Caring for Batik and Other Deeply Dyed Fabrics

Q: On my travels, I’ve picked up some amazing hand-dyed fabrics around Asia, the Americas, Africa, and Australia. I’ve found colors and patterns outside of the US that were like nothing I’d ever seen. I want to use some of them to decorate my home. But when I prewashed them before sewing, thd lost so much color! I had to wash a few three times to get all the extra dye out, and some of them faded. It was heartbreaking to find that the dark colors on one of them had bled. I don’t want to ruin any more of them! How should I be caring for dyed fabrics like these to keep them looking beautiful?

A: Boldly patterned and colorful fabrics from around the world make exquisite table linens, curtains, wall hangings, quilts, and throws. I’ve use them to make placemats, runners, and dinner napkins, too. But deeply dyed fabrics need a bit of special care to keep dye from bleeding or rubbing off on other fabrics. Here are some tips will make caring for dyed fabrics easier and more effective.

Batik: Patterned Wax-Resist Fabric

Traditional batik fabric patterns are created when dyed fabric is treated with wax (usually beeswax or paraffin) applied in patterns. After that, the fabric is exposed to additional dyes, but the waxed areas resist them. When wax is melted away, the resulting patterns are unique and stunning. Intricate batik designs make for beautiful wall hangings. Batik fabric is also beautiful when used to create table linens, shower curtains, and quilts. Home sewers will find a wide and wonderful variety of batik fabrics online and at independent fabric stores.

Handling Handmade Batik Fabric

Most batik fabric found in US fabric stores has been thoroughly washed, drapes well, and has no discernible wax left in it. This batik is mass-produced for the export market. However, unwashed batiks from Indonesia or Africa are often handmade and unique. They haven’t gone through the wax-removal process that mass-market batiks do. They may feel stiff with traces of wax and dye left behind. This is especially true of batik paintings made for framing or display. Caring for dyed fabrics that have traces of wax is a little tricky, and requires some extra steps.

If you’re not going to be using the fabrics for bedding, table linens, quilting, or other fabrics that need washing later, you needn’t prewash them. But if you hang them on a wall, do know that some of the dye may rub off onto the paint behind over time.

There are three main ways of removing extra wax from batiks. The first two will remove enough wax to make the fabric drape well. These will leave the fabric ready to use in clothes, quilts, bedding, table linens, or other items that you expect to wash later. The third method will remove extra wax from wall hangings or other stuff decorative pieces so they’re less likely to stain the wall behind them with wax.

Boiling

You can boil batik fabric in a large pot on your stove top to release extra wax. There are challenges to this method:

• Boiling releases extra dye, so the water may grow dark
• Wax rises to the surface of the water and needs to cool and harden before you remove the fabric
• You must be careful not to spill the dye-filled water or wax afterward
• Sometimes the first boil won’t remove all the wax
• You’ll need to use more boiling water to remove traces of wax from the pot (and your sink) afterward
• The full process (boiling, cooling, removing wax, and reboiling if necessary) usually takes a couple of days

There are also benefits:

• Fabric smells better and is less likely to irritate sensitive skin when extra dye is gone
• Boiled batik fabrics are much softer and more comfortable
• Boiling away extra wax avoids the solvents used in dry cleaning. They stink, pollute the air in your home, are environmentally unfriendly, and aren’t healthy for you to wear or breathe
• This method is cheap and effective

Ironing

You can remove the extra wax from a wall hanging so that it doesn’t rub off as easily on the wall. The following technique will remove some wax, but will embed a small amount further into the fabric. This will keep the fabric a bit stiff, so it will hang more crisply on a wall.

• Place the fabric between two pieces of clean white or brown paper (the kind used in paper bags).
• Iron the paper to see whether any wax bleeds out of the fabric onto the paper. If it does, iron the whole length of fabric between clean pieces of paper.
• Don’t reuse the paper since this can spread the melted wax and stain other sections of the fabric. This lessens likelihood of dye or wax transfer to walls or other fabrics, but won’t guarantee it.

This technique isn’t good for fabric that needs to drape normally, such as on curtains, pillows, or quilts. It can also require using a lot of paper.

Dry cleaning

Another alternative is dry cleaning. This is the easiest, but also the most expensive and the least environmentally friendly. It also adds to indoor air pollution. Here are some drawbacks:

• Most dry cleaners use powerful solvent chemicals to dissolve the wax
• Some of these chemicals remain in the fabric and off-gas into your air at home
• Most dry-cleaning solvents significantly pollute indoor air (and increase global warming, too)

I’d avoid dry cleaning in most situations. However, fragile or antique batiks may not hold up well if boiled. Caring for dyed fabrics by entrusting them to a dry cleaner may be advisable in these special cases.

Avoid Bleeding Dyes from Deeply Dyed Fabrics

Fabrics are made with especially rich dyes aren’t always colorfast. They often bleed, staining adjoining colors, or spreading dye to other items washed at the same time. If deeply dyed fabrics sit on top of or near fabrics in lighter colors (like a bold red pillow on a white cotton sofa cover), the dye can transfer. This is most likely when they’re used to make throws, quilts, or pillows that rub against light-colored fabric chairs or sofas. (Similarly, sitting on a white canvas sofa in a new pair of dark jeans can cause decorating heartache.)

To avoid color transfer from deeply dyed fabrics, washing dyed fabrics especially well before you use them is extra important. I recommend washing each length of fabric separately to avoid cross-dyeing pieces with other colors.

Before I sew clothes, table linens, or quilts using indigo-dyed fabric, or dyed cotton fabrics from India or Guatemala, I wash them multiple times in cold water. This removes excess dye and sizing (chemicals that keep fabric crisp and smooth before it’s sold). It also lessens the strong smell that some dyes leave behind. Deeply dyed fabrics may still bleed after one wash and may need additional washes.

Stop dye from spreading

Caring for dyed fabrics by washing with copious amounts of cold water limits fading and shrinking. If you rinse multiple times until water runs clear, you’re not likely to have dye rub off on other fabrics. This also keeps fabric looking good longer. I used to add vinegar and salt to cold water to set the dye in new fabrics from India and Guatemala. However, modern textile experts say that doesn’t really help after the initial fabric dyeing and rinsing.

Something that can indeed help is a color catcher. If your fabrics won’t stop bleeding despite cold-water washes, dye-trapping sheets that absorb dye in the wash will limit bleeding and color transfer. (These also help keep light clothes from looking dingy.) Many home-dyeing enthusiasts recommend Shout brand Color Catcher dye-trapping sheets. If you’re washing deeply-dyed fabrics for the first time, I’d consider using dye-trappers early, to avoid too much fading.

More About Caring for & Decorating with Textiles

To learn more about caring for textiles or decorating with them, see my other articles on textile arts:

• Caring for Textile Arts
• Decorate Your Home with Fabric
• Decorating with Quilts and Patchwork
• Decorating with Needlework
• Decorating with Lace and Macrame

At top: Batik fabrics sold at Batik Trusmi, Cirebon, Java, Indonesia | Fpangestu via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)