Mushroom dye

Basked containing yarn colored using mushroom dye.
Yarn colored using mushroom dye

Mushrooms can be used to create color dyes via color-extraction with a solvent (often ammonia) as well as particulation of raw material.[1] The shingled hedgehog mushroom and related species contain blue-green pigments, which are used for dyeing wool in Norway.[2] The fruiting body of Hydnellum peckii can be used to produce a beige color when no mordant is used, and shades of blue or green depending on the mordant added.[3] Phaeolus schweinitzii produces green, yellow, gold, or brown colors, depending on the material dyed and the mordant used.[4]

Mushroom Color catalyst Color created
Chanterelle ammonia dull yellow
Artist's conk ammonia rust
Horse mushroom salt water yellowish green
Meadow mushroom salt water yellowish green
Turkey tail ammonia variable
False turkey tail ammonia variable
Shaggy mane iron pot/ammonia greyish-green
King bolete ammonia reddish-yellow
Oyster mushroom iron pot/ammonia greyish-green
Lobster mushroom ammonia cinnamon pink to red
Dyer's polypore ammonia
copper pot/ammonia
iron pot/ammonia
salt water
orange
deep green
rust red
yellow (fluorescent under UV)
Maitake ammonia light yellow
Chicken of the woods ammonia orange
Giant puffball ammonia dark red
Lingzhi ammonia rust
Blewit ammonia green
Jumbo gym[5] pH 4 butter yellow
Western red dyer[5] pH 7 to pH 7 red, orange, pink, purple
Western jack o'lantern[5] purple or green
Dyer's puffball[5] brown to orange
  1. ^ Edible and medicinal mushrooms of New England and Eastern Canada (David Spahr, 2009, ISBN 1-55643-795-1
  2. ^ Rice M, Beebee D. (1980). Mushrooms for Color. Mad River Press : Eureka.
  3. ^ Bessette A, Bessette AR (2001). The Rainbow beneath My Feet: A Mushroom Dyer's Field Guide. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press. p. 118. ISBN 0-8156-0680-X. Retrieved May 18, 2010.
  4. ^ "Dyeing with Mushrooms". Mushroom-Collecting.com. Retrieved 2009-10-26.
  5. ^ a b c d Siegel, Noah; Schwarz, Christian (2016). Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast: A Comprehensive Guide to the Fungi of Coastal Northern California. Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed. pp. 468–469. ISBN 9781607748182. LCCN 2015027853. OCLC 956478776.