Wax Valeriana process flow

Spread the white cloth flat on the board or table and light some wax flowers. The way to light wax is to put beeswax in a ceramic bowl or a metal can, and melt the wax with charcoal ash or chaff shell fire in a brazier, so that you can paint with a copper knife dipped in wax.

The first step in painting is to control the position. In some areas, the outline is determined according to the pattern of paper scissors, and then various patterns are drawn. In other areas, you don't need patterns, just draw a big outline on the white cloth with your nails, and you can easily draw all kinds of beautiful patterns; The method of dip dyeing is to put the painted wax slices into indigo vats, and generally each slice needs to be soaked for five or six days. After soaking for the first time, take it out and dry it, and it will be light blue. Soak for a few times and it will become dark blue. If you need to have two shades of patterns on the same fabric, after the first soaking, the light blue dipped in wax flowers will appear two shades after dyeing. When the wax sheet is soaked in the dye vat, some "wax seals" are damaged and cracked due to folding, so natural cracks are produced, which are generally called "ice lines". Sometimes "ice lines" are made according to needs. This "ice pattern" often makes batik patterns more layered and has a natural and unique flavor.

The vast majority of batik production processes are manual operations, so far, mechanization and automation can not replace it. Facts show that it is not feasible to develop batik art with modern large-scale industrial production mode, and batik factories have advantages in producing large quantities of batik cloth. As a kind of folk arts and crafts, batik often only makes a few wall hangings, or even just a wall hanging.