Traditional Dabu Printing of India- Part 3

If Teal color needs to be obtained. Then indigo dyed fabric is first dipped into myrobalan solution and then treated with water of Iron. (Teal Background)

If Green color is desired then indigo dyed fabric is first treated with solution of Haldi and then treated with Alum. Please remember to dry in the night or dry upside down to get a green color.

To Get Red and Black as Motif, Green as background- Block 52 and 52A

a. The Fabric is first Dipped in Myrobalan

b. Then it is Printed With Red Process( Alum Paste) as explained earlier

c. Then it is Printed With Black Process (Iron Paste)

d. Then it is Washed and Boiled with Alizarin ( To get red on 1^st Block)

e. Then it is Dyed in Indigo

f. Then it is Dipped in conc. solution of Pomegranate Chilka + Haldi ( For Green Back ground)( Green Process)

If the color is dark indigo is added

Remember if the indigo is not properly mixed then it will smear on the block color.

To Get a Brown Color in the Background

There are two methods

1.       In one method after the green process, the fabric is dipped in alum and then boiled in Alizarin ( Green +Redà Brown). The motif being resisted by Dabu.

2.       In other method the indigo dyed fabric is dipped in alum and then boiled in Alizarin ( Blue + Red-à Brown).

The two tones of brown are  different.

Green Motif (with Dabu)

To get Green Motif, in white process, some Haldi is added in the paste ( Means: kaali Mitti, Gum, Jaggery, Hydrate of Lime, Haldi)

Black Background with Hira Kashish ( Ferrous Sulphate – Hara thotha)

1.     Fabric is treated with Myrobalan and Dabu Done

2.     Hira Kashish is then mixed with water.

3.     The fabric will then turn to brown except dabu

4.       Then it is put to Alizarin boiling process it will turn to black

5.       Then it is washed properly.

To get a darker color, the fabric is again dipped in myrobalan after finishing. For example to get a darker brown fabric is dipped in Myrobalan.

Now that you've finished reading this post, what are you going do? You should go join the Forum.

Traditional Dabu Printing of India- Part 2

How to Get Black Motif

Black color is obtained with the help of "iron water". To prepare iron water, Take 25 kg Iron Scrap+ water + Baajre ka aata + 2 kg ( Gud- Jaggery) . Close the lid from the top and keep it aside for 15 days.

Take out the iron, boil the water and then cook with Tamarind seed flour to prepare the iron paste for mixing with Iron. ( Black Process- NO Dabu)

To Apply it, first prepare the fabric using myrobalan. Then apply the paste to the fabric using printing blocks to give deep black color


Indigo Dyed Dabu

First of all fabric is desized just like the previous process.

Then it is treated with Castor oil in water to increase its absorbancy.

Then the dabu printing is done just like the earlier process.

After that the fabric is dried and then the fabric is put into indigo pot

The pot  is very old and the water is never changed. New indigo is kept on adding in it. It is generally 10 feet deep. Hydrate of Lime ( Ca(OH)2) is added time to time to keep the potency intact.

Generally there are two vats; one has 50% indigo and the other has 100% indigo. At a time two thaans are taken. The than is taken folded and gradually all the layers are exposed.

After that it is dried into the sun.

Another two dippings and dryings in the sun are done to get a dark tone.

If one wants to have one design with light and the other as a dark tone, the after printing the fabric is dipped into 50% indigo first and then dried.

After that dabu printing is done with the second design and the fabric is dipped twice into 100% indigo pot. The first type of dabu retains its whiteness, whereas the second type of dabu will become slightly less blue.  

Now that you've finished reading this post, what are you going do? You should go join the Forum.

Traditional Dabu Printing of India

Dabu is a mud-resist hand-block printing practiced in Rajasthan of India. The prints have a sublime quality and appearance. In making of the printed fabrics, a lot of manual process and hard work is involved and the process of uses lots of natural dyes and vegetable pastes. Here is a brief outline of the process.

