Biomaterial × Fabric¶

The idea¶

In previous weeks, I talked about 3D printing on fabric and working with wax, but both of these methods did not give me the preferred result. After that came a new phase with experiments and new solutions. This solution was suggested to me by Anastasia and Anush (Fabric Academy instructors). They had heard about it or tried it before and recommended mixing cotton or another fabric with biomaterial to make it stronger, similar to paper. This way, the material starts to remember the shapes I need — not only remembering them, but also moving easily.

At first, this idea sounded crazy, but after trying it, I really liked it.

This is the introduction part, and now let’s try to see what we can create.

Biomaterial x Cotton. Making scheme¶

Biomaterial recipe¶

Standard biomaterial recipe:

240 ml water
40 g gelatin
1–2 g alginate
24 g glycerin

But in the first recipe I changed the proportions to make the fabric stronger. I reduced the amount of gelatin because I thought I didn’t need that much flexibility — the fabric’s own flexibility would compensate for it. I also didn’t add alginate and reduced the overall portion.

What we have now:

5g gelatin
60ml water
5g glicerin

I started heating the water and added gelatin when the temperature reached about 50°C. I mixed it well to dissolve the gelatin completely. Then I added glycerin and continued mixing. After that, I put the fabric into the mixture and kept it there for about a minute. Then I placed it on the jar. A bit of biomaterial remained, and I spread it over the fabric. I chose cotton.

I left it to dry. The next day it was dry enough to fold the pieces, but over the following days it became stronger. I checked it after 4 days, when it was fully dry.

It became very similar to paper. At first view, it felt too strong, and we thought it could break during folding, but this was only an impression. When I started folding it, the material behaved much better than I expected. It folded easily and remembered the folding lines quite well. The result was promising, but this is only the beginning.

I cut a small piece of the treated material and started folding it.

The main failure in this experiment was the loss of color in the dyed cotton. This could have happened for several reasons:

Hibiscus dyeing is not a stable coloring method and does not keep color well.
The cotton was not treated with tannin or a mordant.
The biomaterial temperature may have been too high.

In any case, I will continue experimenting until this process works properly.

Recipes¶

The next step was to experiment with other pieces of cotton and different recipes. I took five pieces of fabric and prepared biomaterial mixtures. In each recipe, I added or reduced certain ingredients.

First recipe

240 ml water
30 g gelatin
42 g glycerin

Second recipe

1-2 g alginate

Third recipe

60 ml water

Fourth recipe

10g glycerin

Fifth recipe

10g gelatin

I folded the pieces so that no air bubbles would form and the biomaterial could sit flat. After drying, the material held its shape well and the folding lines became clearly defined.

I liked the first two examples more than the others — the second one was especially good. The last samples were too flexible, while the first ones were stronger. The fourth sample was also good. These examples worked better because they preserved the fabric texture and tactile feeling.

I continued experimenting with these samples, and they remembered the folds almost as well as the first one. The springiness during compression decreased slightly, but this was not critical, because the texture and overall feel improved. Most importantly, the material kept its fabric identity.

At this point, it became clear that working with biomaterial was successful, and that based on these experiments it is possible to move toward the final work and realize it. These experiments were just as interesting and important to me as the final result itself.

Biomaterial from remains¶

I prepared too much biomaterial, and after all the manipulations I had some excess material left. I decided to pour it onto a surface and let it dry, just so it wouldn’t be wasted. In the end, it gave an interesting result, so it is worth showing as well.

Biomaterial x Linen. Making scheme¶

Learning from my previous experiment and the instructor’s feedback, I tried to adjust the quantities and created a new recipe:

New recipe:

Water — 2080 ml
Gelatin — 200 g
Glycerin — 80 g
Alginate — 5 g

However, this was actually a very large portion — about five times more than I needed — but at that moment I didn’t realize it. I added the ingredients gradually and mixed them well. The mixture became a bit too thick. Then I started dipping the fabric into the liquid.

After that, I spread it out on the floor, which I had covered with a plastic bag. I tried not to touch it too much, because every time I touched it, it stretched and became worse. I just tried to adjust it as little as possible and leave it to dry.

After drying: