Indonesian Batik

1. BATIK
Batik is derived from Javanese language “amba” which means to write and “dots”. Batik is a process of coloring by the means of Rintang Dying Technique, which means the color substance absorbed by the cloth occupied by materials or tools so that it forms patterns/motifs.

Gawangan is a tool to hang and unfold mori when the patterns are put into the batik cloth. This gawangan is made of wood or bamboo. Gawangan should be made as well so that it is easily portable, but it has to be strong and light.

Bandul is made of tin, wood or stone in a case. The main function of this bandul is to hold the mori who has just been painted in order to keep it stand and not easily be blown up by wind, or by the pull of the batik artist coincidentally.

Wok is a tool to heat the “malam” (wax). The wok is made of metal steel or clay. This wok should have a handle so that it is easy to lift and put in from the stove without using other tools.

Stove is a tool to make fire. The most commonly used stove is stove with the fuels of gasoline.

Table cloth is a cloth to cover the lap of the artist so that he will not get touched of the hot wax when canting is blown, or when the patterns are applied in to the cloth.

Filter is a tool to filter the hot wax which has a lot of dirt. If the wax is filtered, then the dirt can be wasted so that it does not distract the wax on the cucuk canting when it is used.

Canting is a tool used to move or take the liquid. Canting for Batik is a small tool made of chopper and bamboo as the handle. This canting is used to put in the pattern of batik with the wax liquid. Before plastic materials are used as kitchen supplies, canting made of coconut shell has been used as one of kitchen tools as a scoop. In the recent era, canting of coconut shell has been rarely used because it is replaced by another material such as plastic. The canting for batik has also been replaced with Teflon.

Mori is a raw material from cotton. The quality of mori varies and the types determine the good or bad batik cloth produced. The needed mori is adjusted based on its length desired. The measurement of its length is not usually based on the definite standard, but on the traditional measurement. It is called “kacu”. Kacu is a handkerchief usually in the square form. What is the so-called “sekacu” is the square size of the mori, taken from the width of the mori. So the length of sekacu of a type of mori will be different with the length of sekacu from other types of mori.

Wax or “malam” is a material used in making Batik. Actually, the wax is not finished (gone) because finally it is re-taken on the process of mbabar, the process of working starting from putting in the pattern of batik until the batik becomes the cloth. The used wax in the making of batik is different with the usual wax. The wax in batik is easily porous on the cloth but it is easily loosen in the process of removing.