4. BioChromes¶
Inspiration¶
Week 4. Biochromes!!!! I loved the lecture. For me it was really inspiring the lecture from Cecilia: “BIO – CHROMES means Living Colors” I loved it!
Also, It was really impressive for me the contaminant process that is behind the clothes we wear daily. And I love how the biochromes are a positive ecofriendly alternative to this process, either to reduce pollution of the environment or either to propose a more sustainable dyeing process for the clothes.
Finally, I liked also that the biochromes can be also an art and I found very interesting the below link shared during the lecture, where it is explained how biochromes can be considered as an art.
Materials and Ingredients¶
- Avocado peels and pits 150 Gr
- Carrots 200 gr
- Coffee 30 gr
- Wool 5gr
- Cotton 45gr
- Organza 32gr
- Polyester 45gr
- Soda ash 5gr
- Vinegar 20ml
- Honey 21gr
- Baking soda 20gr
- Avocado peels and pits 150 Gr
- Carrot 200 gr
- Coffee 30 gr
Further details and alternative explanations, you can check in the webpages of my friends Emma and Dinesh :)
Method¶
For the dyeing process, four different materials were selected: two natural fibers: cotton (45 gr) and wool (5 gr); and fibers with some polyester content to see the difference with the dyeing of natural fibers (polyester 45 gr and organza 32 gr). All the materials and ingredients were weighted using a standard weighting machine used for cooking.
I cut the fabrics into 20x20 cm squares and divided the wool for each ingredient of the dyeing process.
Now, I wanted to use all materials that easily available at home and this is why I chose three of the following ingredients: Avocado (150gr), which is one of my favorite fruits, carrot (200 gr), which were available at my fridge and were about to get rotten; and coffee (30gr) because of course, I am Colombian and there is always coffee at home
Scoring¶
I used 2% of soda ash or total WOF. For the natural fibers 1 gr and for the ones with polyester components 1.54 gr. The natural fibers were simmered at 60°C the synthetics at 45°C for one hour. This process helped to take off the scores and the oil from the fabrics. Finally, the fabrics were rinsed with water fresh water.
Mordants¶
I decided to use white vinegar and baking soda as mordants for the fibers selected on the 15% of the WOF mixed directly to warm water. That means 7.5 gr for the natural fibers and 11.5 gr for the ones with polyester components and let the simmer for 1 hour.
However, I did not use mordant for one set of fibers and this was the Control Group. For the second group of textiles I used as a pre-mordant the vinegar and for the third group I used as a pre-mordant the baking soda.
The function of the mordants is to help to bind a dye to the fiber so I skipped the dyes washing out of the fabric. Also, the mordant helps to retain the vibrancy of the colors.
Making the Dyes¶
I chopped the avocado pits and skin, I peeled and chopped the carrots and I poured the coffee. I took each ingredient in a separate pot and simmered for couple of hours at 60°C, pouring enough water to cover the ingredients for the dye.
Then, I filtered the water already colored. For that, I used a coffee filter for each color to prevent small particles to modify the dye.
Afterwards, I simmered the fibers (one of each group of mordant – no mordant, vinegar, b.soda) into each color depending on the mordant for each of the colors. For example, one recipient for the vinegar, other for the baking soda and the last one for the control group for the avocado dye. Finally I repeated the procedure for the carrot and coffee.
Once the fibers were dyed, I took them from the recipients and hang them for drying.
Ink preparation¶
I searched about different materials replacing the Arabic gum, and I found that honey could be a good replacement. So I reduced the dying water of the avocado pits up to 5ml, waited to cool down and mixed with 21 gr of honey (1 spoon) to produce my ink.
Results and Conslusions¶
At the beginning of the experiment, it was surprising for me how the fibers were extremely white after the Scoring process. I think I will do this procedure to my white clothes to make them brighter and whiter.
