Ecovative Mycelium Material

Instruction Manual Please Read

www.ecovativedesign.com
 WELCOME TO THE FUTURE OF MATERIALS!
At Ecovative we are excited to see and hear about the projects you come up with using
mycelium material, whether you are designing world changing solutions for fashion,
architecture and product innovation, or growing beautiful toxic-chemical free planters and
lamps. Our dream is to live in a world where biomaterial products are grown in new
manufacturing processes using living materials - and you just helped Ecovative take the
important first step towards turning this dream into reality.

There is a lot to learn about growing your own products, and this manual will get you started.
But, before you get your hands dirty, make sure to pay close attention to The Essentials below
because your hands definitely shouldn’t be dirty!

The Essentials Process Trivia & About

Warnings:
•Not for children under 13 years of age, except
under adult supervision

• Choking Hazard — contains small parts, including

agricultural particles that may be harmful if
ingested or inhaled

• Not intended for human or animal consumption

•The process requires the use of flour, and may not

be advisable for those with severe gluten allergies.
There are no mushroom spores or Maltodextrin may be used as a substitute
fruiting bodies in this process, just
Mycelium - the vegetative root •This material is not rated or recommended for
structure of a mushroom! structural applications

* Full Material Safety Data Sheet available at

www.ecovativedesign.com
THE ESSENTIALS:
What you need to know before your grow

Keep it clean
To get your project growing you’ll be creating a
nutrient-filled, moist environment that is great for
all types of organisms. That’s why it’s super
important to keep everything extremely clean, and
don’t contaminate it with bacteria that could ruin
your project. Make sure to thoroughly wash your
hands, wear gloves, never touch or breathe (or
smell!) inside the bag - you might contaminate the
material before it starts growing.

Just generally be careful and cleanly.

AVOID

Bacteria Yeast Molds

Timeline

1 2 3

Day 1 Day 5 Day 10

Shake It Make It Bake It

Check your schedule

Working with mycelium material is simple but will
require a bit of attention.

There’s a 4-6 day gap between the three crucial

steps, so make sure to check your calendar before
getting started, or risk having to cancel all your
plans to take care of much more pressing business
- your mycelium project!
The Essentials:
Tools of the Trade
•Flour (any kind will do!)*

•Water*

•Clips or Tape to Seal Bag of Activated Mushroom

Materials

While you may find other items like measuring •Disposable Gloves (Latex or Vinyl)
spoons and kitchen scales useful, these tools
are absolutely vital to your success. •Mixing Bowl

•Isopropyl (rubbing) Alcohol for Sterilization

•Oven or fan to dry finished project

•Baking Sheet

* Measurements for flour and water are

different for each blend. Consult the label
on the front of your bag for quantities.

What Comes in the kit The materials you will need

- Instructions
- Stickers
- Mycelium material in Filter Patch Bag
- Optional Growth Form
 Now that you have the essentials down,
time to start growing

Shake It Make It Bake It

Activate Fabricate Desiccate

Working with mycelium material

is as easy as...

Shake it — Activate your bag of material and watch

the mycelium begin to grow.

Make it — Fabricate a product, using a growth form,

into any shape or design.

Bake it —Desiccate your finished product by baking in

an oven (the fast way), or with a house fan (the slow way).
PROCESS
Step 1 Shake
Add water & flour and re-animate your bag of material.

Thoroughly clean your hands, tools, and your work

environment before opening the bag of dry mycelium material
just below the seal.

•Mix x tablespoons of flour with x cups of tap water, and pour

into the bag of dry of material. (Use the flour/water quantities
written on your bag’s label)

•Fold over the opening and make sure the bag is closed - Now
shake it for at least one minute, to get everything covered in
the flour/water mixture.

•While the opening is still folded over, make sure to leave the
white filter patch uncovered to allow air exchange, and seal
the bag using tape or clips.

Day 1

CHECK LIST

Make sure to shake until each The bag is sealed tight with The bag is in a clean area out of
and every particle is wet, and the white filter patch direct sunlight where it can
there aren’t any clumps of flour uncovered so the mycelium grow for the next 4-5 days.
in the bag. can ’breathe’.

