Every line on our cloth is drawn by hand with hot wax, the way batik has been made in Yogyakarta. We keep the whole process alive.
See the processHot wax, applied by hand with a canting, keeps the dye away from the cloth exactly where the artisan wants it. It takes eight steps and many days. We keep the process whole, because the process is the batik.
The design is traced onto plain cloth in pencil.
Hot wax is applied along the outlines, with a canting or a copper cap stamp.
Fine textures fill the motif. Wax then covers the areas that must stay light.
The cloth enters its first dye bath. Where there is wax, the dye cannot reach.
The cloth is worked again in wax, ready for the next colour.
Wax covers the areas that must stay blue before the next dye.
The cloth takes the warm soga brown of Yogyakarta batik.
The wax is boiled away, and the finished pattern appears.
Step into a family batik house where every cloth is still drawn by hand. Walk through the gallery, stand beside the waxing tables, and see the tools behind each motif. Some things you only understand in person. Come and see them for yourself.
Want to try batik, or learn it hands-on? Send us a request and we will reply by email to arrange a time.