Question about batiks

I usually prewash, but I always prewash batiks. I just throw in a Shout ColorCatcher sheet, and that usually does it.

Sherry Starr

generally batiks don't bleed into other fabrics. ( there is of course always the one that does) but personal experimentation with a dark blue Hoffman's fabric showed the following:

if put in a bucket of cold water with detergent it does loose colour. it can even change the colour of a white cloth

**but** if you put the contents of the bucket into the washing machine and wash normally the white cloth becomes white again.

I have even washed 40 yards of batik ( all Hoffman's) in 25 colours in two washes *without* sorting (and so the white ended up in the same wash as the reds LOL) and everything came out the same colour they went in the wash.

it may depend on the make of the batik and how well it was rinsed and treated with a mordant after dying.

I keep hearing people talk about how badly batiks bleed, but I have not had that experience. The ones I make, the ones my mom sent me from her vacation in Bali, ones sent me by other people, I have never had a problem with any of them bleeding. I do prewash. Even in the prewash I have always had more trouble with standard commercial solids (especially on heavy fabrics) than I have had with any specialty fabrics.

NightMist

When I "do" my own Batik style fabric I rinse out the wax with boiling water and detergent,

A trip through the washer on hot with some synthropol will take out a lot of wax. When I am doing a largish piece, or a piece with a lot of "wax on, wax off", I will go a bit heavy on the beeswax in my mix (if I can't use pure beeswax), and then do a second hot wash with an enzyme detergent. At that point you can usually get any remnants of wax out with one boil. I think that sometimes I wouldn't even have needed that, but better safe eh?

This is one of the reasons I am a bit boggled by people talking about batiks running. You have to get the wax out, and there are only two ways to get the wax out By washing and boiling, or by taking it to the dry cleaners and letting them deal. I cannot imagine either process leaveing any unmordanted or unexhausted dye in the fabric. Industrial processes may differ (and I will bet they do), but how far can they differ and still be allowed to call it batik? I know it's not like chocolate where there has to be so much of this, and no more than such an amount of that, or they have to call it chocolate flavoured. Still if they are calling it batik surely they must have to be useing a resist and overdyes? And haveing to remove the resist and all?

NightMist

All the dark color batiks I have bought- especially navy blue- say to prewash to remove excess dye. Because I have well water with no chlorine I only really worry about reds & very dark colors, but I always prewash because of shrinkage & chemicals. I have heard that you should take scraps of all the fabrics to be used together in a quilt & wash them & dry them together to see if any run onto the others. I also like to use a color catcher sheet the first few times I wash anything that is made of mixed light & dark fabrics.

Jane in NE Ohio

I have wondered about the all one color commercial batiks and why they are called batiks. I had assumed that the duo or multi tones called batiks were done useing some sort of resist process, though not necessarily wax.

I have played about with some chemical resists doing batik style things. Some of it is good, some of it is not. I think that next time I do batik on silk I am going back to wax and steaming instead of useing the rubbery stuff that allows you to simmer it. On the other hand on cotton, water soluble guttas are great for detail where you don't need a full dyebath. The water soluble metallic ones are the total poo for adding those metallic glints that are so expensive when the big companies do them.

NightMist

My stupidity is going to show here, what is a color catcher sheet and where do you get them? I have never heard of such, someone else mentioned, and I believe it was Susan Price, about using some sort of something in the wash to prevent fading, but at the time I was ashamed to ask.

Jacquel>All the dark color batiks I have bought- especially navy blue- say to

Jacqueline

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Aha, a question I can answer!! LOL Color catcher sheets are made by a couple companies. I like the Shout ones (NAYY), and I think they're actually called "Color Catchers". They're available in the laundry detergent aisle at the groc store, Wal-Mart, etc.

The stuff Susan mentioned, Retayne, I've never bought, but I'd think you could get it at the LQS or maybe at Joann's. (again, NAYY) You add that to the wash water, to "set" the dye in the fabric, I think.

Thank you so much for the answer. I have never seen nor heard of this but I will be buying some as soon as I can find it.

Jacquel>Aha, a question I can answer!! LOL Color catcher sheets are made by a

Jacqueline

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