How to wash out batik projects (before you boil them)! Learn Batik with Jess @waxonstudio
If you're just starting out on your batik journey, you've probably put a lot of effort and attention into learning about the first part of the batik process: how to use hot wax and how to dye your project. But what about when it's time to do the other side, the dye and wax removal?
This quickie tutorial is here to help show you how my staff and I at WAXON Batik & Dye Studio do the first part of our finishing process for all our batiks.
Helpful to have:
-a mess sink
-a "dumb" washing machine (not a smart washer) that you can choose the water fill level on
-places to hang damp batiks while they dry
#handicraft #traditionalbatikfabric #traditionalwork #batikfabric
Hey it's Jess at Wax On with another washout tutorial. The projects that you're going to
see here are from last night's online batik course. So first I wash all of my materials
that I use to mix the dye and then I'm going to dump out my actual projects right into the sink.
This is two shirts, six tea towels, and it's about 11 a.m. I did them last night at seven.
You notice that I also washed my container out and I'm going to speed this up because all I'm
doing basically is using a little bit of cold water to pre-wash what is about to go into the
washing machine. I just like to see the things if there's rubber bands or strings I can take them
off. This is just me basically prepping for the machine. So then I'm going to get my settings set
on the washing machine and what I'm doing here is cold water, definitely cold water with an extra
rinse and the appropriate water level for your pieces. I'm only doing like eight pieces in this
load so I have it on a super small wash and you can just wipe up any dye that you happen to get
on the washing machine. I wipe up all my spills and then I clean out my sink so I'm just gonna
basically by the time things are in the washing machine all extra dye has gone away.
Now we're in the future and this is after the first cold wash so basically all the extra dye
has been washed away. I'm isolating my batiks. I'm getting them out of there because they're
going to hang dry but everything else that I dyed does not have any wax on it so it can go
immediately into its hot soapy bath. I'm just going to take out the things that have wax on
them so that they don't ever ever ever get hot water in the washing machine. Something to pay
attention to is the little cold flakes of wax that will be clinging to your other fabrics.
Just shake them off. Don't let them get into the hot wash. I just think it's really important that
anything that goes into a hot wash doesn't have any wax on it at all so hence the little shake.
I'm using hot water and a little squirt of Dawn to wash out my tea towels and the actual batiks
are going to hang dry until it's time to boil them in class. So they're just gonna sit there
being pretty and then we'll be able to fold them and get them out of the way. If you want to learn
lots lots more about batik go to my online school and look for the next time I open enrollment for
this course. And in the meantime you can check out all of my blogs and tutorials on waxonstudio.com