A Fascinating Look at How Batik Fabrics Are Made
See Every Step in This Surprising Video!
The process of making batik fabrics is fascinating, and not at all what we imagined it to be. While we knew they were hand made, we never realized how time and labor intensive the dying process is. The following video shows every step, and makes us appreciate these gorgeous fabrics even more than we already did.
Lengths of 15 yards (one bolt) are dyed at a time. Several steps are required to achieve the richly colored fabrics you’ll find at your fabric store.
We admire how the skillful workers are able to produce consistent results from bolt to bolt. The working conditions surprised us (not in a good way), and we really appreciate their hard work. Batik fabrics seem even more precious after seeing this video.
Click here to watch the video at YouTube if it doesn’t play on your device.
Amazing now I will not mind paying for batiks
This really makes a person appreciate batiks. I know I couldn’t do it.
Wow. I will never complain about the price of a yard of batik! Thank you for this!
Absolutely fascinating. Never knew this. No wonder these cloths are so wonderful.
Wow. Just wow. I knew that creating these beautiful fabrics involved wax and at least 2-3 steps, but I had no idea. I now have a great respect for those that design the motifs, and an even greater respect for those that complete the batiks. I will never complain about the price of this fabric again!
We did batik dying in art class. It was hard for the teacher to get across the idea of over dying. This would have been very helpful. I LOVE using batiks when I quilt. Thank you for making this and all the beautiful patterns.
Indonesian people are very creative and hard working. Their batiks are incredible. I lived in Indonesia for 6 years and what you are not told in this video is how very low the wages are that these workers are paid. They are not provided any sort of safety equipment…imagine working with vats of boiling water wearing only flip flops! The poor in Indonesia have little access to decent healthcare and education.
I was actually amazed that all these workers are doing so without gloves to protect them from the dyes! Clearly the narrator knows that the boiling water is dangerous, so why isn’t he or someone providing safety equipment. I love the work, but I hate the exploitation.
Yea, Melissa, I was struck by the “workers” putting their hands into bleach and ash solutions with no gloves. This guy, “batik guy”, or whatever he calls himself, seems to be taking a little advantage of people. I love the fabric and would be willing to pay for some made by adequately paid and protected artisans.
WOW …. what a process… I love Batik Fabric and can see why the cost is high.. not the best working conditions … thanks for the wonderful video
Wow … such a long process to get this beautiful fabric!
Wow thank you for making that video, it really makes you appreciate all the work that goes into the fabric. Such a long process but a very beautiful one in the end (even before it is completely finished). What a lovely job they have.
Thank you so much for the wonderful video. I hope the workers are okay working without gloves and very much protection.