GENUS
Hydnellum
SPECIES
peckii
TYPE
Tooth Fungus
COMMON NAMES
Bleeding Tooth
BATCH:
01
DYE PREPARATION
DYE PREPARATION
CONDITION
dried
PARTS
entire mushroom
PRE-SOAK
pH
9
RATIO
2:1
TEMP
165° F / 74° C
TIME
1.5 hr.
PIGMENT PREPARATION
PIGMENT PREPARATION
CONDITION
dried
PARTS
entire mushroom
RINSE
Three times
BINDER
gum arabic
TEMP
85° F / 29° C
BATCH NOTES

I love tooth fungus! The colors they yield are my kind of colors. They are beautiful and complex to work with in the dye pot. They love an alkaline bath and like to have their pH shifted within the first 5-10 minutes of working them. I used sodium carbonate (soda ash) to shift my dye baths to pH 9. There is a long tradition of using ammonia with tooth fungus and I might try a test to compare the results on fiber. You have to be sure to maintain the dye bath at pH 9 throughout the duration of the dye bath. Cellulose fibers love high alkaline environments so they respond very well to the dye from tooth fungus. Don’t worry if your fibers look like they have a brown tinge on them in the dye bath as all tooth fungus do this and the brown washes out. If you aren’t happy with the results of your color you can also dip your fibers in an alkaline after bath to shift the colors. I have never been successful at getting a clear lake from any of the Hydnellums. Pigment settles to the bottom but the liquid is incredibly dark and filled with color. I save this filtered liquid, evaporate it down and use it for ink. It works beautifully.