Raw Linseed Oil dries very slowly, taking weeks to fully cure. You should limit its use to the insides of wood gutters, chopping blocks, sawhorses, and other items exposed to the elements where drying time is not a consideration. Slow drying is a mixed blessing. For oil-based paints slow drying is a benefit since this allows the paint to “level” itself, giving a smoother finish with fewer brush marks. The best looking paint jobs are invariably oil paint jobs. However, when used as a wood preservative for items that are handled or walked on, such as tool handles, furniture, or wood decks, long drying times are undesirable, so Boiled Linseed Oil should be used.
So: raw = longer drying time but less additives
See more at: https://www.tradextra.co.nz/raw-or-boiled/
- Add natural *alcohol-based* colorants to dye the fish skins (e.g. turmeric, hibiscus, or grated beetroot/red cabbage: submerge in alcohol and shake every hour for a day).
- Other softeners to try: leather balm, coconut oil, other oils
- Putting a fish skin in the oven for 5-10 minutes at low heat (70 degrees Celcius), it turns highly flexible.
- Make a suede-like soft leather by tanning the fish skins in raw linseed oil. Add a rock or something heavy to create a lot of friction when shaking the container. Take the fish out to dry, repeat if it is not soft enough. There are several linseed oils out there. Raw is often used for outdoors use and contains less chemicals and petrol-based drying agents but dries a lot slower and can stay sticky. This technique is similar to they way fishing nets are impregnated to stand the harsh conditions at sea.
### Cultural origins of this recipe
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@@ -232,6 +233,8 @@ Yes, as **Fish Skin Tanning** from the 6-8th grade Heritage Kit Curriculum, by C
-**Interview with skin sewer June Pardue** by Anchorage Museum & Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center on Youtube, 16 January 2015: [link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GUf8Ao5vNY)
-**Making Leather from Fish Skins** by Eva Hopman, for Hunebed Café, n.d.: [link](https://www.hunebednieuwscafe.nl/2017/10/making-leather-from-fish-skin/)
-**Biofabricating Materials** by Cecilia Raspanti for Fabricademy 2019-2020: [link](https://class.textile-academy.org/classes/week05A/)
-**Bio Materials** by Laura Luchtman for Textile Academy, 14 November 2016: [link](https://textileacademy.eu/laura-luchtman/)
-**Preservation of Fish Nets** by Harden Franklin Taylor, U.S. Bureau of Fisheries, 1920: pp. 22-26: [link](https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=ZSwlAQAAMAAJ&hl=en&pg=GBS.PA5)
This is a thin translucent paper-like material, made of a dried kombucha SCOBY.
This is a thin translucent bacterial cellulose material resembling paper, made of a dried 3-5mm kombucha SCOBY.
### Physical form
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***Kombucha SCOBY** - 1 piece of 2-3 mm thickness, grow one with [this recipe](https://class.textile-academy.org/2020/loes.bogers/files/recipes/kombuchascoby)
***Turpentine** - 1 tbsp (15 ml) + a little more
***Beeswax, melted** - 1 tbsp (15 ml)
***Boiled Linseed/Flax oil** - 1 tbsp (15 ml) you can get the boiled variety that is used as a wood varnish at a hardware story, this is not the same as the one from the supermarket.
***Raw Linseed/Flax oil** - 1 tbsp (15 ml) you can get this at a hardware story, this is not the same as the food-grade one from the supermarket.
## Tools
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1.**Preparing the after-treatment for a kombucha sheet**
- Wear gloves and a mask, this process creates fumes that are not very pleasant nor healthy, work in a well-ventilated area.
- Take the kombucha sheet out of its bath and dry it off with some kitchen paper. Put it on the silicone mat. Some kombucha SCOBY's will be a bit uneven and might have a hole or a tear. You can rearrange it a bit and put these bits back together, in the drying process these parts will reattach if they're overlapping.
- Take the kombucha sheet out of its bath, wash in soapy cold water and dry it off with some kitchen paper. Put it on the silicone mat. Some kombucha SCOBY's will be a bit uneven and might have a hole or a tear. You can rearrange it a bit and put these bits back together, in the drying process these parts will reattach if they're overlapping.
