Mycelium Leather Shoes

Experiment with mycelium as an even more sustainable and natural alternative for shoemaking.

This project required us to grow mycelium into a flexible end product, dehydrate it while retaining its flexibility, and sew the resulting material into a relatively complex form.

Methodology:

For the first batch, after adding 3 cups of of water and 3 tablespoons of flour, the mycelium was left to grow for four days in the bag itself. Then after breaking it up, it was spread onto 2 shallow wooden tray to continue to grow for two weeks, one left in the dark and the other exposed to light. The same was done for the second batch except it was spread onto the wooden trays skipping the bag growth step.

After two weeks, it was observed that the mycelium that grew in dark conditions grew faster, and the batch that was broken up and then mixed around was less crumbly and thicker. Additional one cup of vegetable oil was poured and left for another week but all batches in the dark. From there, we used a heated press, at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, to press the sheets, as well as to dehydrate them to stop further growth. After pressing, we left the sheets to sit for a week and a half. When we returned, the sheets had stiffened up and grown lots of mold, indicating that they were not dehydrated enough. We attempted to further dehydrate them using heat guns and used hydrogen peroxide to kill the mold. Once the material was dry enough, we rehydrated it with glycerol, the equivalent of tanning traditional leather, and were left with a relatively flexible material. The shoe pattern was cut and sewed together the shoe. The material sewed surprisingly well but as it continued to dry out, it lost most of its flexibility.

Learnings:

The material was difficult to work with, requiring a simplified form, and dried out, making it all but useless for a shoe. Additionally, at a thinner thickness, the material barely held itself together. However, there is some hope for mycelium as a shoemaking material, with further research.

Future works:

In the future, we would like to delve a little deeper into mycelium as a fabric alternative. What other substrates could we inoculate to yield a more flexible material? Can we dye the mycelium? What would have happened if we had baked the leather instead of using the heat press and heat guns? We also would have liked to experiment more with growing conditions. Due to limitations in time, knowledge, and scope, as well as completing the project in a shared space, we were unable to explore all of our options and could only gather a limited amount of knowledge. Mycelium leather is a proven possibility, but the methods are proprietary. Documentation is limited, so fully understanding its applications would take a lot of trial and error. We hope to continue this investigation in the future.

Group project as part of assignment of ARTD326 Sustainability & Manufacturing Fall 2024 Instructed by Savio Mukachirayil