The second surprising result for me is that the color you get from avocado is pink and the color that you get from the carrot is green instead of yellow or orange! After the dyeing of the textiles, I obtained pink/red tones with the avocado pits, light green colors with the carrots and light yellow/brown with the coffee.
After the drying process, I noted different dyeing results among different mordants used and different textiles. I noticed that the colors obtained were bright and I think this is because I did not used chemicals as mordants, only natural products.
Also I noticed that the fibers used as control group retained a more darker color in comparison with the fibers containing mordant
Moreover, the colors obtained with vinegar as mordant were kind of “yellowish” in comparison with other fibers and the colors obtained with the baking soda as mordant were kind of soft and pastel shades.
It was also concluded that the natural fibers retained in a more effectively way the natural dyes and the synthetic. The synthetic fibers did not dyed as effective as the natural dyes
For the ink, I have to say I obtained a good result of ink and the honey worked as binder for the production of Ink. However, I noticed that the color was a bit darker as a consequence of the reduction process. This could be because there is more concentration of the color.
Finally, I have to say I had a lot of fun with the biochromes. I love cooking and making these “cooking” methods for clothing and fibers was new and I really enjoyed a lot having fun with the Bio Chromes
Documenting experiments¶
| Material name | Fabric composition | Breathability | Moisture-wicking abilities | Heat retention abilities | Stretchability | Washing temperatures |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wool | Animal fibers - sheep | Highly breathable | High | Low | High | Cool or warm |
| Cotton | PLant fibers | Highly breathable | High | Low | Low | Cool or warm |
| Cortanza | Synthetic | Low breathable | Low | Low | Low | Cool or warm |
| Polyester | Synthetic | Low breathable | Low | Low | Low | Cool or warm |
example from the documentation of Petra Garaiová FabTextiles Barcelona 2021-22
Bacteria Dyeing¶
Preparation process
For this experiment we used 3 samples with 3 textiles: 2 Silk and 1 Viscose
Scouring of Fabric: For Bacteria Dyeing, we need to make the scouring process to the fabrics. In this case we made the scouring with Carbonate monoxide. This process is a cleaning process to allow the coloring of the textile. This process is further detailed in Dyeing with Natural Dyes Section
Personal safety: Wear gloves, lab coat and Mask to prevent contamination
Preparing the nutrient plates or LB broth
When working with bacteria we use LB Broth or agar agar, LB broth is liquid and agar agar will gelify. In this case we used LB Broth and this component is to be put over the textile and will act as food for the Bacteria. Bacteria needs food to grow and while it grows it produces the ink.
For the LB Broth preparation we used:
- 250ml destiled Water
- 6,75gr LB Broth
- 1ml of Glycerine
Sterilization (pressure cooking)
We need to fill completely with recipients the pressure cooker for 20 mins to inoculate the tools. We need to pressure cook to kill contaminant bacteria. We need to use a Autoclave bag inside a pressure cooker with 2cm of water (this is to prevent that the bag melts inside the pressure cooker.
Inoculation
For inoculating the tool you need alcohol, camping gas. This is to create a sterile volume like the ones with the gloves in the movies.
Once inoculation process is done you can get the bacteria.
Dyeing Process
First you open the bottle of LB Broth close to the fire to avoid contamination, then you pour it quickly in the petri dish enough to cover the textile, then close the petri, then grab a bit of bacteria from the surface and then put it fast over the textile in the petri dish.
Once the bacteria is placed over the textiles, we close the Petri dished with Wax paper and let the bacteria grow for 5 to 7 days
Conclusion
Once the bacteria has grown, we can see the beautiful results that can be obtained.
I really enjoyed this Week and it is FASCINATING the beautiful results you can obtain from a living being such as bacteria. I am aware that depending on the type of bacteria you can obtain different colors and by combining this with different fabrics you can obtain infinite results. The third cloth used was not dyed because at the moment of inoculation, probably there was too many LB Broth and the bacteria did not grow :(
Also, when bacteria is dead, we can pour a little of alcohol in its petri dish and we can obtain blue ink.