- Melt the beeswax so you can take one tablespoon of it. (Put a chunk of wax in a glass jar that I melt au bain marie. You can then let it cool inside the jar where I store it for later).
- Mix the turpentine and the linen oil, warm up slightly over the steam of the bain marie (this helps to mix it with the hot beeswax without making lumps and flakes).
1.**Apply the treatment**
1.**Applying the water-proofing treatment**
- While both liquids are warm, mix them.
- While still warm: apply to one side of the kombucha sheet with a brush or with your fingers. Massage it in. Doing this over the steam of the bain marie helps to keep it liquid (it solidifies very quickly).
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[Free text]
-Mold depth (surfaces and solids) or diameter (strings): [number] mm
- Shrinkage thickness [number] %
- Shrinkage width/length [number] %
-Thickness before drying: 5 mm for thin paper-like sheets, 10-15 mm for leather-like material
- Shrinkage thickness 80-90 %
- Shrinkage width/length 0-10 %
**Shrinkage and deformation control**
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**Curing agents and release agents**
None, any flexible surface to dry the sheet on will work fine as long as you can peel it off (don't use acrylic or glass sheets, it will get stuck).
None, any flexible surface to dry the sheet on will work fine as long as you can peel it off (don't use acrylic or glass sheets, it will get stuck). Use vaseline as release agents for other types of moulds.
**Minimum wait time before releasing from mold**
3 days or when dry
**Post-processing**
Keep pressed for a few more days. Store dry and flat.
Keep pressed for a few more days. Store dry and flat, add some rice as desiccant.
**Further research needed on drying/curing/growth?**
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## Variations on this recipe
- The same process can be used to create more leather-like sheets. Follow the exact same recipe but use a SCOBY that grew into 10 mm thickness instead of 2-3mm.
- The kombucha paper takes on the shape it dries in, try drying the paper on top of a mold.
- Try out different treatments for the kombucha, such as coconut oil or other natural and essential oils.
- The kombucha paper takes on the shape it dries in, try drying the paper on top of a mold to let it dry and contract into a 3D shape. Use vaseline as a release agent.
- Dye the pellicle before oiling and drying, by dipping it into a concentrated natural dye. It takes on dye quite well.
- Coconut oil as post-treatment has also been suggested. Rub it into the wet kombucha pellicle. Without a sealant, the kombucha could become sticky if worn in the rain. Full water resistance can be achieved if using acrylic or oil based sealers, but then the material is no longer safely biodegradable.
### Cultural origins of this recipe
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### This recipe draws together information from these other recipes
-**Grow your own clothes** TED talk by Suzanne Lee, 2011: [link](https://www.ted.com/talks/suzanne_lee_grow_your_own_clothes?language=en)
-**Open Source Kombucha**, by thr34d5. n.d., [link](https://thr34d5.org/2019/08/28/open-source-kombucha/)
-**Biofabricating Materials** by Cecilia Raspanti for Fabricademy 2019-2020: [link](https://class.textile-academy.org/classes/week05A/)
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-**Open Source Kombucha**, by thr34d5. n.d., [link](https://thr34d5.org/2019/08/28/open-source-kombucha/)
-**Biofabricating Materials** by Cecilia Raspanti for Fabricademy 2019-2020: [link](https://class.textile-academy.org/classes/week05A/)
-**Grow your own clothes** TED talk by Suzanne Lee, 2011: [link](https://www.ted.com/talks/suzanne_lee_grow_your_own_clothes?language=en)
-**Kombucha Fashion** by Cameron Wilson, Peter Musk and Jimmy Eng for the The Edge, State Library of Queensland, n.d. [link](https://wiki.edgeqld.org.au/doku.php?id=workshops:public:kombucha_fashion:start)
-**QUT reveals how you can make your own leather at home** by The Conversation, republished by SmartCompany, 24 November, 2016: [link](https://www.smartcompany.com.au/startupsmart/advice/startupsmart-growth/startupsmart-innovation/qut-reveals-how-you-can-make-your-own-leather-at-home/)