1. First of all Fabric is received from the mills. Traditionally mill made cloth of 30s, 60s and Mull is used.  It is heavily sized. For that it needs to be desized. Desizing is done by repeatedly beating the wet fabric against a hard surface (stone). It is frequently kept for a day after such beating so that enzymatic reaction can loosen the size. Next day it is again beaten and so on. This process continues for three days. 

2.  After that the fabric is dipped in Myrobalan (Tanning) agent. The myrobalan paste is prepared about three hours in advance by mixing about 2kg paste for 100 m of fabric.

3.After that the fabric is dried in the sunlight

4. After that fabric is printed once with a paste of Alum+ Tamarind Seed+Direct dye to distinguish. (Red Process-No Dabu)

5. After that fabric is washed once, and then it is dried and then go for boiling.  In boiling we boil the fabric with Dhauri Ke Phool ( Jaloor)+ Alizarin ( Madder)+Mahi for 1 hour at 100deg Celcius. The fabric is circulated about 5 times using Bamboo Poles. If the color required is dark then some iron water needs to be added.

6. After it is dried and then the next process of Dabu is done. Printing paste is made using ( Jaggery, Hydrate of Lime, Kali Mitti and Gum ( Nigeria). The paste is then spread over a coir to give it a base. The printing is done using blocks. (White Process-Dabu).

Saw dust is sprinkled over the fabric as it is printed so that the block applied should not smear the other sides

1.       Then it is dried in the sunlight. 

After that the fabric is treated with Myrobalan again.

                                           

3.       Then it is dried and then dipped completely in Alum + Water.

4.       Then it is dried and washed and again boiled with Alizarin+ Mahi( Sakur)+ Dhawdi. Then it is dried in the sun and washed to reveal the dabu resist .

Want to see something modern in Dabu ?? Klick here.


Now that you've finished reading this post, what are you going do? You should go join the Forum.

How to Resist Print using Reactive Dyes

How to resist print using reactive Colors

In resist printing using reactive colors, non-carbonic acids such as Tartaric Acids or Citric acid can be used.These acids act as resist agents. As acids are used therefore such a thickner is selected that does not degrade in acid. Here Methylhydroxy-ethylated cellulose ethers are used.
The following resist paste formula is used to print on the fabric:

For White Resist

Citric Acid- 50 gms
Water- 50 gms
Thickener- 600 gms.
To recognise the the printed design, sometimes tints such as CI Acid Blue-1 can be used. Also Fluorescent Brightening Agent can also be used which is visible in UV light.

After printing, the substrate is padded with concentrated solution of reactive colors, containing very less amount of Sodium Bicarbonate.The color is fixed after drying the cloth.

The following formule is used to:

1. Pad the cloth:

Reactive color: 20 gms
Resist Salt: 7 gms
Hot Water: 393 gms

Mix the three, let the solution to cool and then add the following chemicals:

3% Sodium Bicarbonate: 500 gms
Thickner: 80 gms
Make it to 1 kg.

2. Fixation Solution:

Caustic Soda -32.5%: 20ml
Glauber's Salt : 200 gms
Common salt: 100 gms

Make it to 1 liter.
Now steam the fabric for 20 seconds after padding with fixation solution.

For Color Resist

Thickner (Cellulose Ether): 100 gms
Emulsifier: 8 gmsWater: 110 gms
Pigment Binder:140 gms
White Spirit: 617 gms
Phosphoric or if Roller printing then Tartaric Acid: 120 gms

Print the fabric with the formula as given above. Then pad with reactive colors and Dry. Then Steam the cloth for 2-10 minutes, rinse and dry.

Disclaimer: Please test on a small piece before going for full fledge project. The receipe is meant to be used by professionals who know the behaviour of various chemicals and their interactions. Take all the precautions in handling chemicals. Don't use any combination of chemicals about which you don't know the outcome.