Batik Making in Ghanacraft Workshop

A 100% white cotton cloth is used for batik making. The first stage consists of making designs on the cloth with melted wax. The wax blocks the original colour of the cloth. This technique is called 'batik' which means 'wax written'.

The cloth is dipped in a first bath of dye. We start with lighter colour.

Next application of wax will be on areas second dye will not cover. The complete sequence (waxing, dyeing and drying) is repeated in conformity with the number of colours dyed.

Once the stages of decoration have been completed (alternate wax designs and dyes), the cloth is dipped in boiling water to remove wax thus, revealing the characters of the colours. The wax appears on the surface of water and is scooped out and poured in a basin for re-usage. The cloth is then rinsed in clear water.

Finally the batik cloth is ironed and put for sale...