What’s Really Happening Here?

Thanks to your vigorous shaking & mixing, the dormant mycelium will begin to grow, absorbing nutrients from the flour and
spreading root-like hyphae. As these individual white strands grow from the moist particles, they’ll begin to intertwine,
binding the particles together loosely — this is a totally appropriate time to let out a maniacal laugh and exclaim, “it’s
ALIVE!” As the days pass, you’ll notice the particles in the bag will grow increasingly white as the mycelium grows to cover
the surface and colonizes the bag. You’ll also notice condensation in the bag as the mycelium respires, converting glucose
and oxygen into carbon dioxide, water, and ATP, just like humans! When all of the particles have turned completely white
after 4-5 days, your material is ready for the next step.
PROCESS
Step 2 Make It
Break apart the growing bag of material to fabricate your project.

•Put on your disposable gloves and sterilize your freshly gloved

hands and the mixing bowl by spraying the isopropyl (rubbing)
alcohol.

•After both have dried, open your bag of completely white

mycelium material and crumble everything into the bowl, continuing
to break it all apart by hand until all of the particles are loose (most
of the white will disappear, but don’t worry!).

•Add x tablespoons of flour to the material and thoroughly mix by

hand for at least one minute. (Use the flour quantity written on your
bag’s label)

•Sanitize your growing container or form with rubbing alcohol and

allow it to dry.

•Pack the growing container with material, cover with a lid or plastic
wrap, and poke holes in the cover approximately 1-inch apart.

Day 5

CHECK LIST

All surfaces and tools have Growing container is covered The growing container is in
been sterilized with alcohol tightly with a lid or plastic a clean area out of direct
before being used. wrap punched with holes sunlight where it can grow
approximately 1-inch apart. for the next 5-6 days.

What’s Really Happening Here?

When you break apart your material, it damages and stresses the mycelium so it’s important to give it some extra food by
adding flour in this step. Those nutrients will be essential to the strong bonds you need to grow. Breaking the weak bonds
that formed during the first step allows stronger bonds to form as the mycelium grows in tighter formation. Over 5-6 days,
the mycelium will grow exponentially to fill in all of the gaps, binding the loose particles like nature’s glue. When
everything in the growing container has turned completely white, fire up the oven because you’re ready for the final step!

*Not sure what to use for a growing container?

Check out www.ecovativedesign.com/community for
growth forms
PROCESS
Step 3 Bake It
Welcome to the finish line - time to desiccate your creation to stop growth.

•Carefully eject your creation from the growing container. The goal
here is to remove the object carefully and without damaging your
project.

• Place it in a well ventilated area, preferably on a wire rack to allow

air to circulate underneath the form.

•Let dry in the open air for 1-2 days. You can speed up the process
with a fan.

•Once dried, preheat oven to 200ºF (93ºC).

•Place it in the oven for 30 minutes, then carefully remove and let
cool.

•Your creation will weigh about 35% (or roughly a third) of its
original weight when dried.

Day 10

CHECK LIST

Want to dry faster? Place it in the Check that dry weight Don’t have an oven? Place
oven at 200ºF (93ºC), checking is 35% of original. your project in front of a fan,
every 30 minutes. Do not bake too elevated if possible, for at least
long or at too high of a temperature 2 days to fully desiccate.
or your project will discolor!

What’s Really Happening Here?

Because most people don’t want household objects to grow of their own accord, it’s important to halt any further growth of
the mycelium by drying it out and then heating it. The combo of heating and drying removes all moisture from your project
and eliminates the mycelium’s ability to continue to grow, creating a stable and inert materials. Yes, this is essentially killing
the mycelium.

If you decide to desiccate by air drying with just a fan and no heat, this only places the material in stasis, and it could
reanimate, but it is not likely without the right environmental conditions.
 CONGRATULATIONS!
You just grew your own product from mycelium!
Now share your project and let everyone know how awesome this was!

Shoot It Send It Save Money

Share your project on social media using #ecovative. Email us at

contact@ecovativedesign.com with a link to your post and we will send you a discount for
your next order!

