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kombucha leather.

Kombucha leather is a manufactured, natural polymer, cellulose fiber. The acronym SCOBY is often used interchangeably with the kombucha fungi leather process since it stands for ‘symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast’ which basically explains the kombucha leather making process. Kombucha leather is grown entirely from the cellulose film that’s produced by bacteria and yeast culture.

To make Kombucha leather, you only need freshly sweetened tea to grow, making it considerably cheaper to produce than animal hyde. When brewing kombucha SCOBYs grow rapidly and also produce more SCOBYs in the process. In contrast, animal products are resource intensive, consuming massive amounts of food, water and time.

Kombucha leather is, if planned correctly, zero-waste, since it is made from scratch. It can also be produced in any shape as long as you lay it on a mold while still wet and allowing it to dry in place thereafter. Kombucha leather can also be dyed, but only in its pre-drying state. Kombucha leather also doesn’t require to be sewed together as the pieces will stick together like glue and dry as one.

Kombucha leather can be handled similarly like leather and make similar products, although it does not require chemical-based tanning like traditional animal leather does.

Like animal-based tanned leathers, kombucha leather is not waterproof. Rubbing the leather in natural essential oils or beeswax as a sealant can address both scent and water resistance, although traces of the smell will remain. These simple treatments make the material showerproof, but like leather, more work is required to make it truly impervious. 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.

Kombucha leather is an attractive alternative since without chemical tanning, kombucha leather is biodegradable. Additionally without the chemicals it does not emit toxic waste water as well as toxic gases.

+ PROS

what it gives.

  • animal leather aesthetic and feel
  • uses locally available raw materials

− CONS

what it asks.

  • has a sweet but pungent aroma
  • less robust than animal leather
  • cannot be exposed to excessive heat

ADVICE

what to look for.

Talk to artists or manufacturers with experience working with the material in order to achieve a high quality product

SOURCES & FURTHER READING

where this comes from.

https://www.hochparterre.ch/campus/blog/post/detail/bioleder-zuechten/1493285085/

https://www.vice.com/de/article/jpg3g4/wie-mit-hilfe-von-kombucha-tee-plastikalternativen-aus-veganem-leder-entstehen

https://www.kombucha-me.de/scoby/

https://growyourpantry.com/blogs/kombucha/kombucha-leather-your-guide-to-scoby-leather

https://research.qut.edu.au/textiler/research/growing-vegan-leather/

https://theconversation.com/will-we-soon-be-growing-our-own-vegan-leather-at-home-68498

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