Thursday, June 12, 2008

Soy Wax Batik



I've been teaching batik for a few years but have recently discovered the joys of using soy wax. I buy the wax from Dharma Trading http://www.dharmatrading.com/ and love their quick service and wide selection of products.

Soy wax is a renewable resource, melts at a lower temperature that the traditional paraffin and beeswax mixture, produces no smoke and best of all--- washes out in the washing machine with no residue. Just use hot water and Synthrapol! Hurray! No waxing, no mess. I bought a couple of little deep fat fryers at the thrift store for my classes and they work a real treat.

The pictures here are the same fabric, just the front and back. I used a sale priced cotton with a subtle print and some pigment dots on it. They are barely visible now and I can't decide which side I prefer.

Comments?

3 comments:

Thelma said...

Very nice Susan! So you use a deep fryer to heat your soy wax? I have been wanting to do batik but heard how hard it is to get the wax out of the fabric. Am looking forward to getting my studio finished and purchasing some soy wax to give batik a try.

Judy Sall Fiber Art said...

Susan, I love your fabric! I also love using soy wax for batik. I tried regular wax years ago and did not like dealing with removing the wax, so when I tried soy wax and found out how easy it is to use and remove, I fell in love!

Judy

Linda’s Textiles said...

Great fabrics Susan. I haven't done batik for ages for the same reason. I have not come accross soy wax in Australia, will have to make some enquiries.