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Major Types of Batik
in Malaysia |
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In Malaysia, there are two major types of
batik - hand-drawn batik and
block-printed batik.
Hand-drawn batik is where designs are drawn on fabric
with hot liquid wax; using a metal object called canting.
 
When the wax outlines are done, artists
use the brushes to paint the dyes within the outlines. The use
of brush allows for the creation of shaded and multi-hued
designs.
Various fabrics are used including cotton,
rayon, voile and silk. These fabrics are patterned with floral
and geometrical motifs, arranged in various layouts as dictated
by current trends.
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Hand-drawn batik is usually produced in 4
metre length or 2 metre length. 4 metre length hand-drawn batik
is used for women’s wear and 2 metre hand-drawn batik is used
for men’s wear. These garments are often used for formal events.
Besides dresses, hand-drawn batik is also made into scarves,
pareos,craftans and even as framed art. |
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Another
type of batik is the
block-printed batik.
The canting will be replaced by a copper
block or
sometimes a wooden stamp with artistically
patterned bottom.
The block is dipped into wax and printed
onto the fabric, which is then dip-dyed. Then the wax will be
removed and batik with single color is produced.
To create multi-colors and more complex
block-printed batik, waxing with
different blocks and de-waxing will be
done many times.
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Block-printed batik does not have the
intricate delicacy of hand-drawn batik and similar shapes or
patterns are repeated on a piece of fabric. |
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Cotton is a popular fabric used in
block-printed batik and the output quantity is around 20 metres,
depending on the original size of fabric. Block-printed batik is
usually tailored into shirts and dresses for leisure wear. Some
handicrafts and soft furnishings also use block-printed batik as
material. |
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In general, the process of hand-drawn batik
is very slow and time consuming, while block-printed batik is
faster and more suitable for mass production. As a result,
hand-drawn batik is more expensive and exclusive than
block-printed batik. |
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