Intro to Dyeing with Mushroom Pigments
Go out and find some fungi! Many mushrooms don’t give much color, and those that do aren’t necessarily the color of the fungus itself, but quite a few are very obliging.
_%20Photo%20by%20Hugh%20Smith.jpg)
Pigment dye patterns at the 51st Santa Cruz Fungus Fair (cropped). Photo by Hugh Smith
At the Santa Cruz Fungus Fair, we often use Dyer’s Polypore (Phaeolus schweinitzii) and Dead Man’s Foot (Pisolithus arhizus).
Equipment
Small garage sale saucepan and stirrer not to be used for food in the future. Mark with tape! Some mushrooms used for dye are harmful to eat, so you don’t want to contaminate your cookware.
Dried fungi
Whatever you’d like to dye. Best results are obtained with protein fibers such as wool and silk, prewashed. Linen and cotton will also dye, but colors are far paler and many more mushrooms are needed.
Use equal weight of dried mushrooms to wool or silk fiber.
Method
Simmer dried mushroom weight equal to your goods in a pint or so of water for ½ - 1 hour. (Fresh fungi are a guess, so try a mound equal to or greater than your pile of fiber.)
Meanwhile, soak your fibers in warm water. Add to them to the dye bath and gently simmer for an additional ½ - 1 hour, adding water as needed. No need to strain out the mushrooms for a simple test batch.
Rinse thoroughly in warm water and hang to dry. You can leave it in the dye bath overnight for deeper color.
Have fun and be ready for surprises!