The Art Of Batik

What Is The Art Of Batik

The art of batik is an ancient technique of hand-stamped or hand-drawn wax resist dyeing of fabric, and is thousands of years old. Batik making is a skill handed down through the generations by batik making artisans. At Senada Batik Bali, we cherish the rich history surrounding Indonesian batik, and work with our batik artisans in keeping this traditional Indonesian art of batik form alive.

Batik plays an important role in Indonesian daily life, its history, and its culture. The Indonesian people are proud of the recognition given by The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in listing Indonesian art of batik as a genuine cultural heritage of Indonesia.

“Authentic batik fabric, handmade by artisans.”

Authentic Handmade Batik

All of Senada Batik Bali fabrics are handmade using authentic, traditional wax resist, hand stamped “tjap” (copper stamp) batik making methods. We ensure our batik artisans follow authentic, wax resist, art of batik fabric making techniques. Keep it authentic!

Quality Workmanship

Quality is very important to us at Senada Batik Bali. Our skilled batik making craftsmen are energetic and passionate about the art of batik, and take great care in producing a beautiful, superior quality, authentic, handmade batik fabric product.

Quality Materials

We only use high quality raw materials in all our batik fabric production; high quality ready for dye fabrics, high quality colour dyes, and high quality waxes. Our care to superior quality is reflected in the end product, beautifully handcrafted art of batik fabrics, used to create our wonderful batik fabric resort wear products.

Batik Making

Traditional Batik Fabric Making

Our batik fabrics are handmade using traditional, authentic, Indonesian wax resist art of batik making methods; hand stamped, and hand dyed by artisans. Each creation of batik fabric, is a unique, individually handcrafted piece of fabric art. Available in several fabric types, in a range of fresh vibrant colours, and original motif designs.

Step By Step Process

The first step in making batik fabric is to wash the ready for dye (RFD) white fabric to remove any impurities before the first applications of colour dyes or waxes are applied to the fabric.
The next step is to immerse the RFD white fabric in colour dye to achieve a base colour for the first, of possibly several, batik motif designs. The fabric is then allowed to dry before continuing to the next step.
The batik stamp (tjap) is dipped in hot wax and then the wax is applied by hand stamping the copper "tjap" (stamp) to the fabric, after which it is immersed in the next contrasting colour dye. The colour under the wax is preserved because the wax resists penetration of the colour dye.
After allowing the fabric to dry once more, it is then boiled in hot water to dissolve and remove all the previous applied wax. The fabric is dried again so the batik stamp waxing, dying, and boiling process can be repeated until all the different colours and motif designs have been completed.
Certain processes can be repeated several more times before completion of the final batik fabric product, this requires great patience and skill from an experienced batik craftsman.
The final step in the batik fabric making process is to boil the fabric one last time, this dissolves all the remaining wax and results in a beautifully finished handmade batik fabric product.

Quality Batik Production

Our batik craftsmen are skilled artisans that take great care in the production of high quality batik fabrics, and they make certain a quality standard of production in the batik fabric making process is followed.
The wax stamping stage of the batik process uses freshly dipped wax for each single wax “tjap” (stamp) stamping application to the fabric. This ensures a clean and tidy motif design with our batik fabrics. *lower quality batik fabrics will have the wax “tjap” (stamp) applied 3 or 4 times to the fabric before the “tjap” (stamp) is dipped in new fresh wax. This will produce a lower standard batik product with an uneven, and untidy motif design.
A multi-colour process (double process batik and triple process batik) is used for many of our batik fabrics. This means the batik will go through repeat processes of colour dying and wax stamp application to achieve several shades or tones of contrasting colours and a mix of motif designs. The extra patience and care in our batik fabric production is evident by the high quality of Senada Batik Bali fabric products. Our batik craftsmen take great pride in their quality work, making beautiful batik fabric is their passion.
We use the highest quality RFD fabrics, colour dyes, and waxes available for our batik fabric production, and the end result is beautifully crafted pieces of batik fabric.