Bio-Leather made from waste coffee grounds

Culture & Context

I have been working as a part time barista for the past 18 months while also pursuing
my textiles career. In this time, I have fallen in love with the process of making coffee

however there is a huge amount of waste that comes with it. Through researching bio-
materials and bio-plastics/ leathers, I came across a website (FABTextiles.org) which

utilised the use of waste coffee grounds and turned it into a bio-leather.

I collected waste coffee from the local coffee shop I work in and decided to try this bio-
material for myself. Through experimenting and trial and error it worked! I also decided

to continue to use the waste coffee grounds as a pigment to naturally dye yarns for my
new weaving projects which further increased the longevity and circularity of the
coffee grounds.

Process & Production

The process of this material was firstly preparing all the ingredients and equipment needed. Once all items were gathered all the ingredients were weighed out using precision weighing scales. Then the DIY silk screen was prepped. All the dry ingredients were mixed together and then all the wet ingredients were added and all blended together in a food processor. Once all the ingredients mixed to a thick, sticky, gloopy material it is ready to be placed into the silk screen. It was then flattened and smoothed out before spraying the surface with a water and calcium chloride mix. This was let sit for 5 minutes before rinsing off with clean water. The sample was then let dry out fro a week before cutting it away from the frame.

Recipe Details

Ingredients :
8g Sodium Alginate.
8g Ground waste coffee (dried).
8g Olive oil.
20g Glycerine.
132g Water.
7g Calcium chloride (mixed with 100ml water).
Method :
Weigh out all ingredients with precision scales.
Make DIY silk screen using an old frame and piece of textile.
Mix all dry ingredients and then add olive oil and glycerine.
Then in a food processor add the water and blend until a thick stiff liquid.
Once it has reached that consistency scoop and smooth it out onto the silk screen.
Spray with calcium chloride and water solution and let sit for 5 minutes before rinsing
with clean water.
Let dry for a week then cut out of frame.