7. BioFabricating Materials¶
Research & Inspiration¶
MilkWeed Back in the Day: When Picking Milkweed Was a Patriotic Pursuit – Wisconsin DNR
This article covers the history of milkweed and delves deeper into its role in life-preserver vests for soldiers during WWII.
The Future of Sustainable Materials: Milkweed Floss – Fashionista
Examples of milkweed being integrated in fashion and some of the challenges to do so.
Aticle Link: Monarchs, Milkweed, and You – SpinOff Magazine
This article covers precautions when working with milkweed, a little bit of its history, additives to help with spinning and some of the ecological considerations when working with the plant.
From Monarchs, Milkweed, and You – SpinOff Magazine: "Extreme care should always be taken when handling milkweed. Many people report mild to severe allergic skin reactions from the sticky milky-white sap. Eye contact with the sap is even more dangerous and could result in corneal endothelial toxicity, with symptoms such as blurred vision, light sensitivity, and pain. It is recommended that you wear gloves while handling the live plant and always wash hands thoroughly afterward. When handling the dried seedpods, it is advisable to work in an unventilated room because the slightest air current can catch the fibers and set them adrift. Be sure to keep any loose fiber away from your face and be careful to not inhale any of the fine seed down."
Bio Fabricating Materials With Alginate
The process of creating an alginate based bio-material and curing it with Calcium Chloride.
Algiante Leather with Fibre Reinforcement
The process of making bio material leather reinforced with fibre. This video inspired my work with milkweed floss.
Ingredients:¶
Below you will see the ingredients I used this week
 Glycerin |
 Sodium Alginate |
 Poppy Seeds |
 Canola Oil |
 Calcium Chloride |
 Dish Soap |
Experiment 0.1 - Alum Crystals¶
For this experiment I followed the tutorial on Youtube by University at Buffalo
After boiling water with a kettle I added it to a jar with 60g of alum powder.
I placed the jar in a dark cupboard with a piece of string floating inside. The next day I checked the jar but it didn't seem to have anything growing so I will give an update of the results soon in the Textile as Scaffold unit in a few weeks.
Bio Material Base Recipe:¶
-
12 g Alginate
-
30 g Glycerin (99.7%)
-
600 ml Water (typically 400 ml, but increased for a more viscous solution for pattern experiments)
Solidifier
- 10 ml Calcium Chloride
- 100 ml Water
Paint: Red Onion Lake Pigment + Canola Oil (Around this viscosity)
For all of my bio materials this week I taped a wooden frame to a metal sheetpan. This was my mould. The sheet pan was great for when I needed to move the drying pieces out of the way. To mix them I started with the additive / filler and poured the respective base recipe on top. In the pigmented instances I gradually added drops of ink - leaving them as dots or mixing them with a wooden chopstick by swirling them around by hand until they were integrated into the base recipe. I adjsuted the amounts of each filler "to taste" afterwards based on the look that started to appear.
My Calcium Chloride emulsifier was stored in a plastic spray bottle. It kept at room temperature for a number of weeks
My remaining base recipes were stored in a glass mason jar. They also kept at room temperature for a number of weeks. The bubbles also dissipated really well by leaving them out for a number of days.
Bio Material 1 - Base Recipe + Poppy Seeds + Red Onion Skin Paint¶
| Material pic | Material name | polymer | plastisizer | filler | emulsifier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Poppy Seed Material | Sodium Alginate powder 12 gr, Water 600ml | glycerin 30gr | poppy Seeds, Red Onion Skin Paint | Calcium Chloride 10g, Water 100ml |
The paint dropped and then spread a little but mostly stayed a circle. With soap it stretched drastically and affected the overall surface tensions of the base, so after that, any paint drops I added were quite small and wouldn't spread much.
It was also very elastic so when I blew on it with a straw or tried to stretch the drops out with a sewing needle it wanted to go back to how it was.
I didn't like how tiny my circles were now because of this, so I changed gears completely and added poppy seeds. I get tonnes of poppies in my garden. They spread so fast and produce many seeds, so I wanted to play with these.
Next time I will integrate the poppy seeds in the mixture to start with because they were flaky once dry.
The effect was interesting. I think It could be refined more.
Bio Material 2 - Base Recipe + Red Onion Skin Ink + Red Onion Skin Dye + Curcuma Ink¶
| Material pic | Material name | polymer | plastisizer | filler | emulsifier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Ink Test Material | Sodium Alginate powder 12 gr, Water 600ml | glycerin 30gr | Red Onion Skin Dye, Red Onion Skin Ink, Curcuma Ink | Calcium Chloride 10g, Water 100ml |
I wanted to test the red onion skin Ink (water based) against the paint (oil based), so I played with drops.
The water tended to sink to the middle/ bottom of the alginate, and the paint stayed on the surface. What was also interesting is that on paper, my ink was more of a brown colour because of the PH in the paper. In the alginate it retained its red colour really well.
Then I stirred it up really well to see how that affected the pattern.
When I sprayed it with the calcium chloride solution that pattern became very bubbly so I'd love to figure out if there is a way to get a more even finish. I will also wait longer next time to use the glycerin so the bubble reduce.