For Grow It Yourself kits, materials, and tutorials visit

www.ecovativedesign.com/community

Also check out shop.ecovativedesign.com for furniture, packaging, and

more - there are plenty of ways to get your hands on the future with
products GROWN from mushroom mycelium.
TIPS FROM THE LAB:
Want to see mycoremediation in action? Try
mixing in your favorite shade of food coloring
during the Make It step, giving you a colorful
blend of agricultural material in your grow form.

As the mycelium grows, you’ll notice that the color

is muted over time. That’s because the mycelium
is actually ingesting some of the food coloring,
much like it removes harmful chemicals from soil!

Refrigerating the material will help it last longer

both after it arrives to you and after re-hydration. ‘

After you’ve completed the first stage of growth,

you can store your re-hydrated material in the
fridge for up to two weeks. The cold will halt the
growth of the mycelium, essentially putting it into
temporary stasis.

Removing your project from the mold on the fourth

day of the Make It step and allowing it to finish
growing in the open air will give your project an
overgrown appearance and a more spongy feel.

For more advice on advanced grow techniques

for your project, go to the Education section
on www.ecovativedesign.com

or contact us at
contact@ecovativedesign.com
FUN FACTS
INDIVIDUAL STRANDS OF MYCELIUM ARE CALLED HYPHAE
These vein-like fibers grow by adding new cells to their tips, excrete
enzymes to aid in decomposition, and absorb nutrients from the
decomposed material in the substrate.

MYCELIUM COLONIES CAN BE TRULY HUGE

Thought to be the largest living organism ever found, a Honey
Mushroom colony was discovered in Oregon in 2000 that is
estimated to be around 2,400 years old and measured more than
3.5 miles in length. That’s longer than 188 Blue Whales combined!

MYCELIUM CAN ACT AS A POWERFUL, BIOLOGICAL

CLEAN-UP CREW
A natural decomposer, mycelium breaks down organic material
and even rocks to sustain itself, in the process removing
chemicals and toxins from the substrate. This is also referred to
as Mycoremediation.

MYCELIUM INVENTED THE INTERNET

Scientists have discovered that plants and trees can use
underground networks of mycelium as a sort of biological internet
to communicate and sound the alarm when something dangerous
is approaching! When a plant is attacked by insects, it emits a
warning signal that allows nearby plants to trigger their chemical
defense systems before the destructive little buggers arrive. Even if
they are super close by, plants that aren’t connected to the same
colony of mycelium are not able to receive the signal, leaving them
defenseless!

MYCELIUM GROWTH IS ONLY PART OF THE MUSHROOM

LIFE-CYCLE
When we typically think of a mushroom lifecyle, spores and
Mycelium
mushroom fruiting bodies come to mind. Before those stages a
matrix of mycelium grows in a suitable substrate and then turns
into primordia, which eventually become mushroom fruiting
bodies which then produce spores. This process is much more Spores Primordia
complex but these main stages are what might be recognizable
to you in the forest or with your Ecovative mycelium material if
you don’t follow the instructions. If you do follow them, you will
only be dealing with the mycelium stage - growing mushroom
roots as a natural glue for the agricultural substrate.
Mushroom
 TEACHERS & EDUCATORS!
Are you a forward-thinking educator who would love to inspire your students with the
endless possibilities of biomaterials, circular economies, composting, and
homegrown product solutions? For discounted classroom-size packs, lesson plan
suggestions, and a whole lot more, go to www.ecovativedesign.com/community or
contact us at contact@ecovativedesign.com

Raw Materials
(farm)

Compost Manufacture
(break apart) (growth)

Product
(use)

ABOUT ECOVATIVE
One of Ecovative’s core missions is to teach,
inspire, and support people who want to grow
with biomaterials.

We believe the future will be grown, and we

want you to be a part of it, so we created
Ecovative’s Grow It Yourself Community as an
accessible, first hand experience with mycelium
biomaterials.

Check out our site for the materials, resources,

and tools that you need to grow with
biomaterials.

Ecovative
70 Cohoes Ave.
Green Island, NY 12183
contact@ecovativedesign.com

www.ecovativedesign.com/community