So, after the silk is stretched, and painted with the silk dyes, and the melted soy wax, and once it is dry, the wax has to be ironed out of it before it is steamed. The silk is ironed out four times onto blank newsprint. If wax stays in the silk, the colors will bleed when steamed, so you have to make sure it is all ironed out. Here you see the process. The silk is then rolled up into two layers of newsprint, & steamed to set the color, and the design permanently.
Here the silk is placed on the blank newsprint, & two more layers of newsprint are added on top of it to start ironing.
Ironing the silk.
First layer of wax ironed out.