Mature Dyer’s Polypore Mushrooms

Description

Dyer’s Polypore mushroom (Phaeolus hispidoides) is one of the most common dye mushrooms in coniferous forests and is a dramatic, large flat mushroom, sometimes as large across as 12-14 inches.  It’s always a thrill to come across one in the forest, as it is so huge, and the promise of all that color is very enticing. It’s a wonderful first mushroom to try as it contains a lot of color, and it’s easy to shift color with an iron mordant. These specimens make a rich golden brown and are from mushrooms I obtained from Julie Beeler a few years back. Be prepared to use every bit of your dye bath with more mordanted skeins or fibers, as this mushroom is a real powerhouse and you will be able to dye with multiple exhaust baths.

Instructions for use

• Wool yarn is mordanted in Iron @ 2%  WOF, or in Aluminum Potassium Sulfate @ 20% WOF + Cream of Tartar @6% WOF.  Rinse the mordanted skeins gently but thoroughly.  Keep the iron skeins from touching the alum skeins, or the iron may make marks on the alum skein.
• Use the dried mushroom at a ratio of 1:1 (one part dried mushroom by weight to one part fiber, or 100% wof.) Chop or grind the mushrooms into small pieces. 
• Hydrate the mushrooms in 2 quarts of water and heat to 160F. The ground mushrooms are dropped into the warm water and stirred, or contained in a mesh bag so that you don’t get mushroom bits all over your yarn or fiber.  
• Let the mixture heat at 160F for 1 hour.
• Strain the mushroom pieces and reserve the liquid. This is your dye bath. You can save the mushroom residue, dry it and use for eco-printing or another, lighter dye bath.
• Add wetted out, mordanted skeins into the mushroom dye bath. Heat to 160F and steep for 45 minutes to one hour.  Carefully remove fibers, let cool, and rinse.
• You can make a pigment from the leftover dye bath using the techniques from Natalie Stopka’s book, From Plant to Pigment, or add more mordanted fibers to your dye bath and dye additional fibers.

For more mushroom information, check out Julie Beeler’s Mushroom Color Atlas book and poster!