Bio Material 3 - Base Recipe + Pepper + Soap¶
| Material pic | Material name | polymer | plastisizer | filler | emulsifier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Pepper Soap Material | Sodium Alginate powder 12 gr, Water 600ml | glycerin 30gr | Pepper, Soap drops where holes are desired | Calcium Chloride 10g, Water 100ml |
There's a kitchen trick where if you dip soap in a bowl of floating pepper on water, the pepper instantly disperses. So I thought I'd see if I could work with this.
I spread a thin layer of alginate on the metal, poured the alginate on top and then layered more pepper ( I should have mixed it all together first because later the paper was flaking off).
It did spread when I added soap on a paint brush - but only a little bit. So eventually I added big drops of soap from the bottle and that gave me holes around the same size.
It looked pretty cool when it was still wet because the holes had this neat white border but that went away when it was dry.
Bio Material 4 - Base Recipe + Curcuma Ink + Sunflower Ink + Red Onion Skin Ink¶
| Material pic | Material name | polymer | plastifier | filler | emulsifier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Curcuma, Sunflower, Red onion Blend | Sodium Alginate powder 12 gr, Water 600ml | glycerin 30gr | soap | Calcium Chloride 10g, Water 100ml |
I wanted to try different inks. So I continued playing played with soap and Ink. My frame wasn't totally secure so the liquid started oozing out.
That wasn't bad because when it tried I had a gradient of thin to thick material so I could see the difference in texture and dryness.
Annie told me sometimes you think a material is dry but it might not be. A good way to tell is if the material is still cold to touch it's probably still a bit wet. But glycerin never dries so the thicker the material the colder it usually is.
Bio Material 5 - Base Recipe + MilkWeed Flowers¶
| Material pic | Material name | polymer | plastisizer | filler | emulsifier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Milkweed Material | Sodium Alginate powder 12 gr, Water 600ml | glycerin 30gr | Milkweed | Calcium Chloride 10g, Water 100ml |
On a walk to the coffee shop Annie and I happened upon a tonne of milkweed floating around. This is a very sensitive plant because of the monarch's reliance on it so I also think it's essential to re-scatter the seeds when you take the fibres ( in different places) and always leave a good amount of the pods untouched for the butterflies.
The results of this experiment were totally by accident and very exciting. Because one of my aligate frames was leaking, there was exess alginate spilling out. So on a whim, I mixed the alginate with the ball of milkweed fluff. And the result was amazing!
The buoyancy of the fibre rejected the fluid but accepted the glycerin. So it became incredibly malliable, like clay. It stuck together but it didn't stick to my fingers at all. It was extremely silky and extremely clean to work with.
Material Chart¶
| Material pic | Material name | polymer | plastisizer | filler | emulsifier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Poppy Seed Material | Sodium Alginate powder 12 gr, Water 600ml | glycerin 30gr | poppy Seeds, Red Onion Skin Paint | Calcium Chloride 10g, Water 100ml |
| Material pic | Material name | polymer | plastisizer | filler | emulsifier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Ink Test Material | Sodium Alginate powder 12 gr, Water 600ml | glycerin 30gr | Red Onion Skin Dye, Red Onion Skin Ink, Curcuma Ink | Calcium Chloride 10g, Water 100ml |
| Material pic | Material name | polymer | plastisizer | filler | emulsifier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Pepper Soap Material | Sodium Alginate powder 12 gr, Water 600ml | glycerin 30gr | Pepper, Soap drops where holes are desired | Calcium Chloride 10g, Water 100ml |
| Material pic | Material name | polymer | plastifier | filler | emulsifier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Curcuma, Sunflower, Red onion Blend | Sodium Alginate powder 12 gr, Water 600ml | glycerin 30gr | soap | Calcium Chloride 10g, Water 100ml |
| Material pic | Material name | polymer | plastisizer | filler | emulsifier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Milkweed Material | Sodium Alginate powder 12 gr, Water 600ml | glycerin 30gr | Milkweed | Calcium Chloride 10g, Water 100ml |
Reflections¶
To be honest, aside from my base recipes, I wasn't very scientific this week in regards to the look of my materials. I adjusted things as I went based on how I felt. I didn't have a particular outcome in mind. I wanted to play to get familiar with them before deciding what they should do.
It was more difficult to achieve patterns I liked than I expected. I was hoping to get more manipulatable results. The alginate is slightly elastic so the paint tends to shrink when touched too much. I believe better marbled patterns might be achieved if I adjust the amount of water in the material.
I now see why hard moulds are used for imprinting patterns on bio materials. It is an easier method for getting a controlled consistent look.
I'm also second thinking the use of milkweed. I'm not convinced it's beneficial in any scaleable way unless it's used with extreme care. The seeds must be replanted and caution must be taken to not inhale or consume the flull in any way as it can be considered toxic. As much as it's delighful to touch, I would leave it for crafters and hobbist only. Although it's buyonacy was very interesting and a nice surprise.
I see potential in bio-materials for things that have a limited life span - things like balloons and party decorations could be a great application.
Since the alginate recipe will disolve when wet, perhaps it could also be used to enrich soil or something along these lines to extend its usefulness.