Batik Wax

I haven't done batik in years! We used to take our ironed but still waxy fabric to the dry cleaners to remove the rest of it. I used some failed dye experiments to play around and get a feel for using the wax. I used 12" wide strips of copper scrap to bend into a shape and threaded wire through 2 small holes to make a handle. This worked great to make a wax outline on the fabric and I filled them in using a chip brush. I used low immersion to dye the bundled panel with royal and wedgewood blue. (I actually did 3 different panels) A full day later I rinsed the fabric really well and got it barely damp dry by rolling in micro terry towels picked off any wax I could and ironed out as much of it as possible and then boiled it as suggested. I left out the ironing step with the other two panels- just boiled the panels- separately. I could see the wax rise as tiny bubbles and scooped them out as I mixed and they rose to the surface. I replaced some of the water that was removed with the wax with hot water and kept the fabric moving and lifting it up to pull it apart to get as much wax as I could. When there was only a couple of bubbles I lifted out the hot fabric and rinsed it over a bucket. The cool water solidified the surface wax and turned white and rinsed off the fabric easily. I reserved all the waterwax I had scooped out and from the final rinse and strained out the wax when it had cooled. I couldn't believe how much wax I was able to get out of it. The panel I ironed and then boiled was still stiff with wax after I washed all 3 panels. The 2 panels I only boiled came out baby soft without a hint of stiffness. I know this is a long review- edit as needed but wanted to share my results. I love the crackle effect from the wax- not too much not too little. And I couldn't be happier with the 3 failed dye experiments I used for my batik practice pieces.

this is my technique for removing the wax from cotton shirts. Boil in water 2 minutes agitate remove rinse spot treat with iron + newsprint.

I use this wax frequently and it has always been consistent. Good crackle - not too much not too little.

Very nice for me as a beginner. I did add a little paraffin to the mixture for a bit more crackle.

Easy to work with. Odor was no issue for me.