 Firstly , a cloth is washed , soaked and beaten with a large mallet . Patterns are drawn with pencil and later redrawn using hot wax , usually made from a mixture of paraffin or bees wax , sometimes mixed with plant resins , which functions as a dye @-@ resist . The wax can be applied with a variety of tools . A pen @-@ like instrument called a canting ( IPA : [ tʃantiŋ ] , sometimes spelled with old Dutch orthography tjanting ) is the most common . A tjanting is made from a small copper reservoir with a spout on a wooden handle . The reservoir holds the resist which flows through the spout , creating dots and lines as it moves . For larger patterns , a stiff brush may be used . Alternatively , a copper block stamp called a cap ( IPA : [ tʃap ] ; old spelling tjap ) is used to cover large areas more efficiently . 
