The Tulis Batik-Making Process: From Pattern to Melorod
The stages of traditional tulis batik-making — from nyungging, nglowong, and isen-isen to melorod — and how it differs from handprinting production.
Published · August 18, 2026
Tulis batik is made by drawing liquid wax through a canting by hand, stage by stage. This article summarises the stages commonly recognised in traditional tulis batik-making — grouped for clarity, with the note that naming and order can differ between regions and between artisans.
At a glance: from white cloth to patterned cloth
The core principle of tulis batik is wax resist: the parts of the cloth covered by wax stay undyed, so the motif appears from the contrast between dyed and protected areas. The process repeats — draw, cover, dip — as many times as the number of colours wanted.
Preparation: pattern and cloth
Before wax touches the cloth, the motif is prepared first. In general, the steps are:
Nyungging — drawing the motif on paper as the main guide. The motif can follow classical rules or a new design.
Njaplak — transferring the pattern from paper onto the mori cloth, usually by tracing so the proportions stay intact.
Plangkan — stretching the cloth on a frame (gawangan) so it stays flat and does not shift while being drawn. See the plangkan malam article for details.
Applying the wax
This is the heart of tulis batik. Common steps include:
Nglowong — drawing the main motif outline with a canting filled with hot wax.
Isen-isen — filling in fine detail inside the ornaments, such as dots (cecek), fish-scale patterns (gringsing), or scattered fragments (berangan). These fills give each motif its character.
Nembok — covering the areas meant to stay white with a thicker wax layer so they resist the dye bath.
Nerusi — repeating the drawing from the back of the cloth, following the wax showing through, so the motif looks neat on both sides.
Dyeing
Once the wax is in place, the cloth is coloured:
Nyolet — applying colour to small areas with a brush or cotton, for details a plain dip cannot reach.
Ngelir — dipping the cloth in the dye bath, repeated until the wanted depth is reached. Dyes can be natural or synthetic — see the batik colours article.
Mopok / mbironi — covering the already-coloured parts again with wax so they do not change in the next dye bath.
Final stage: melorod
After all colours are done, the remaining wax is removed in hot water (melorod), then the cloth is rinsed and dried. The result is a tulis batik with a complete motif on both sides.
How it differs from handprinting production
The stages above are general knowledge about traditional tulis batik. Batik Soehadi's main production, meanwhile, runs through a structured handprinting flow — design, screen, and printing with colour separation — rather than drawing with a canting one by one. The asli tulis article explains how to recognise tulis batik, and the cap-vs-printing comparison is in the batik printing vs batik cap article.
Frequently asked
Does every tulis batik go through 15 stages? Not necessarily. The number and order of stages vary between artisans and regions; the framework above is a common summary, not a single standard.
Why is tulis batik more expensive? Because the whole motif is hand-drawn through a long process, so working time and precision are high. Price also depends on the material and motif complexity; we do not state figures here.
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