What is special about batik fabric?
Batik fabric is special because it is a made using a wax and resist dyeing technique and that it has been around for 2000 years. The word batik comes from the Javanese word “tik” which means to dot. Batik is most commonly done on fabric (such as cotton or silk) but it is also used on paper, wood (on our mancala board game) and more.
Is there a wrong side to batik fabric?
There is no wrong side to the batik fabric as in most cases, the batik fabric shows pattern and dye on both sides. Batik is made by applying hot wax onto fabric and then dyeing the fabric so that the pattern will show up on both front and back side. The front side though will have a brighter and more detailed pattern than the back side.
How can you tell if batik is real?
You can tell if batik is real by reversing the fabric and there should be a mirrored pattern on the other side. Since batik is made by dyeing the fabric, both sides of the fabric will show the same pattern.
Which country is the original batik?
The original batik is from Indonesia.
Batik bandana fabric can be done on cotton, or cotton and polyester mix, or silk and more. Most batik artisans in Indonesia prefer to work on tightly woven 100% cotton to ensure the pattern stay on the fabric more crisp.
Batik bandana patterns are varied although most would be influenced by original batik patterns such as kawung, parang, mega mendung. To read more about the various patterns take a look at our other blog post about Batik patterns here.