Sunday, December 23, 2012

Comparing resist mediums

On my 'to-do' list for awhile has been an idea that I wanted to compare different resists to see what their characteristics were, and what kind of results I would get using them side by side.  Yesterday and today, I finally got a few moments, and did this experiment:

From top to bottom, the resists used were: Batik-EZ, Jacquard water-based resist, and soy wax.  Once I applied the resisits and let them dry completely, I brushed a little water over the fabric and immediately followed with dye-na-flow, using a foam brush to apply.  Then I misted a little with water, and allowed the piece to air dry completely.  Once it was dry, I rinsed to remove the Batik-EZ and water-based resist, then dried again.  And finally, I used a hot iron and newspaper to remove the soy wax, then heat set the dy-na-flow.  
Comments about each resist - Batik-Ez was fairly sticky to apply.  I used a stencil and stencil brush, then washed all in hot soapy water.  When the brush was dry, it felt stiff, so I washed again after soaking in water.  
                                               Jacquard water-based resist separates and needed to be stirred a good deal to get it mixed well before I applied it.  The resist felt like it was greasy to the touch, and I had to wash off the brush and stencil quite a bit to remove the residue.  
                                               Soy wax - I am used to using this as a resist, but noticed that the shapes I got were less sharp than with the other 2 resists.  And of course, there was the issue of having to iron it out in order to avoid washing away some of the dy-na-flow.  My main purpose for this test was to see if i could achieve comparable results with Batik-EZ and/or Jacquard water-based resist to what I am used to getting with soy wax, and I am happy to announce that the results were good from all 3.  Ranking by ease of use, I think Batik-EZ was slightly easier to use than the Jacquard, and more convenient than the soy wax.  But in a pinch, I think any of the 3 would get the job done.  A bonus of the first 2 is that they are easier to remove than the soy wax.
I plan to do more testing using different application methods, and will post results as I get them.       


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