4. BioChromes¶

INDEX IMAGE ~ Eucalyptus leaf

Lecture and Research¶

This week we are studying how to harness biochromes from plants, animals, fungi, minerals and microorganisms for textiles. There is a focus on low and zero waste methods to color fibers in the most efficient and sustainable way. Since I have experience with the natural dye extraction process already, this week I am especially noting these tips for reusing materials and recycling liquids.

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Natural dyes only work on natural fibers (the ones highlighted in green on this chart of total global fibers). This week we are working with silk, viscose, cotton and wool. Silk and wool are examples of Protein Fibers meaning they come from animal sources. Cotton and viscose are Cellulose Fibers that come from plant sources (bacteria can also produce cellulose and this is called microbial cellulose).

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Physical Tools¶

Scale
Pots, pans, strainers
Spoons and Stirrers
Ph strips

Tools¶

Barcelona Foraging Archive¶

A fun way to explore a new city is by learning about its flora ecosystem. I went on a few naturalist walks around Barcelona, taking photos of plants I thought might work for dye and identifying them with Plant Identifier later. I also looked aorund at what people have marked already on an app called Inaturalist.

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Of course I want to be as respectful as possible when forraging so I have not picked any plants as I am still researching. I love to follow this piece by Anna Tsing and another, The Honorable Harvest by Robbin Wall Kimmerer when taking naturalist walks and foraging. Some of the basic principles are:

never take the first plant or the last
ask for permision and listen for the answer
use everything you take
share it with others

Here are a few plants I started cataloging. Petra and I spoke about further developing a map or guide!

Material Name	Part usable for dye	Location Spotted
Yarrow	leaves and flowers	Parc del Centre del Poblenou
Pine	needles	Parque del Poblenou
Dock	leaves and seeds	empty lot near my apt.
False Yellowhead	roots and flowers	empty lot near my apt.
Rosemary	leaves	Emma's house
Nettle	leaves	Parc de Montjuïc

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Local Foraging Resources¶

One Recipe from our Biopantone - Eucalyptus 02¶

ingredients

32g Eucalyptus
0.54g Alum
0.045g Iron
0.7g Silk swatch
2.2g Cotton swatch
1.6g Viscose swatch
2.26g Sodium carbonate

Species Info¶

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Also known as "Baby Blue" and "Silver Leaf Mountain Gum" is a small shrub of the Myrtaceae family with long branches, flowering in spring and summer Source. It is often sold at floral stores because of it's strong aroma. I bought a bundle at Herbs florist in Barcelona.

Fiber Prep¶

First we make sure our fibers are clean and reasy to absorb dye. We scoured all of the cellulose fabric in a pot with 2% WOF sodium carbonate, simmering for an hour. For the silk we washed it in mild water with soap. We weighed the dry fabric to calculate mordants later on.

Dyestuff Prep¶

We weighed the material and found it was 32g. We added the leaves to a pot of water and let it soak for an hour. We were comparing the color made by another kind of eucalyptus (labelled 01) so this photo shows both pots. Then we brought the pot to a boil and let it simmer for another hour. The leaves soaked in the pot overnight. We strained the leaves out and the remaining liquid was a bright green color.

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Mordants¶

We used two different mordants: Alum and Iron. A bundle of three swatches together weighed 4.5g and we used that number to calculate 0.54g alum and 0.045g iron to use. We seperated the dye liquid into two baths and added one mordant in each.

Dye¶

We added the fabric to each pot with the mordants and brought them to a boil. Then we simmered for an hour.
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Final Results¶

describe what you see in this image For the two silk swatches on the right, I used a pre-mordanting technique that I am used to in my personal work:

measure the dry silk
clean the silk with soap and mild water
measure alum at 15% WOF
dissolve the alum in a pot of water and add the silk
leave for 45 minutes on very low heat
move the silk to the dye bath and leave for an amount of time depending on how saturated you want the color to be

Here are a few more examples of colors made with this method:
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Recycling Dyes into Pigments¶

In order to save these precious natural colors, the left over dyebath can be turned into a dry pigment. This can then become a paint, a colorant for biomaterials, or reused as a bath later.

ingredients

Left over dye bath
18g alum
6g sodium bicarbonate

Process¶

dissolve 18g alum in hot water
pour it into a container with the left over dye
over a bowl (because this fizzy chemical reaction can get messy) slowly add the sodium bicarbonate to the container and stir
pat down the foam and leave for a while
pour the mixture into a coffee filter over an empty container
once strained, the colorful cream/foam substance in the filter can be placed in a dehydrator to create a powdery substance
dehydrate at 40C for 24 hours

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Making Inks¶

Here I've just included a personal ink/paint recipe for textiles I have used before. I mordant the fabric following the 'premordant alum instructions' and then apply the paints. I wait a day and then rinse it off, careful to not smear the lines.

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Bacterial Biochromes¶

Physical Tools¶

Petri dishes
Camping gas and alcohol,
Gloves, masks, labcoats
Innoculation loops
Pressure cooker
Incubator

Creating a Sterile Bubble¶

Wipe the table down with alcohol
Pour alcohol in a circle around the gas tank
Light the gas tank
Operate within the circle, don't keep petri lids open for long
Bring jar lids and innoculation sticks up the the flame to sterilize before and after pouring

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Using the Pressure Cooker "Autoclave"¶

Add water in the pressure cooker (2cm in bottom)
Put plastic bag inside and then whatever objects to be sterilized in the bag
Keep lids slightly unscrewed
Tilt the big bottles or fill the pot so they cannot fall over during cooking
Twist the bag to close
Put on the lid and twist it closed, make sure it is shut
Make sure the twist latch on the top is pointed towards shut
Cook for “carne” meat setting
Add 30 mins
When you open it, twist the top latch with a tool to not burn your hands, let out the steam
Be careful not to put your face over the hole

Plating and Innoculation¶

We are using two types of "food" for our bacteria: Agar and LB nutrient broth. Agar powder is mixed with distilled water, sertilized and then poured into the plate. Once this is cooled (in a jelly form) bacteria can be swabbed on to the agar and the plate is left in the incubator. In our case, we had fabric in the plate and poured the liquid LB broth over it before innoculation.

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Other Notes for Best Practice¶

Use parafilm to shut all Petri dishes
When you see white on the agar in the incubator it means the tempurature is too high
Place dishes upside down in the incubator when growing bacteria directly on agar
KILL ANY CONTAMINATED PLATES

Biochrome Results¶

We experimented with the bacterium Janthinobacterium Lividum and silk. We agreed that the samples could have spent more time growing in the incubator but we decided to take them out anyway to see the results before the global review. For future experiments, we would like to try naturally dyeing silk swatches with plants, sterilizing them, and then growing bacteria over to see how they respond or how the colors look together. describe what you see in this image The final result