consider soy wax -- a lot easier to work with, though you have to hand paint the dye.

[Diana Bracy]

Hi Janine, I am not an expert on batiking, however, I did take a class from a gentleman from Africa and one of the methods he taught was batik. I don't see a reason why you could not use the wax pots. He used a regular stove top to melt his wax. He also mentioned that if you wanted finer lines a tjanting works beautifully. He even used a stamp to apply wax. His name is Mr Asamoah Kwabena Epton from Ghana, West Africa. He came to the United States for the very firt time to teach a group of us.

[Diana Bracy]

One more comment on the batik. To remove the wax, he put in into the freezer. He then agitated the fabric by rubbing it briskly together and the wax came off. He even reused the wax. I hope this helps. Diana

[Kate Dell-Smith]

Two more things - first you can buy cold wax which doesn't need melting at all, use straight from the bottle! (There may be times when this is a good idea!!) Also, there is a tutorial online about using glitter glue and watered down acrylic paint (with children, obviously!) which I found through Meggiecat's blog. That seemed to be let the glue (Elmer's blue???? I think any old glitter glue should work) dry for 12 hours, paint with watered down acrylic, let dry thoroughly. Rinse. Apparently only flakes of paint come off so it isn't messy.
With hot wax, surely one of those Melting Pot thingummies would work? They're a lot cheaper. Scrapbook stores sell 'em. (Apologies if I lowered the tone!!) xx

[Diana Bracy]

This sounds so interesting. I will look at Meggiecat's blog for details. Thanks a lot!

[Susie Monday]

TO clarify. I have tried the wax pot for body waxing and it simply did not get the wax hot enough -- at least that was the case with the one I used. I do use electric skillets all the time -- set at about 225 degrees F for soy wax. I caution about using a stove top (if you do, use a double boiler, because wax can easily overheat and burst into flame, its hard to control on a stove top.
For a great book on soywax and other printing techniques, see Rayna Gilman's Printing on Fabric. She has a great blog as well.
I also use school glue, washable, as a resist for paint and dye.

[Anne Marie Desaulniers]

Where do you buy soy wax? Also, I purchased a cheap rice cooker from Walmart to melt the wax. Of course, I used the instructor's rice cooker in the class. The next weekend I purchased some wax and the cooker, and then have never used it. Perhaps one day. No real reason why, just not my time for this technique. - Anne Marie - Toronto

[Susie Monday]

I buy my soy wax from www.creativeilluminations.com/, a candle wax company. Buy the pillar wax for batik. There are many other companies on line, so just find one nearby and check prices.

[Janine]

I found an electric skillet for 60% off. So, I will try that out.
I will post my experimental pieces here once I complete them.

[Diana Bracy]

I can't wait to see what you come up with, Janine.